If you’re anything like me, when you saw October 1 roll across the calendar, you probably had a few different thoughts running through your head:
Wait! How is it Q4 already?
Whoa, boy! Some of this stuff on my website is out of date.
Oh, man! 2015 is just around the corner, and I want to start fresh on January 1.
If any of this sounds vaguely familiar, then it’s time to get to work. If you’re building a personal brand with an army of many led by one, then the following checklist is a powerful place to begin plotting next year's brand marketing activities. So set your compass, because we’re visiting four critical business areas that are in need of inventory before the new year. Read on to get solid tips on exactly where and how to take inventory as you work through the answers to some critical branding questions.
1. Brand Messaging
Each year, you make incredible discoveries about your brand. From the kind of work you want to focus on to the type of work you’d rather die than do more of, your message only gets clearer. Year-end is the ideal time to sit down for a powwow with those you trust to guide your brand and ask, “Does my brand message still speak my truth?”
With every year I’ve had my business and my brand, my message has become simpler and I’m working to please a narrower demographic (thankfully, because pleasing vague masses is exhausting). And I step closer to the few words that encapsulate what I truly believe and why I do what I do. Hopefully, your brand messaging is evolving along the same lines.
Key Inventory Questions:
- Where does your brand message live? Can people find it on your website, in social profiles, in your bios, in bylines? All of these will have to be updated.
- What else has to be updated with modified messaging? Copywriting needs can’t be overlooked. Book now, as copywriters get super busy this time of year.
2. Calls to Action
How much are you asking people to do on your website, and where are you asking them to do it? Your calls to action need your attention because I’ll bet a ham sandwich in a lion’s den at the zoo that you’re not getting all the clicks and conversions you’d like to be getting.
If you’re not using the Chrome web browser, you’re missing out on a powerful tool: the Google Page Analytics extension for Chrome. Using this free app, you can see what people are clicking on for every page of your website. (See those gorgeous orange notes with percentages in them? Yep.) If the numbers aren’t what you’d like them to be, you can work with your Web designer and developer to make some changes.
Image courtesy of Google Analytics for Chrome
Of course, this is assuming you already have Google Analytics installed on your website. If you don’t, oh, man! I can’t even.
Key Inventory Questions:
- How many things are you asking site visitors to do on each page of your website?
- Have you mapped out exactly what you want people to do (in order of priority) on every page of your site?
- Does your website perform the way it should to serve, not hinder, your site visitors?
3. Your You
If you’re marketing yourself as a personal brand, you’re the face, the voice, the expert. If your audience hasn’t connected with you this past year the way they have in years past, now is an ideal time to figure out why.
When personal brands hit a wall, it’s generally for one of a few reasons:
- Me, toos. We see others doing something and think we should be doing it, too.
- Unsubscribes. We think it’s something we said, so we start cleaning up language, holding back opinions and putting on filters. But there could be other reasons people kick you out of their inboxes.
- You got bad advice. Someone told you that being yourself wasn’t enough or a good thing, so you decided to be someone or something else.
This is the time of year to remember your you—the thing that makes your brand unique. Think about your Big Universal Question (the pain point you solve for your audience). Figure out if you’ve strayed from your "why." And make sure your you (your complete you) is shining through.
Key Inventory Questions:
- Has your voice become diluted? Review your blog posts from the same time last year with those you've posted more recently to see if you've been moving in the wrong direction.
- Are your photos up to date? It may be time to post some that show you now.
- Does the style and functionality of your website still serve you and your brand?
4. Your Audience
There's no better day than today to check in with your audience. No matter the size or type of your brand, audiences change as time goes by. From how they see you to what they share of yours most often, this data can’t be ignored. You need it to determine your next steps.
Polls are a simple yet highly effective way for you to take your audience’s pulse. Find your most active social media site (if you’re a personal brand, I’m betting that’s Facebook), and ask these two questions in your own voice:
- How do you describe me to people when you share my stuff?
- Of all the things I create and share, what are your favorites?
Just two simple questions. And you’ll get answers from the only people qualified to answer them—those who love and share your brand.
Key Inventory Questions:
- How do the answers to these questions affect your brand messaging?
- How can you shift your content strategy to give your audience more of what they love most while honoring your brand and your goals?
So there you have it, four points for evaluating your personal brand as the fourth quarter rolls in. Each year, these four areas get me excited beyond belief. Why? Because I know that many brands out there aren’t doing this. And that’s OK—they can stay right where they are, not taking charge and not listening.
But me? I’m going to stay nimble. I’m going to use data and my audience to make my brand better than ever in 2015. And anyone who might think they were closing in on me has another thing coming. Because they’ll never catch me.
Or you. But only if you take inventory and do something about it.
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Photo: Getty Images