Memorability is one of the most important aspects of a personal brand. If people can’t remember you or your brand, making an impact won’t be easy. Some people think crafting a memorable personal brand is focusing on appearance or a trademark look, color, or accessory, but it’s much deeper. Memorability is about crafting every aspect of your brand in a way that people are likely to recall it. Here are 3 key elements to make your personal brand memorable.
Specificity
When I started building my personal brand, I didn’t want to pigeonhole myself as a social media marketer – after all, I had spent years doing strategic brand marketing and only a year in social media. So, when people asked what I did, I’d give a list: strategic marketing, social media, branding, blah, blah, blah.
In an effort to “not miss out,” I created a broad definition of my brand. The problem was that this wasn’t sticky or memorable. If someone asked, “What does Krista do?” the answer probably would have been “something with marketing.” Nobody needs “something with marketing”!!! It isn’t desirable or memorable because it is too broad. When I was specific and said “social media,” I got referrals and clients.
If you have to say “and” in your definition of what you do, you aren’t being specific enough. You are lucky if people remember one clear thing – they won’t remember many. Focus on the one thing that is most likely to attract the opportunities you want.
Need help? Learn how to be specific today in the Personal Branding Launch Yourself Master Course.
Simplicity
Keep your brand as simple and clear as possible. Studies show that people need to see an advertisement seven (7!!) times before they even remember it. If you try to communicate too much, you will communicate nothing at all. This is good to remember as a general principle.
Less is more.
Keep all elements of your brand as clear and simple as possible.
A number of years ago, I met a guy at an industry event focused on Search Engine Optimization. I wanted to get in touch with him after the event, but I’m terrible with names. Then I remembered that he told me he was The Coolest Guy in Kansas City. Seriously – if you google it, he shows up. I couldn’t remember his name, but I remembered this simple story that he told me. The interesting thing about being The Coolest Guy in Kansas City (which is ironic since he is somewhat nerdy) is that it also shows his credibility as an SEO expert since he got his personal website to the top of Google for this search.
Many years ago, I was giving a presentation on social media, and someone asked if everyone was really on Facebook. My dad had just joined, so I showed them his profile. In addition to proving that even an almost 70-year-old man with dial-up internet was on Facebook, everyone was quite amused to learn that my father is an Elvis enthusiast and tribute artist.
I started incorporating my Elvis dad into some of my talks – not to mock him publicly, but to make a point about positioning. Side note – why does he want to be positioned as an Elvis when he is on the city council??
One day I got a call from a prospective client inviting me to do a keynote presentation. She told me that years ago, she joined a webinar and was literally laughing out loud about my father being an Elvis. She remembered me for years because of my Elvis dad (thank you, Dad, if you are reading this). The point isn’t to further publicly discuss my Elvis dad; it is to show that sometimes the simplest things can be very memorable.
Pay attention to what people remember and try to build off of it. It is often the simple things that are memorable. Sometimes they are the personal things you share.
Consistency
From an execution standpoint, consistency is important to building a strong brand image. If you have a clear idea of the impression that you want to create, you can deliver it consistently over time.
Brands know this – this is why their logo always looks the same, and they show it in all of their marketing. They are also consistent about their marketing messages, brand positioning, and benefits. Consistency is important because most people don’t remember everything they see. To be remembered, the brand must look similar to drive an impression.
Personal brands also need to be consistent to be memorable and create impact. This means that all elements of your brand should be delivered as consistently as possible over time. The similarity each time you interact with someone makes you more memorable.
When I started out speaking and building my brand, I would sometimes wear my hair up and other times keep it down. I realized that as small of a detail a hairstyle might be, people who saw me with my hair up didn’t recognize me with my hair down. I started to keep my hair up for all professional events to make my visual image as consistent as possible. It made a huge difference. Even at large networking events, people could easily spot me in a crowd, and people would “recognize” me from Facebook or LinkedIn because I looked consistent and presented myself similarly on each platform.
A quick Google Image search of Martha Stewart shows her visually consistent look (even with her recent new cover photos). Consistency breeds familiarity and memorability.
This principle applies well beyond physical or visible attributes. The way you present yourself, what you do, and your benefits should be consistently presented to maximize memorability and impact.
Power Tip:
Build a professional brand that you can execute consistently to build memorability and solidify your positioning in people’s minds.
The is taken from an excerpt of “Launch Yourself” by Krista Neher. For your free action planner and bonus resources, visit www.LaunchYourself.com/book.
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