Personal branding is all the rage of course now.
Everyone wants to have their brand stand for something and to be known for a particular area within the field. We are all documenting our story to share it w/ the world, creating more content than ever before. We are creating our own logos, taglines, hashtags, and media kits to promote ourselves to our audiences.
These are all find and good for the larger schemes of things, but we have to consider something really important.
It’s not only about having a personal brand, but it’s what you DO with it.
I think this is an important distinction. It’s not only telling people you have a personal brand, but take actions and create strategic relationships that really does separate you from the rest of the crowd in your industry. The question we have to ask ourselves is – what is this exactly?
The answer is simple: this can be done through partnerships.We have seen this across the board here with celebrities and social media influencers. Lily Singh with Sephora. Gary Vaynerchuk and KSwiss. The list goes on and on from here on out, and this is going to be something we will continue to see in the evolution of personal brand engagement. Any time you log in to social media, you see the brand name and “x” and the person / group who is part of the partnership.
Which is the best partnership we have seen so far? That’s a tough question, but as I have shared for a long time, there is one celebrity who truly gets this partnership strategy and effectively shares this on social media.
As I have written about for many posts and have of course shared this on social media, I am a big fan of The Rock and what he has been able to build over the years with his personal brand. In fact, I even showcase his social media work in my personal branding chapter for my new social media textbook. Congrats also to The Rock for his new shoe release with Under Armour! This is great – and by sharing this on his IG, the shoe has sold out already.
So, you may be asking – Karen, how can I create a partnership with a brand like this? What are the steps I have to take in order to do this? Here are some things to consider:
Outline your goals. Think about WHY you want to create these partnerships and what would be the overall purpose of this relationship? If you want to do this for just the sake of doing this in order to make a few bucks, that’s not the right reason at all. Think about how this will impact your overall goals for the long term.
List all of the brands you would want to work with that align to your brand. List your dream brand partnerships first and see what you need to do to get there. Outline the reasons why you want to work with them and how they fit with your overall brand messaging. Next, list the things YOU can offer them to make this a win-win scenario. These partnerships can’t be one sided – you have to provide VALUE on your end as well for the brand.
Brainstorm ideas for the partnership. Will it be just for social media purposes? Will there be offline activities as well? What will be the deliverables and things you will want to get from the partnership? How long will this go forward? Ideally, you want something that will sustain you for the long term. These partnerships should be mutually beneficial and you do want to come up with some creative ideas here for them.
Finalize the deliverables. With each partnership, there has to be some discussion on the impact you are going to be able to bring to the table.
This falls under the goals, and you do want to be aware of what you are able to do that will help the brand’s messaging as well as bottom line. Is it to write a blog post to gain awareness? Done. How about covering an event or conference and share your story through a mix of different pieces of content. No problem. What about advocating and being an ambassador for a program with specific audiences? Got it.
You have to have some idea on what you will be able to bring to the table here for the brand, as well as show how you are able to make an impact for them in a way that is tied to their overall business objectives.
In summary, every person can create these partnerships with brands. I have been fortunate to have been able to work with some incredible brands over the years and will continue to do so like Hootsuite, HubSpot, Meltwater, Adidas, TopHat and Adobe. All of these companies are aligned with what I am doing as a social media professor. However, I am still working on my quest to find a coffee company to sponsor me (that’s the a goal of mine!). These relationships take time and consistency over time, but are well worth it.
Hope you all are having a great day!
Best Wishes,
