There is considerable talk about branding strategy among marketing strategist as to the appropriate guidelines for branding businesses. The most apparent struggle stems from the debate over personal branding vs. corporate branding.
Almost all marketing strategist agree that you need a clear distinction of what your business branding strategy entails. Naturally, in a smaller business the line between personal branding and business branding can become very blurred. More often than not, they are massively entwined. As a business owner what can you can you do to promote your closely linked personal / business brand and where should you draw the line?
- Great Minds Think Alike. Hire employees with similar branding goals (this does not mean hire clones). From a core brand perspective, this will insure that your image is replicated in your staff’s social media outlets and that your company brand is respected.
- Everyone Needs A Little Help. Budgets continue to be stretched and require creative thinking. Vendors are often part of this process. When using Outsourced Marketing Solutions, make sure there are brand and philosophy guidelines that everyone is aware of and follows. Often external resources can give a company even greater insight over their competition and in defining what their external brand image is.
- What’s Your Point? While self-promoting for your business, it can sometimes be easy to forget your point. The point is continuing to provide your audience with useful content that is in line with your business goals. These can be achieved through considering visible venues like blogging, Tweeting, Facebooking, etc. Always keeping in mind your basic search optimization goals.
- You’re Human…Go Ahead And Act Like One! Much in the same way it is hard to connect with a person with no visible humanity, it is hard for people to identify with a business with no soul. People actually like a human element. The question you have to ask yourself is, “how much is too much”? Many business owners, ranging from freelance to executives, procure individual blogs that clearly state their personal intent but always seem to be in line with the practical business images. It might make the most sense for you to make your business blog less robotic by adding some humanity. However, if this is not the company culture you want to promote, then consider creating a personal space where self-promotion might come more naturally for you such as plus.google.com/authorship, Technorati.com or WordPress.com.
Find out what your small business branding goals are. Contact Witmer Group to assist you in finding distinction between your personal and business branding strategy.