What actually builds a personal brand in marketing?
Short answer: publishing what you actually think, often enough that people know what you stand for, and backing it with work that holds up. A personal brand is not a positioning statement you write once. It is the reputation that accumulates from what you share, who you help, and what you are willing to say when it is inconvenient.
What people think builds it, and what does
| Commonly assumed | What actually moves it |
|---|---|
| Posting frequency | Having a point of view worth repeating |
| A polished profile | Consistency between what you say and what you deliver |
| Follower count | Who is in the audience, not how many |
| Talking about wins | Being specific about what did not work |
| Being everywhere | Being reliably present in one place |
The conversation below goes through how that works in practice.
We’re living in a world where the demand for marketing services is high, but the results aren’t there. Mostly, it’s because of how we think and do marketing, but also because there are, because of the high demand, many companies and “professionals” that do things in a way that won’t bring desired results.
That’s why Funky Marketing ran this series of interviews with worldwide professionals doing marketing and business in a different way, the right way, with a bit of funk, to help the wider auditorium get to know what great marketing is and how it is done.
In this interview (2022) we’re talking with Nick Bennett, at the time Director of Evangelism & Customer Marketing at Alyce. Voted as one of LinkedIn’s top 100 creators, Nick Bennett shares his experiences with personal branding, evangelism, and customer marketing daily on LinkedIn and TikTok. Nick also hosts one of the world’s top 10% most popular podcasts, Rep Your Brand, and as a podcast host, speaker and creator, Nick constantly explores how B2B buyers make decisions and what it takes to turn them into brand advocates. He had just launched his own consulting business, NB Marketing Consulting, to help B2B Startups with demand and branding strategies.
Here we have an amazing opportunity to learn more about Nick and his views on marketing, branding, and business so let’s not wait any longer and see what he has to say.
How to build a personal brand/reliable team/continuous quality/long-term satisfied client?
I think that being the subject matter expert is the answer to all of these questions.
Everyone has stories to tell from personal experience and I’ve realized that’s what people connect to.
So, I have been creating content and building my brand for over 2+ years now and it’s been a game-changer for me. The number of doors that it opened has been tremendous.
I think when you are authentic and provide value it’s how you build that long-term relationship that people will want to work with you and seek you out.
Let’s talk about processes. Give us an example to help us understand how you think about marketing campaigns with a specific example or examples.
The way I approach marketing campaigns depends on what part of the funnel we’re talking about. As a field marketer (which is what my background is), I have been mostly focused on the middle and bottom of the funnel.
So, I always start with this question: what can I do to really accelerate the deals that the demand gen team is bringing in at the top?
One thing that I really loved was focusing on LinkedIn conversational ads as a way to accelerate opps. We were able to incorporate gifting into the convo ads and drop an average 30% close rate from the accounts we targeted in a shorter window than our typical deal cycle.
What do you consider the next big step in your career? Why?
The more I think about it, the more I realize that going and working for myself is the next big step in my career. That’s my long-term vision. I’ve built up a big enough network that I think I can be helpful to post-seed stage companies who are looking for field marketing, ABM, and community help as they begin to scale their businesses and might not have the resources yet.
Where are you studying today?
I am learning more about customer marketing. At the time I was focused on retention in my new role and it’s something I’ve never done before. So, I am connecting with other customer marketers, reading, and learning to make sure that not only do we build customer champions and advocates, but also a product that people want to evangelize for.
What do you think, are we sharing enough knowledge? Why? And how is it impacting the way companies think of marketing today?
In my opinion, there are people that are sharing enough knowledge. I think it’s just unleashing everything that has been in your brain for as long as you’ve been working in your profession. You are the subject matter expert, so the more you share about that, the more it can help others.
What do you recommend to those who follow you? What is it that helped you to be where you are?
I think it’s been spending time building real relationships vs just creating content for the vanity metrics. You never know when you may need a job, need some type of help, or be in a position to help others. When you focus on connecting with people on a deeper level it really opens up your eyes to what’s important.
Is there anything we haven’t asked you that you’d like to tell the readers?
Check out Rep Your Brand 🙂
FAQ: content and personal branding
Do I need a personal brand if I work inside a company?
It helps both of you. People trust a named person faster than a company account, and the reputation stays with you when the job changes. Companies that understand this encourage it rather than police it.
What should I post about when I am starting?
The problems you solve at work this week, written the way you would explain them to a colleague. Nobody is waiting for your industry overview. They are waiting for the specific thing you know that they do not.
How much of yourself should go into it?
Enough that it sounds like you and not like a company blog. Personal does not mean private. The texture that makes people remember you is usually in how you say things, not in what you disclose.
How long before a personal brand does anything for business?
Six months to a year of steady publishing before it changes the shape of your inbox. The early signal is people quoting you back to yourself, and the right profiles showing up in your visitor list.
Related reading: How personal branding creates differentiation, LinkedIn marketing: build an audience and increase engagement, How to build brand awareness for your company.
This article is from the Funky Marketing blog archive. The work continues at Funky Enterprises: positioning, demand generation and commercial systems for B2B companies.
If you want to look at your own commercial system, book a 30-minute needs assessment. New conversations with people who build revenue are on the Funky Enterprises Show.
