We all know the world is becoming more digital; we are increasingly socialising, shopping, reading, studying, essentially living online. This means of course, we are doing a lot more ‘feeling’ online too. Our emotional journeys day to day, are highly influenced by what happens on our phones and on our laptops. So the question is, which emotions does your brand create?
Digital communications that evoke a strong emotive, response and create a connection with the viewers, are the most powerful. In order to do this consistently and effectively, you have to give your brand a personality. As we move through 2021, consumers will increasingly develop strong relationships with brands online. The brands who do this best, will create a community of customers who interact positively with the brand, and each other, on their digital platforms.
But what emotions should you be creating with your marketing? What is your brand’s personality? Every brand is different, you all want to portray your companies in a different way. The first thing I will do with a new client is discuss their brand personality with them. For some of you, this will already be very defined. Others may have no idea what their brand personality is and you will need a little extra help figuring this out. Either way, it is important to take the time to get this right so that the communications I produce for you are in a style you like.
This comes down to three things, the first, and most important, being who is your customer? What type of personality will they respond well to?
Second, what are you selling? Does your service work well with humour or a more serious approach? Is your product empowering or relaxing?
Finally, it’s about you. What type of personality do you want to portray, how do you want your brand to be viewed by the public. When someone phones your company or buys your product or services the personality you present on social media, should translate into your customers services. Consistency is key.
Brand Personality Framework
In 1997, Jennifer Aaker produced a brand personality framework that is still widely respected today. It outlines that brand personalities come under 5 difference dimensions –
- Sincerity (down to earth, honest, wholesome, cheerful)
- Excitement (daring, spirited, imaginative, up to date)
- Competence (reliable, intelligent, successful)
- Sophistication (upper-class, charming)
- Ruggedness (outdoorsy, tough)
This framework can be a great tool to help you start the process of developing your brand’s personality. I will ask you to come up with 4 or 5 personality traits that describe your brand well – if these fall under more than one category from the list above, then that’s okay! Every business owner is unique and so is every brand.
If you’d like to discover your brands personality, and show it off to the world get in touch.
Katie Mullen Digital Marketing – putting the passion back in your business communications.
Brand Personality Testimonial
“As a professional magician I understand the importance of making a great first impression, and that first impression often comes from the quality of my online marketing.
I asked Katie to have a look at my online marketing and make suggestions for me to maintain a good presence through my new online performance business. After a truly short time Katie gave an incredibly detailed analysis of my online personality. In fact, not only my personality but also Shadow The Rabbits! Katie then showed where I could implement changes to improve my online engagement and even offered demonstrations of how this could work. The difference this has made is easily measured in the engagement on posts and the new enquiries generated.
Katie has become an essential part of my team and I cannot thank her enough for sharing her expertise. It will be a pleasure to recommend Katie to family, friends and colleagues in the future.”
– Scott Cuthbertson, Scotland’s Magician (February, 2021)