As an entrepreneur, you might be considering whether to focus exclusively on your personal or business branding.

But while the two are different from each other, they work best together.

Branding represents your values, mission and messaging. Your branding is expressed through your logos names, slogans, uniforms, packaging and other similar indicators that set you apart from competitors.

As their names suggest, personal branding focuses on you as an individual while business branding focuses on your enterprise as a separate entity. Depending on your industry and the nature of your business, using one type of branding may work well. But if you want to maximise the full potential of your branding, focusing on both can greatly benefit you and your business. 

According to Oberlo’s shortlist of statistics, 68 per cent of businesses report that brand consistency has contributed to revenue growths of 10 per cent or more. In a separate survey, 46 per cent of consumers stated that they would pay more for a product or service if it’s from a brand they trust. 

Harnessing the power of branding requires a clear understanding of how it works. In this blog, we will discuss the differences between personal branding and business branding, and how they can both work for you.

What is personal branding?

Executive coach Harrison Monarth defined personal branding involves visibility and the values that you outwardly represent. You can define your brand by ensuring that your actions align with your intentions and values. This enables you to steer the public’s perception of you in a specific direction. 

For example, if you consider environmental sustainability as one of your personal values, then you would develop action plans that allow you to express this value in concrete ways through small individual acts and with your business. This shows people that you’re genuinely committed to promoting environmental sustainability and gives the public a clear idea of your values. 

Gary Vaynerchuck has a well-known personal brand because of his unique approach to entrepreneurship, which is instrumental in the success of his many businesses. People seek his advice because of his values and achievements.

Because a personal brand is rooted in the individual’s personality and values, it is also naturally the first thing you would develop, even if you were also planning to create a business brand. In a practical sense, having a well-established personal brand enables you to develop genuine relationships and connections with people. 

People are more likely to buy from people they trust, and a personal brand can help your audience decide that you are someone they’d do business with.

Key steps you can take in developing your personal brand include:

• Identify your personal motivations and goals. This will help you harness your existing skills and attributes and showcase your greatest strengths so that they are outwardly visible to others.
• Align your values to your business. Your personal brand needs to work hand in hand with your business. Even if the process for creating a business brand is different, it needs to complement your personal brand.
• Boost your presence. You can do this in numerous ways: post valuable content on your platforms, network with peers and colleagues and interact with your target audience. This will allow you to increase brand awareness and visibility.

If you’re still unsure whether you need a personal brand or not, just look out for these signs:

• You lack avenues to tell your “hero’s journey” as an entrepreneur
• You have a lacklustre online reputation (and it’s affecting your lead-generation results)
• Your customers are looking for a human element to your business

These signs indicate that you need to develop a personal brand to help you boost your business and achieve your marketing goals.

What is business branding?

A business brand is a separate entity from its founder or owner, and it encompasses the values and characteristics of the company, which are then communicated to the public. Using business information about the products and services is also typical in developing a business brand.

For example, a business brand for a real estate agency in Melbourne may focus its key messaging on providing excellent services for vendors and buyers in specific Melbournian suburbs or neighbourhoods.

Another key difference between personal branding and business branding is the point of view that is used in the branding development process. 

A personal brand requires the individual’s perspective on how they want to present themselves to the public. However, a business brand needs to be developed with the customers’ perspective in mind.

Your business brand needs to be a carefully curated entity consisting of values and characteristics that resonate with your target audience. This enables you to attract and retain customers with similar principles and attributes.

Knowing the current trends in branding can also help you keep your initiatives up-to-date and relevant.

What content looks like for personal branding vs business branding

Once you’ve developed a clear personal and business brand identity, it’s important to incorporate your branding into your content marketing.

Your branding needs to translate effectively into your content, as this is typically the first thing your audience will interact with online from your business. 

If your audience can’t get a strong sense of your brand identity from your content, then it either means that the branding requires more work or it’s not strongly incorporated into your marketing strategy.

There are a limited number of content types you can use (e.g. blogs, videos, podcasts, images, etc.) but how you use them for your branding is limitless, depending on your creativity. The usage of content types will also differ in topics and key messages for personal branding and business branding.

Content for your personal brand

When you’re creating content for your personal brand, it’s important to be authentic and showcase your personality. Your audience is discerning, and they will turn away from any disingenuity they may sense.

For example, if you’re creating piece-to-camera videos, don’t be afraid to show your humorous, witty side. Your audience will find you approachable and likeable when they feel like you’re on equal ground with them. 

If you’re creating a branded long-form blog about your journey as a business owner, be open about the challenges and mistakes you’ve made in the past. This can spark an emotional connection with your audience as they root for your success.  

Content for business branding

While your business brand will technically use the same types of content as your personal brand, the topics you use will be different.

You can showcase your business brand through your content by promoting your credibility and trustworthiness in the industry, highlighting why customers should go to your business instead of your competitors.

You can create educational blogs about different industry-related topics that can enrich your customers’ lives and help them address the challenges they’re currently facing.

How-to video tutorials are also incredibly useful and popular online as more people look for visual content.

When you establish yourself as a reliable source of knowledge in the industry, you will be able to generate more leads and attract more customers.

Personal branding and business branding may be different, but they work together to uplift you and your enterprise. Contact us and we will help you in developing your brand.