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 we’re talking with Eden Bidani, a conversion copywriter, acquisition strategist, and founder of Green Light Copy. Eden helps SaaS, tech, and IoT companies acquire more customers and more profitably with a holistic approach to conversion copywriting and today we have an opportunity to learn more about her and her views on marketing, branding, and business.
What is the secret to building a personal brand?
Short answer: there is no secret, there is a habit. A personal brand is what people can predict about you: the topic you keep returning to, the opinion you hold when it costs you something, and the consistency to keep showing up after the first month, when nobody is clapping yet. Reach follows that. It never leads it.
What a personal brand is, and what people mistake it for
| People think it is | It is actually | Why the difference matters |
|---|---|---|
| Follower count | Who is in the audience | Two hundred buyers beat twenty thousand peers |
| A polished feed | A recognizable point of view | Polish is copied, a position is not |
| Talking about yourself | Being useful in public, repeatedly | Usefulness is the only thing people return for |
| A one-off campaign | A multi-year habit | The compounding only starts after the boring part |
The interview below goes into how that habit is built in practice.
How to build a personal brand/reliable team/continuous quality/long-term satisfied client?
The best way to build a personal brand is by consistently delivering value. That’s it. There are no hacks or shortcuts. Just find out what your audience likes and loves and keep delivering it to them.
One of my favorite mentors always used to say, the secret to success is to keep showing up.
Other people will flake out at some point or get bored and stop, but if you keep going, you will get noticed and you will stay top of mind. It’s true for all things in life, but it’s especially true for building a solid personal brand.
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.
When planning a campaign I try to put myself in the customer’s shoes as much as possible and look at the company from their perspective. When you do that (through extensive customer interviews and user research) you’ll notice patterns start to appear: the audience might share a common objection (i.e. they’re skeptical of the product), or they share a similar lifestyle.
You can then use these concepts as the inspiration or big idea that underpins the next campaign, and then you can create multiple assets that are interesting to the audience (because it’s reflective of their life or their experience).
Marketers tend to forget that the 1st step of marketing is capturing attention. If you don’t do that, you can’t do anything else. But you can capture their attention more easily by showing them images and concepts that are close to what they know. The marketing, then, feels more natural and less “salesy” – because the ideas come from them!
What do you consider the next big step in your career? Why?
The next big step is to write a book. Going through the process will enable me to help more people (because how much *really* can one share on social media? Exactly!)
Where are you studying today?
I’m currently going back through some copywriting content as a refreshed, but I’m also eyeing the UX Certification by Normal Nielsen Group (https://www.nngroup.com/ux-certification/) and would love to dive into that.
What do you think, are we sharing enough knowledge? Why? And how is it impacting the way companies think of marketing today?
No. I don’t think people are sharing enough about what works and what doesn’t – so much of the content I see is just rehashed posts on “best practices.” This leads to a lot of superficial conversations on the value of marketing… that don’t get anywhere or help anyone.
What do you recommend to those who follow you? What is it that helped you to be where you are?
Listening! Listening to people – your clients, your network, your audience – is the most important thing you can do to help your growth. They will help guide you in the right direction.
FAQ: building a personal brand
How long does it take to build a personal brand?
Expect six to twelve months before it does anything you can measure, and the first three of those feel like shouting into a room. What changes first is the quality of the conversations you get, not the size of the audience.
Do you need a personal brand if you already have a company brand?
In B2B the personal account carries further than the company page, because people follow people and because an opinion needs a face to be credible. The company brand holds the proof, the promise and the product. The personal brand is what gets either of them read.
What should you post about?
The work you actually do, including the parts that did not go well. Specific beats clever: one real situation with real numbers is worth ten posts of advice, and it is the only kind of content a competitor cannot write instead of you.
How do you measure whether a personal brand is working?
Inbound from the right people, and profile visits from companies that look like your buyers. Impressions and saves are levers on reach, useful for diagnosis, but they are not the scoreboard.
Related reading: B2B differentiation, How to create a B2B content distribution plan, A strategic approach to B2B tech marketing.
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.
