This blog post discusses the best way to market your personal brand today. It sheds light on the authentic marketing trend which involves storytelling and videos. It gives you insight into how to market smartly, in today’s artificial intelligent era.
What’s the best way to market your personal brand? Should you resort to AI-based machines and templates, or just “step into the light”.
Humanizing your brand has become an obligation and not just an option nowadays, that is why it is your raw personality that will do your best marketing nowadays.
The authentic brand voice is making a strong comeback and is louder than ever today. People love to connect with people to be heard, felt, and seen.
Thus, in marketing, you have to reach out as an authentic human, in order to impact relevance and emotional resonance.
AI-based machines may be fast, accurate, and rational, but they aren’t intuitive or emotional (hbr.org). And, it’s exactly those abilities that humans have and which make them unique.
According to The New York Times, AI will become more personalized”. It will continue to provide more accuracy, efficiency, and to some extent rationality (nytimes.com). It will continue to support (and not overcome) personalized marketing.
Despite the shift towards AI, The trend toward human authenticity is revealing itself even in social media.
Social media platforms are shifting towards authentic personal branding. They strive toward building a long-term authentic brand experience at any cost.
That is why brands are strongly relying on storytelling and short videos.
The trend of video marketing is the most effective marketing technique nowadays. It captures the viewer’s attention and attains high visibility while creating more brand recognition.
Authentic video marketing is revealing itself in today’s influencers who post videos of their real-time family moments and talk about their daily struggles. Those are the influencers telling their stories as real as possible.
On the other hand, storytelling has become the ‘Next Big Thing’ in today’s digital world. It is more important today than at any time in history.
Brands use this technique to create relatability and build trust. It relies on real client testimonials or stories that revolve around the ‘grand’ brand experience.
“We are all storytellers”, says @Giovanni Marsico, an Emmy-Winning Producer, and Founder of Archangel. We all have our mind-blowing interesting stories engraved in our memories.
Those serve as an enchanting marketing skill, and a powerful selling technique. Storytelling is impactful since it has a permanent “brand recognition effect”.
Storytelling is also unique because it triggers emotions and activates the whole brain. It allows the prospect to envision and experience a variety of emotions at the same time.
With storytelling, the prospect experiences that grand feeling of attaining a product. He/she could relate to that experience with his emotions, even before using his reason to doubt it.
This carnival of emotions serves as a memorable brand experience. For, “A good story will sell millions” according to @Perry Belcher, a digital marketer, and copywriter. And selling by appealing to emotions is without a doubt, a winning strategy.
Provide a Strong WHY
Simon Sinek says: people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it. Thus, the story behind the brand builds more brand authority.
Thus, a brand’s unique story along with its USP differentiates the product in the customer’s mind.
The USP states what unique value the product or service offers and how it can transform their life.
The question remains as to how a brand can differentiate itself to achieve longevity among its fierce competitors?
Build Up Your Trust
Businesses that have continued to serve their customers during the pandemic have thrived mainly because:
- They were smart to build an online presence. They have anticipated and adapted to the changing pandemic situation.
- They have automated their sales funnel to reap high revenues. The sales funnel functioned at a low cost even during lock-down or non-working hours.
That’s why many businesses have boomed during the pandemic”. While, many other once ‘huge’ brand names, were out of business like Nordstrom.
Thus, being genuine and value-driven is a prerequisite for authentic branding. Successful brands display real customer testimonials on their social media platforms or websites.
They grab more followers and attract new buyers in an organic manner.
Stand up for your Public Image
Today’s businesses have an ethical responsibility towards their community since business modes of co-creation have shifted the power from business to consumer.
Therefore, businesses must rely on an authentic public image to sustain their longevity.
Authentic marketing is about building your strong public image and addressing customer concerns. Customer concerns range from environmental issues, gender discrimination, racism, animal testing, or other ethical issues.
OVER-Deliver Authentic content!
Successful marketing has become synonymous with creating a unique content strategy. Providing content that highlights your competence and unique value proposition, is a must.
This is also where exhibiting sincerity in emotions, and targeting other interests in your customer’s mind, will serve you the most.
Brands are over-delivering value and authenticity to gain wider market visibility, today. This has driven real competition among influencers, as much as it has among brands.
