Ayishat Olanrewaju: Building a Better Brand This Year

When it comes to personal brands, most people see a new year as a great time to either build a new brand, or refresh their old brand. This is obviously a good thing, right? However, wanting is not enough; wanting and moving with intention is what’s going to make a difference. This is where branding with intention comes in. 

Branding with intention simply means being intentional about what your brand stands for and the purpose it is meant to achieve in the long run. When you brand with intention, you have an overview of the short term and the long term goals of your brand, and begin to move with purpose. This means that you don’t just wake up one day and decide to post anything because people have said you have to post, you know exactly why you are posting something and the purpose of that post.

It is easy to post on social media or your website any day we feel like, and post what we feel like posting, however, when you are intentional about your brand, you are more strategic and you know when something is working or not working. As you plan towards building your personal brand this year, you need more practical steps to help you achieve tangible results. Here are some tips to help you brand with intention this year:

Audit your brand

Whether you are working on your personal brand or not, you are building your brand. Before you plan to brand with intention, you need to perform an audit. Audit where your personal brand is at right now. Audit your previous actions and brand results. What did you do well and didn’t you do well? What is your current brand perception? Does it match the intention you want your brand to have at the end of the day? 

Define your brand purpose

To brand with intention means to be purposeful with your personal brand. You are not building a personal brand just because you feel like it, you are building it because you have something of value to contribute and you want to make an impact. What would you like your brand to achieve? What is the end goal of your brand and what will make you say you have achieved success with your brand at the end of the day? Define it and be clear about it. 

Who are you trying to reach? 

Understanding who you are trying to reach makes your brand purpose clearer. You also need to be very specific about your audience because it helps to aid in achieving your goals. Being specific also helps you to measure your brand goals with your brand results. For instance, if you set goals to reach more people who need your services this year, knowing who you are targeting can help you when trying to find out if you are achieving the goals or not.

Set goals

It is not enough to have a purpose for your brand, you need the right goals to help you achieve that purpose. Setting brand goals should be directed by your brand purpose, this way, you are branding with intention.

Take action

Goals are great, but taking action is important. For instance, if you plan to build more brand visibility this year and then you set goals to post 3-5 times weekly,  you need to actually take action to post and not stop at the goal-setting stage.

Monitor

To really know if you are branding with intention, you need to measure the results you are getting. One of such ways is to find out what your audience thinks about your brand. Does it match with what you are trying to portray as a brand?  

Are you branding with intention? What steps are you taking to ensure you build a personal brand with intention this year?

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