Years ago, only companies were brands. With the rise of social media and changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the face of businesses has changed. Now, each of us can create a distinctive personal brand representative of us personally and professionally.
The line between who we are at work and outside of work is blurring. More and more so, customers care about what a brand represents and stands for and will make purchasing decisions based on that. It’s more important than ever that you build an authentic, consistent, and honest personal brand.
Below we explain personal branding trends to pay attention to going into 2023.
Personal Content Is a Part of Your Brand
People want to see the face behind a brand to make that human connection. With so many platforms and ways to present ourselves now, it’s more important than ever for people to become familiar with your face to build trust and differentiate your business.
Leveraging personal content is an excellent way to show who you are and make that human connection. That may include posting images of you and your family, telling heartwarming stories from your life, or sharing something deeply personal but relatable to your audience.
People Are Looking for Deeper Connections
As more and more people work remotely or in hybrid environments, they still crave connecting to others on a human level. People are looking for deeper connections, even with someone they’ve never met. Being transparent, authentic, and vulnerable in how you show up for others will be key to defining your brand.
People are also turning to leaders with whom they can connect more deeply emotionally. Leadership styles are moving toward that of coaches, built on inspiration and emotional intelligence. Heading into 2023, personal branding trends for leaders will be one where they walk the walk and focus on creating a culture of inclusion and engagement.
Consistency and Accessibility Will Keep You Top of Mind
When there’s so much noise out there fighting for your audience’s attention, you must consistently present yourself to stay at the forefront of your customers’ minds. Whether it’s the frequency of your social media posts, blogs, or YouTube videos, having a consistent and visible presence lets your customers and prospects know what to expect. Doing so can be comforting.
People also respond well when they can easily and quickly reach someone in leadership. Being accessible to your customers will go a long way to building loyal relationships and growing your business in the right direction. After all, you will learn a lot about your business from people who have had to experience it firsthand. You define a clearer personal brand when you show up regularly and consistently.
Quality and Focus Are Key to Being Seen
People are overwhelmed by the amount of content on the internet. Thus, they become pickier about what they consume and how they want to use their attention. That means the quality and consistency of your material will be essential.
It also means that it’s nearly impossible for you to reach everyone who’s out there consuming content, so focusing on your target audience will become key. You also only have so much time to put out content, so you need to be mindful of where you’re spending time and energy. You want to be visible, available, and valuable for the specific people you seek to engage.
Relationships Are More Important Than Ever
Building relationships is more challenging when most of our interactions are online through platforms like Zoom and Slack. That’s what makes building relationships more important than ever because people still crave that connection with others and need it for their mental health.
Prioritize relationship building and set aside time to foster connections based on authenticity. When you do that, people will start to associate your personal brand as one that emphasizes relationships with real human beings. In-person interactions will also become more important, as they help our ability to nurture relationships and feel fulfilled.
The Takeaway
Personal branding trends heading into 2023 are becoming more based on authentic relationships and humanizing work. It’s essential to present your whole self as the face of your business. Customers and prospects are turning to brands and leaders who show up for them consistently and demonstrate values that resonate with them.
Are you a Coach, Consultant, or other Expert with a life-changing message to share? Join us inside our free Facebook Group to learn how to position & present yourself and your offers differently in order to maximize your time and dramatically increase profits.
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BrandFace LLC is a personal branding company for coaches, consultants and other experts who want to STAND OUT from their competition and attract their ideal customers so they can become recognized and sought after authorities in their industry. Tonya Eberhart & Michael Carr are international bestselling authors and the partners behind BrandFace. Their mantra is, “People don’t do business with a logo. They do business with a person.”
