7 tips on how to do a brand audit. Where you’re at with all aspects of your brand over the year and thinking about the year ahead. Standing out from the crowd. The dynamic of managing Brand you.
Tom Peters said, “All of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEO's of our own companies. Me incorporated. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called you.”
Once you’ve created a personal brand, an audit is very important.
What Is a Personal Brand?
A personal brand describes how individuals differentiate themselves and stand out from the crowd.
By identifying and articulating their unique value proposition, whether they're a professional or whether it's their personal brand, they then leverage it across platforms with a consistent message and image to achieve a particular goal.
Jeff Bezos says, “Your brand is what people say about you when you're out of the room.”
A successful brand you has to be:
Unique
Credible
Consistent
Relevant
Doing a Personal Brand Audit
Be prepared to think introspectively. Both internally and externally, and you may need to check in with colleagues, friends and family to test whether your self-assessment is accurate.
You need to know yourself. What are your primary values and your secondary values? You must consistently live by your values across all facets of your life.
1. What is your purpose? Create your personal brand statement.
2. What is your area of expertise and your superpower? When considering your internal perceptions, you will want to ask yourself the following questions:
· How do I want to be perceived?
· What do I want others to remember about me?
· What are my strengths?
3. You need to know your audience.
4. You need to become the leader in your field. To make an impact in your field, you need to undertake a SWOT analysis. You should assess your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
5. Take control of your image. As noted earlier, your personal brand exists in the minds of your audience and how they perceive you. First, create brand you guidelines for your photography, websites, your platform, and everything you want to do to protect yourself, whether it be in the social media industry, business, or LinkedIn. All of these are critical. Next, curate your website and workplace.
6. Engage and connect with empathy. Create a content marketing plan that you can execute. Engage genuinely on social media platforms you select. As a business owner, engage your past, current, and future clients and customers.
7. Build your community. Developing, building, and maintaining a brand requires a team of people. You need to work to build that network of people who are ready and willing to support you and spread your message.
The Next Step
You need to understand your community: how are they relevant to you and you to them?
You may already have these kinds of people around you. Consider who they may be: mentors, team members, clients, past and present fans, advocates, coaches, and role models.
And who are you? Who do you provide support to in any of these capacities?
Once you've answered these questions, prioritise those who would like to connect with you.
Key Takeaways
Warren Buffett said, “We can afford to lose money, even a lot of money, but we can't afford to lose reputation—even a shred of reputation.”
Doing a personal brand audit will ensure that you remain true to your values and not deviate from your purpose.
Ensure that you’re in control of the image being put into the world, as that will influence people’s perception of you and, eventually, your reputation.
