So… What Is Branding Anyway?
Branding is the promotion of a particular business through distinctive design and language used to identify that brand.
This is fancy speak for the visual representation of a brand including logo, color, typography, brand messaging, and brand personality, or, how that brand speaks to its audience.
With the rise of the gig economy in recent years and entrepreneurship specifically, the “personal brand” has never been more important.
You may wonder how a corporate brand, or business brand, differs from a personal brand. As creative entrepreneurs, it is important to know the difference so we can build a great personal brand.
Let’s jump in and figure it out!
What is Corporate Branding?
A corporate brand is for an organization, and not attributed to any one person. It is group-centric vs individual-centric. A corporate brand cultivates a reputation with the public as they interact with the brand in a variety of ways: advertising, customer service, in-store experience, using the service or product, etc.
A corporate brand influences how the public sees the company through communicating its values, vision, what the organization stands for, as well as what customers should expect from their products and services.
They communicate with the public with their brand tone via their logo, website, tone of their social media posts, commercial advertising, and what programs and initiatives are in place for their employees or community.
All of these things influence how the public thinks about the brand.
What is Personal Branding?
A personal brand boils down to presenting the essence of an individual in an intentional way. It encompasses their personality, talents, strengths, uniqueness, goals, interests, passions, values, and professional wins and reputation.
Personal branding revolves around your persona. You and your business are the same, as your business is associated directly with your name. (Hey, that rhymed…)
With a personal brand, you present how you want people to see you. You present who you are – the real you, but in an intentional, thoughtful, and curated way.
As a voice actor, you can take all of this into consideration PLUS how you sound, and the genres you work in to figure out your visual branding.
Once you develop your branding, you can filter how you deliver your messaging (website copy, social media posts, emails, etc.) through that filter.
How does a Personal Brand differ from a Corporate Brand?
It’s Personal
The major difference between a corporate brand and a personal brand is that a personal brand is well, personal. It’s tied to an individual.
Professionally, you make one-on-one relationships with your clients. The buck starts and stops with you.
You get to present who you are by sharing your personality and values, interests and passions, products and services, and the value you bring when people work with you.
Your business reputation is associated with who you are as a person. As people work with you they form their impression of you.
Your Visual Marketing is Different
A corporate brand needs a logo. A freelancer, like a voice actor, doesn’t.
A corporate website will have information available about their corporate culture and identity. Information about various services and products, maybe an e-commerce store. Perhaps a page about careers and positions available, or initiatives for community impact. There is a focus on the “group”.
A personal branded website is a simple portfolio website outlining your recent work, defining what you do and how you help your clients. It includes a bio, a contact form, and links to social media channels. It’s focused on you the “solo professional entrepreneur”.
Your Messaging is Different
Personal brand messaging is all about being accessible to your clients. You are only a phone call or email away.
What you say in your messaging is a reflection of you. Your brand personality is your personality. Start by identifying what your personality is. This is a great place to start when you want to identify your brand voice and tone.
Corporate brand message and tone is curated to reflect corporate values and how they want the public to think about their brand as an entity, not as an individual.
Your Advertising is Different
A corporate brand can spend millions on a slick commercial to get eyes on their brand and their new product or service offerings. A corporate brand can enforce what they want to communicate through a multi-faceted advertising campaign.
Personal brands advertise on a much smaller scale. One-to-one via email, LinkedIn outreach, social media posts, commenting on prospects and client’s posts, and having a great marketing tool to point your audience to – a fabulous website.
How Do I Create My Personal Brand?
You might be wondering how to create your personal brand as a voice actor, (or other creative freelancer reading this post). I’m posting more on this topic soon! So check back soon to learn more about how to build a brand!