The brand with a motto to ‘Give Give Give’, before expecting anything in return is flourishing over the internet and is being scrutinized through a transparent lens.
On social media, the brand that delivers more know-how, advice, and giveaways are growing its organic network of followers.
Value has indeed become synonymous with providing learner-driven education. Recipes, secrets, tricks, advice, solutions. Social media platforms have become a sort of learning, learner ‘Rendez-Vous’.
It is a passionate exchange of educational value versus more followers and publicity. It is also about showing up consistently, to deliver your premise.
Indeed, the authentic teacher friend, the mentor expert, has stepped out of the classic classroom. He/she delivers value to the comfort of your home, fueling you with relevant life skills in his/her podcasts, videos, and stories.
Motivational speakers, life coaches, and personal development leaders are all over the internet. They offer their valuable expertise and transformational roadmaps to achieve your dreams.
Today, you get to learn practical entrepreneurial skills through videos and online courses. Those were never introduced into the curriculum of the most prestigious universities, before!
In this manner, the outreach of digital media has uncovered the most valuable form of personalized and human-driven education.
Create Authentic Content
The digital world has become a meta-verse of possibilities. It offers you a grand personalized experience, outside the limits of space and time.
That is why, creating content that converts has become trickier than ever. It is no longer an attractive sales solo, per se.
It has become a cohesive long-term “tango dance” of entertainment, empathy, and education.
Moreover, marketers have backed away from their aggressive sales tactics of pop-up or auto-play ads on websites.
Marketers are creating content that converts, without overselling their product. Thus, empathetic sales strategies with a personalized allure, have become the new trend.
They are adapting a friendly-empathetic approach to keep consumers engaged.
Copywriting, for example, has shifted from an offline dodgy sales technique to an empathetic personality-based approach.
Before, “offline copywriters presented their offer directly after capturing the attention of readers. This way they would let them know what they are selling and what kind of deal they’ll be making.
Today, copywriters tend to take off that copywriting hat and sound ‘as fewer sales as possible. They appear to be more value-driven and focused on solving authentic real-life problems.
The Art of Empathy Stands Out!
Social media algorithms determine which content to deliver based on your behavior. Thus, it is the user who determines who ranks first on his/her news feed.
Thus, it is the user who decides if you are worthy enough to hit worldwide recognition with a press of his button. Period.
That is why being authentic is the only way the prospect can relate to you. By being yourself in your authentic shoes, and not in your Cinderella glass slippers.
By speaking of your experience and relating to people’s troubles and concerns. By empathizing with others and offering useful solutions through a product or service..
Empathy is about crossing that extra mile to achieve success. It is about shifting the lens to your customers’ experience. It is also about valuing human authenticity.
Richard Bradson, Founder and CEO of the Virgin megastore, says: “If you care enough, you can improve on any facet of the human experience.” Thus, empathy towards others is the principal determinant of whether you are a ‘thriver’ or a futile ‘striver’.
Even with AI, empathy will propel you through the darkest moments. It will thrust you into your successful throne so that you can reign with brand loyalty.
Below are the vital steps to sustain and develop your authentic brand voice:
- Have a presence on social media. Make your space, by showing up with your beautiful face. Highlight your uniqueness in your bio, and link it to your website. Don’t forget to provide a call to action for interested prospects.
- Create more short videos and reels. Video is the future of online traffic, says renowned copywriter Alex Cattoni. Facial communication triggers memory neurons and helps customers remember you and your brand.
- Connect with Facebook communities. Learn their desires, troubles, and concerns. This way you’ll be able to build their memorable brand experience.
- Create Personalized Content that serves your ideal client. Be authentic, be a friend, and relate to people instead of using templates and robotic cold emails. Focus on giving customers that memorable experience.
- Give your customers a strong incentive to follow you. State your clear USP. According to Chris Do, if you want more clients, stop selling what you do. Sell what your services do for your clients, and what measurable results they can achieve.
- Be consistent in delivering value. Experiment with your posts, and diversify your content. Repeat your USP in different ways, on a consistent basis. A social media calendar can help you keep track.
- Overcome your camera shyness, and embrace yourself as a professional. Be a mentor who is willing to serve his/her community and make this world a better place.
