Your brand’s personality is your business’ primary appeal.

The personality behind your brand is the best marketing asset you have. It’s what makes your business stand out and what makes your marketing content memorable. So why isn’t brand personality talked about more? Well, sometimes it just gets lost in the shuffle.

Know Your Brand

You need to know how your business fits into the wider market before you can decide on a marketing strategy. Take some time to think about your brand and what you want people to remember about your company. If you don’t know your brand’s personality, you won’t know how to steer your marketing campaigns, or whether your overall message is consistent with your brand.

If you’re not considering your brand’s personality when creating content the uniqueness of your brand is lost on the consumer. Before you know it, instead of creating a memorable piece of content, you’re just creating a forgettable piece of self-promotion.

Part of the issue is, when it comes to marketing, it’s too easy to get fixated on the endless cycle of creating content with the goal of chasing likes. So we often forget to tailor our ads to fit our unique brand.

Finding Your Brand’s Personality

If you’re a groomer, kennel owner or trainer, odds are you aren’t the only one in town. In fact, you’re probably not the only one in your neighborhood. So how do you make your business the obvious choice? Be original.

Your business doesn’t have to offer a unique service to stand out. It just needs the right brand personality to separate you from the pack. Something that resonates with your cliental even when they’re not using your services.

Social media gives small business owners an easy and cost-effective avenue for interacting with potential clients. So you should be using social media to project the vibe you want associated with your business.

Be Yourself

Are you care-free and funny? Then make sure your sense of humor is part of your branding. Are you really clean-cut and professional? Then make your content look sharp and polished. Are you located in an up and coming part of town? Add your neighborhoods hipster vibe to your branding by incorporating minimalistic designs into your content.

The more genuine, or close to the heart, your content is the more it will resonate with your audience. “Fake it till you make it” does not apply here. In order for your brand’s personality to be sustainable, it needs to have a real foundation.

Customers Forget Ad’s but Remember Personality

Think about marketing campaigns that you remember.

Why do you remember them? Were they funny? Inspiring? Completely fresh and new? Odds are the ad that sticks out in your memory gave the brand it represents a distinct personality. In oversaturated markets, where it’s very difficult for any one company to stand out against its competition, having a distinct brand personality gives you a voice.

Consider Geico, for example. The insurance industry is a massively oversaturated market and insurance isn’t exactly a super fun product to sell. So, with so many similar brands competing for customer eyeballs, how do you get people to remember your insurance company? You make a charming British gecko your mascot, and give a seemingly bland insurance business a memorable sense of humor. They differentiate themselves from the market by leaving potential customers with a smile and a laugh.

Or maybe consider Nike. Sportswear is a huge industry. So how do you stand out when there are tons of brands making promise after promise of high-tech advancements that improve ability, endurance etc.? You become the only brand that doesn’t over-explain themselves by embracing a simple slogan that functions as a memorable call to action, “Just Do It.”

Nike cut’s through the noise by crafting an intense, action first, personality to go along with their sporty products. Without needing to explain anything Nike has conveyed that this sneaker or jogging shirt or headband isn’t just for running, it’s a no-nonsense lifestyle accessory that enables you to succeed. They crafted their brand’s intense personality to fit the intensity of their ideal consumer.

Brand Personality for Small Business’

Now obviously these are big-budget examples, but the principles still stand. Both brands have a clear, focused personality that gives the audience an obvious takeaway.

You don’t need millions of dollars to create an effective personality for your business. You need time, consistent content, and a social media presence. That’s all it takes.

Let your business’ best qualities shine through in your content, and make sure you’re always putting your best foot forward. Good content is always better than constant content. You don’t want to over-post, instead you want to make sure that the content you are posting is something that provides your audience with a take-away.

Learning what it takes to stand out in your market is the most difficult part of branding. But if you create genuine content that resonates with your audience, you’re well on your way to crafting a strong image for your business.