How do you assess your clients' personal branding needs and goals?

Personal branding takes a ton of different paths. I focus on career branding for job search. In job search coaching, one of the main ways to look at this is by doing an analysis of the jobs the person is applying for. There are different career branding stages: up and coming, SME, job seeker, and a few others. Do you need to found by a recruiter? Are you wanting to be noticed for industry contribution? Each focus and intention has its own nuance, at least on LinkedIn. The focus influences resume content, cover letters, LinkedIn, networking messaging, and so forth. It all starts with clarity on intention and who you want to reach.

I do agree to start with identifying your target audience for effectively shaping your brand message and connecting with the right people. Here are some steps to help you identify your target audience: 1.Define your personal brand by understanding your values, strengths, and unique qualities. 2. Conduct market research to gain insights into your industry and target audience. 3.Create personas based on demographics, interests, challenges, and goals while also reviewing patterns 4. Use social media analytics to understand demographics and engagement. do test runs with posts or LinkedIn posts to gather insights. 5. Stay updated on industry trends and refine your strategies based on audience feedback.

Initial consultation: Begin by having an initial consultation with the client to understand their background, current situation, and aspirations. Ask open-ended questions to gather information about their personal and professional goals, target audience, values, and unique attributes.

Honesty is above everything. When assessing the needs of my clients, the truth is that the difference is in the truth. - The norm has shifted and the near AI type of responses that the "average" marketing firm presents in nearly all situations; simply doesn't cut it anymore. Our job as marketing professionals is to identify and captivate in ways that our clients may not have organically produced on their own. With that, we have to be able to provide the world, while being a voice of reason and truth. Overpromising will always come back to bite. This happens time and time again with new firms. Leverage your strengths. Align said strength to the goals of the client. Provide real and honest timelines. Communicate. Track and repeat.

Identifying the target market or picking the right niche can make you stand out. At the beginning of my journey, I was also confused. But... When I started focusing on strengths, weaknesses, and interests, things started going in my favor. Doing a SWOT analysis is essential to identifying the right market. More or less, we need to first develop self-awareness to get a fair understanding of our target market. You should always focus on finding an intersection between how you fulfill their objectives and what interests you. Focusing on two or three niches can also be fine to build authority in the market if you have diverse interests.

To add to this, think about what are your USPs (Unique selling points). What makes you stand out from others in the crowd (interview/tech/communication). Reflect back on that. In short, key ways to define your value proposition: 1. Identify your target market and their needs. 2. Assess your strengths and unique qualities. 3. Determine the specific benefits you offer. 4. Craft a concise and compelling statement. 5. Test, gather feedback, and iterate. Keep your value proposition customer-centric, highlighting the benefits and differentiation from competitors.

Identify Target Audience: Determine the client's target audience or the specific group of people they aim to reach or influence. This can be potential employers, industry professionals, customers, or a specific community.

Great article. Many are blund to whst others think. They are too much in their own head. As Einstein says solutions must come from the outside the system.

As Dolly parton says " Find out who you are and do it on purpose". Get a hold of where you stand on what people say about you when you are not in the room where decisions are being made. To assess your personal brand image: -Reflect on your values and desired perception. -Review your online presence for consistency and alignment. -Seek feedback from colleagues and mentors and don't forget to add folks who you think may not like you. Outside in perspectives are the best. -Evaluate your professional reputation and testimonials through 360 feedback -Compare with industry peers offline for differentiation. Use this assessment to refine and enhance your personal brand.

Review Online Presence: Assess the client's existing online presence, including their website, social media profiles, and any other relevant online platforms. Analyze the content they have shared, the consistency of their messaging, and the engagement they have received.

Every client has certain objectives; that's why they build a personal brand. Understanding what they are lacking and how they can improve needs to be our goal. Brand image depends on two things: how you provide value to your audience and what you have served them as per your expertise. Collecting data from various social media sites and their website will help you understand where they are standing right now.

Agree, don't take big leaps, take small actionable but consistent steps. Remember personal branding takes time, its not a magic pill to happen overnight.

Conduct a SWOT Analysis: Perform a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) to evaluate the client's strengths and unique attributes, as well as areas that may require improvement or development. Identify opportunities for growth and potential challenges or threats that may impact their personal brand.

Asking the right questions to understand their goals and objectives is the key to serving them better. Understanding the client's needs can help you get an idea of what they are expecting and what you need to deliver. Observing the client when they are talking about KPIs or objectives like visibility, credibility, more leads, etc. will tell you a lot about how to build a content strategy and how to position themselves as an authority in a certain niche.

Choose not more than 3 platforms based on your audience and genre to save time and be productive, use scheduling feature to automate your posts, i.e... I am active on LinkedIn and Instagram only and reuse a lot of the content.

Develop a Branding Strategy: Based on the insights gathered, create a comprehensive branding strategy that outlines the recommended actions and tactics to achieve the client's goals. This strategy may include content creation, social media engagement, networking opportunities, public speaking engagements, and more.

Choosing the right channel or platform is based on audience research and the objectives or goals you want to accomplish. Let's say your goal is to get more B2B leads for your business through your personal website, then you need to focus on LinkedIn and building a personal website, blog, or newsletter to build your authority. Starting with two social media platforms is better than paying little attention to everything.

Competitor Analysis: Research and analyze the client's industry or field to understand how their competitors are positioning themselves. Identify gaps or opportunities where the client can differentiate themselves and establish a unique personal brand.

Measuring brand impact by understanding their content performance and measuring analytics and data is crucial. Clients can get to know what they can improve, what they need, and what they can double down on in terms of content once you provide them with clear feedback by analyzing and evaluating the data from their website and social media handles.

Define Branding Elements: Work with the client to define the key elements of their personal brand, such as their values, personality traits, expertise, and unique selling propositions. These elements should align with their target audience and differentiate them from others in their field.

Make sure they are not masking & borrowing but actually being themselves, natural, authentic. Make sure they understand that they were given the best possible option to be - be themselves, so why show up as someone else? Make sure they understand tehir values and remain true to them.

Set Clear Goals: Collaborate with the client to establish clear and measurable goals for their personal brand. These goals may include increasing visibility, enhancing professional reputation, expanding networks, or positioning themselves as a thought leader.

Encourage clients to develop their personal narrative, guiding them to identify, craft, and refine stories that effectively communicate their brand. Personal value propositions become more memorable, resonant, accessible, and persuasive when conveyed through storytelling.