Finding your brand personality

Having no brand personality is a missed opportunity. It's like the gray wetsuit of marketing—it'll do in a pinch, but it doesn't bring the 'a-ha!' factor you need to stand out from competitors and convince prospects to buy your product.

The more information you can find on your competitor's brand personality, the better. This allows you to identify your target market, understand how they think and feel, and drive customers in their direction.

Let's talk about your brand personality, how consumers can define it, and how to ensure it becomes part of your marketing and social channels.

Identify what makes you different

Identifying your unique value proposition (UVP) can be difficult. Still, the more you know about yourself, the easier it will be to answer this question. To get started, you'll have to consider who you are as a business and what makes you different from your competitors. Once you know that, you can refine your message and create your brand identity.

For example, suppose I ask what differentiates McDonald's from Burger King. In that case, you could probably give me a few answers like "they have dollar menus" and "they have happy meals." These are features of the company, but they don't tell us why we should choose one over the other. Because these two companies have many things in common (they're both fast food restaurants), they must find something else that sets them apart. And that's where their UVP comes in—Mcdonald's UVP is "we offer good food at an affordable price." Now we know why we should eat at Mcdonald's instead of Burger King—their food is cheaper!

Explore adjectives

Having no brand personality is a missed opportunity. It's like the gray wetsuit of marketing—it'll do in a pinch, but it doesn't bring the 'a-ha!' factor you need to stand out from competitors and convince prospects to buy your product.

The more information you can find on your competitor's brand personality, the better. This allows you to identify your target market, understand how they think and feel, and drive customers in their direction.

Let's talk about your brand personality, how consumers can define it, and how to ensure it becomes part of your marketing and social channels.

Identify what makes you different

Identifying your unique value proposition (UVP) can be difficult. Still, the more you know about yourself, the easier it will be to answer this question. To get started, you'll have to consider who you are as a business and what makes you different from your competitors. Once you know that, you can refine your message and create your brand identity.

For example, suppose I ask what differentiates McDonald's from Burger King. In that case, you could probably give me a few answers like "they have dollar menus" and "they have happy meals." These are features of the company, but they don't tell us why we should choose one over the other. Because these two companies have many things in common (they're both fast food restaurants), they must find something else that sets them apart. And that's where their UVP comes in—Mcdonald's UVP is "we offer good food at an affordable price." Now we know why we should eat at Mcdonald's instead of Burger King—their food is cheaper!

Explore adjectives

Brand personality is a set of human characteristics your customer will associate with your brand. Get playful with words and write a list of adjectives your ideal customer would use to describe your brand.

For example, if you sell organic skincare, some words might be "natural" or "healthy." If you sell yoga apparel, words like "breathable" and "flexible" are possible choices.

Once you have your list of words, look for patterns. Are there any words that appear more than once? Do certain words not appear at all? Use these insights to create a core message for your brand.

For example, if every adjective on your list describes how physically flexible something is (like yoga clothing), it would make sense to focus on flexibility as an attribute of your product line.

Know your audience

Your brand personality must resonate with your audience, so you need to know exactly who they are. Try to identify who your ideal customer would be. What do they like? Where do they hang out? What age range are they in? You could run through creating a customer avatar here.

An excellent example is Nike's mission statement: "To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world." It's not just about making shoes or clothes—it's about inspiring people to be their best versions of themselves and pushing them past their limits.

In clothing design, you may want to consider how to adapt this concept for fashion designers. What does your clothing make people feel like? Does it make them look good? Is it comfortable? Does it improve their confidence? If so—fantastic! That's a great way to start building up your unique selling proposition (USP)!

Set your tone

It's also an essential part of building an effective brand strategy. The tone of voice should be consistent across all your marketing channels, including your website, social media profiles, blog posts, and emails.

The tone of your brand is how you want people to feel when they hear about or experience your brand. It's the feeling your brand evokes, whether it's friendly, professional, or playful.

The best brands have found their unique voices that resonate with their audience. Apple has its language, while Amazon has a conversational tone that feels like you're talking to a friend.

Get Visual

There are many different ways to brand your business—from the colors you select to the fonts you use to the visuals accompanying your marketing materials. Becoming aware of your brand identity can be easy. Still, it's essential to take a step back and see if your offer genuinely reflects your business's personality.

Your brand identity combines all the visual elements that bring together the experience of interacting with your business. You want it to feel cohesive—allowing clients to identify themselves with your products or services quickly—but also unique so that it doesn't blend in with all other companies.

But remember that visuals—whether on your website or any other marketing material—are meant to reflect who you are as a business, not who you are as an individual. Your personality might be energetic, but your visuals should match the professional image you want to project.

Discover your style with Stoute Web Solutions!

Creating your brand personality can be an abstract idea for most new businesses. But that's okay because as you get your business off the ground, you will see where your brand personality begins to emerge.

With a clear direction in place, you can build a successful brand. But don't get too caught up in finding your brand personality; it will come to you almost as quickly as it did for that delicious little slice of pie. Contact us to know more!