You know when you meet someone new for the first time, and you instantly get a good feeling about them?
It’s their personality that makes you feel that way.
And brands are similar to people, and just as we all have personalities that others connect to, your brand needs one too.
The brands we love connect with us emotionally and make us feel as if they are there primarily for us; it’s why we trust and buy from them.
And what you project determines how people perceive you. Hence, it’s crucially important that your brand’s personality is consistently genuine, authentic, transparent, approachable, friendly, and created with your target audience in mind.
But all of that doesn’t happen by chance.
You have to infuse it with the traits your audience looks for and ensure it shapes their perception of you in the right way.
Fortunately, it’s a very achievable thing to do; all you need to know is how to create a brand personality that suits your business.
Table of Contents
What is Brand Personality?
Brand personality transmits your brand identity to the public.
It’s a set of carefully chosen characteristics, such as brand voice, its tone, your content, and the marketing platforms you use to project them. It’s also commonly referred to as the human component of your brand, as it’s what creates an emotional connection with your customers.
After all, we don’t connect with products, we connect with brands and their stories, and that’s why your message has to ensure people instantly get a good feeling about you, much like when we meet someone new for the first time.
Defining your brand voice is how you bring your brand to life; it’s what gives it a radiant smile, makes people feel at ease, and forms positive relationships. It’s also what ensures folks remember you and use your brand again in the future.
Now you know what a brand personality is, it’s time to find yours and ensure it has a personality people love.
The Five Different Types of Brand Personalities
Psychologist Jennifer Aaker coined the five categories of brand personalities, each with specific traits and strengths suitable for different market places. Her work has become the industry standard and what most leading brands use to form their personalities.
The five brand personalities:
- Sincerity
According to an Alderman survey, 81 percent of consumers said they need to trust a brand to buy from them. People are drawn to sincere brands because they’re trustworthy, and that’s a driving factor for making people fall in love with your personality.
- Competence
We all like brands we can rely on; this is where competence comes into play. When you show competence, people will have faith you deliver on your promise and get the job done.
- Sophistication
Sophistication and charm are winning personality traits; it’s why we gravitate towards people who have them. Brands that obtain sophistication become market leaders, ones we love to use time and time again.
- Excitement
If your brand is in an exciting market, then your personality has to be exciting too. You do it by being innovative, breaking new ground, trying new approaches, and leading the way.
- Ruggedness
A perfect personality for outdoorsy style brands. By being rugged, you exude a perception of power, toughness, and daring. And by using you, your customers feel that way too.
Next up, how to create your chosen brand personality:
Creating Your Brand Personality
Just as we have to connect with our friends and family, your brand personality has to connect emotionally with your target audience.
You do it by asking: what type of personality suits your audience? And who would they like to be associated with?
Your market and niche can give you those answers; take a close look at the brands your target audience is already using (more on your competition coming up). You aim to find specific characteristics that will humanize your brand. And by doing so, create those all-important emotional qualities that connect with your audience.
But you might already have important human characteristics you can use for your brand; after all, you’re human. If you’re using marketing strategies on social media, have website content or videos, keep what’s inherent to you because people want authenticity.
Just ensure that the traits you have and the ones you’re going to use for your new brand personality support one another emotionally and visually.
As mentioned, your brand’s personality has to connect with your target audience.
So, let’s begin with them:
Always Cater to your target customers
If you don’t know who your audience is, your first job is to understand their needs, pain points and find out how they communicate. Once you know those elements, you can use them to form your brand personality to suit.
It’s because your number one priority when creating your brand personality is to ensure it meets your customer’s preferences. Get that right, and they’ll treat you as a close friend and not a soulless corporation.
Consider Your Competition.
While your brand’s message must suit your market niche as well as your audience, you must stand out from the crowd to get noticed.
You do that by reviewing your competitors, finding what strategies they’re using to form their brand personality, and then adopting an entirely different approach. While this might sound risky, it’s a case of she/he who dares gets noticed.
Use Adjectives to Describe Your Ideal Brand Personality
Adjectives describe nouns, and that’s what your brand is.
Choosing adjectives that describe your brand is an excellent way of creating its personality. So, what’s your market? Do you want to come across as sincere or exciting, rugged or sophisticated?
Choose adjectives that fit the message you want to convey. Start with as many as you feel are applicable, then reduce it to one that really describes and connects emotionally with your brand’s persona. And always keep your target audience in mind, as they too have to relate to the adjectives you choose.
Draw A Character
You don’t have to be a Banksy to nail this tactic; if stick figures are your thing, then they’ll do just fine.
You’re aiming to infuse your drawing with the adjective you’ve chosen. By creating a character, you give your brand a persona, a visual of how you want your brand to look. And what you come up with can often be used later when creating your logo, brand color palette, and other visuals.
So go on, get doodling!
Talk with your brand.
Once you have an adjective-infused character with certain personality traits, it’s time to chat with your brand’s personality. Your goal is to give your brand personality a voice, and that’s crucially important for communicating with your target audience.
Start by asking your brand questions that your consumers might ask.
Does your brand answer in a witty, profound, relatable, informative, or reassuring way?
The answers you come up with can form the foundation for all your future content, so don’t underestimate the importance of this step, even if it feels a bit weird at first.
Always Be Consistent.
Consistency is king when it comes to all things branding because it provides reliability to your target audience, meaning they know what to expect when they choose your brand.
To create consistency, take all that you’ve found while following our steps and use them on all your platforms because how your brand is seen is how people will perceive it. If you’ve chosen a rugged style persona, use it in all your marketing endeavors and ensure your tone of voice and imagery speak the same language.
And if you find that one particular element you’ve chosen connects better than others with your target audience, tweak your brand personality to suit that style so it gives them what they want.
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The emotional component cannot be underestimated Anthony. I intend to buy a pair of sneakers today here in Panama City; Albrook Mall is about 1 of the 10 largest malls on earth. Built on the old US Airforce Base here. 500 plus stores, just gargantuan and a fabulous store too! But brands and emotions came to mind. I am thinking Nike and its comfort and sleek design, or something similar. The feelings precede the buy. Excellent tips here.
Ryan
First, I saw some of your photos of that mall. Wow. That is a huge. And it’s amazing the differences in the things you can buy there vs. here in the US. Very interested! And yes, brands certainly convey a specific feel, and that’s why we connect with them. A brand’s personality should resonate with the target audience.
Crafting your message is the nuts and bolts of your brand identity. It is the vehicle in which your voice can ride and reach the eyes, ears, and minds of your audience. This is where effective Content Marketing really comes into play.
Content marketing is a powerful tool, Robert. It can truly power your brand and help create strong relationships with your target audience.