Why Brand Strategy Matters

Imagine walking into a stadium full of millions of screaming fans. You’re about to play the game of your life, but you haven’t prepared mentally or physically, you have no information about your opponent, and you have no game plan. How are you expected to be victorious? The reality is, you just won’t be.

There’s a reason for the two-a-days, endless filming watching sessions, playbooks, and stat analysis – because just winging it does not win championships.

Developing and launching your personal brand is no different than preparing for the big game. To be effective, and to serve you well long after your time in the spotlight is over, you need to have a strategic plan.

I understand that developing a strategic plan sounds scary, daunting, and quite frankly something you’d rather not do. That said, taking the time to develop a plan, or having someone like me to develop it for you, is truly an investment in your long-term success.

You already have a personal brand. It’s defined as how you come off to other people in person and online. The question is whether you’re doing anything to control those perceptions. Your personal branding strategy is simply the series of actions that you take to control those perceptions.

Need more convincing? Here are four benefits to developing your brand strategy:

1. Having a brand strategy allows you to define and control the narrative of your life. You will dictate to the world who you are and how they should perceive you.
2. You already know how to use social media platforms, but having a strategy will allow you to use them more effectively and consistently. This will improve your visibility and reduce the chance of embarrassing online faux pas.
3. Life comes at us quickly. Having a brand strategy will prepare you for unexpected life changes, i.e. injury, illness, or career change.
4. In the event of a crisis, having a brand strategy will allow for quicker and more effective reputation management and/or repair.

The earlier in your career that you define your brand strategy the better. That said, for those who are more senior all is not lost. You can literally pick up this ball and run with it at any time. The win is in deciding that you are going to control the game (or in this case, the message) and not let the game control you.