“But what if I don’t want a personal brand?”

This question came up in a recent planning session with the CEO of a b2b business.

The instinct was to go with the script to change their mind:

1. This is heresy - you must invest in your personal brand.

Gary Vee says your business will become extinct unless you document your personal entrepreneurial journey on at least seven social media platforms daily.

2. Personal brands are the killer app for content distribution.

Look at the data evidence. Engagement and conversion rates can skyrocket when there is a known human being as the face of a content marketing strategy. A personal brand underpinning blog authorship, sender of nurture emails etc. 

3. Personal brands stay in the memory.

The argument that the storyteller is just as important as the story being told. Prospects remembering the human connection made with the storyteller long after they have forgotten the actual content.

That’s the script.

But is personal branding in b2b everything it’s cracked up to be?

Neil Patel wrote an interesting piece last year on regrets he has about building his empire around his personal brand - https://neilpatel.com/blog/build-personal-brand/

No one can deny Oleg has created a very successful personal brand on LinkedIn. But how many extra copies of the Daily Mail do we think he’s flogged as a result of his efforts?

So what’s the truth about the value of personal branding? Thinking about the different categories out there might be a good starting point to get some clarity. 

Personal brand category 1: All Mouth + All Trousers

These are the personal brands built on substance. They’ve been there and done it – and have every right to talk about it. They have licence to think outside the box because they actually know what’s in the box. 

Think Richard Branson, Jack Welch and Ray Dalio. In the marketing world think Ann Hadley and Larry Kim.

They’re the personal brands that have their own equity and can add magic dust to any affiliated corporate or product brands. They also provide an obvious reference point for the effectiveness of personal branding.

But are they just the outliers? What’s the reality for the majority in the middle of the bell curve?

Personal brand category 2: No Mouth + All Trousers 

This is the category our CEO client currently falls into. There is a personal brand – she exists! But she doesn’t actively promote herself.

We did a bit of a study for a reality check.

It’s an entirely unscientific (and parochial study) - but it’s very revealing.

Here are the top 50 fastest growing companies in the North West of England:

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/business/business-news/z-list-fastest-50-growing-12979197

We took a straw poll in and around the office with one simple question – ‘Have you heard of the CEOs of these companies?’

Just 3 of the 50 CEOs were known to anyone. 

Apparently the vast majority of these CEOs are just getting their heads down and focusing on building great businesses. Not making much of a noise about themselves - but probably very keen to shout about their companies.

(And I’m guessing they’re happy to console themselves on their lack of personal profile by checking their bank balances.)

Personal brand category 3: All Mouth + No Trousers

This is the category that we tend to see the most of.

No need to do the 10,000 hours, or go through the grunt and grind of an apprenticeship to learn a craft. Just whack something out because you can and no one is stopping you.

It’s quite easy to identify this category through their use of an odd descriptor like ‘influencer’ in their LinkedIn profile. 

So what was the answer then for our conflicted client?

Don’t do it. 

No doubt it would make our lives easier with the delivery of the content marketing strategy, but the heart does need to be in it.

If the business was on a genuine mission to disrupt an industry then we would probably have pushed harder. A personal brand could have acted as a potent vehicle to take a stance against a comfortable industry status quo.

If she was a ‘solopreneur’ then a personal brand would no doubt be a sound investment.  

As marketers we are often guilty of going all in with the weapon du jour – and right now, that’s personal brand.

But perhaps sometimes we need to perform the ultimate QA check - common sense.

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