Let me start off with a few observations:

  1. If you have a small business, you have a brand.
  2. If you have a brand, you have a brand personality.
  3. If your brand has a personality, you should give thought to defining and maintaining that personality.

Allow me to break all that down. 

For Starters: What is a Brand?

What is a brand? That’s a deceptively simple question.

Your brand is not your logo. It’s not your company name. And, no, your brand is not you, even if you are a one-person business.

Instead, think of it this way, from your customer’s point of view: A brand is a promise.

It’s a promise that’s either kept or broken every time that someone encounters your brand. At every brand touchpoint – even a short bit of email correspondence from your small business – you can reinforce what is core to your brand. (Or, you can undercut what your brand promises.)

The definition aside, it’s important to think about your brand as a prized possession. As a small business owner, you should buff and shine your brand so that it sparkles – in exactly the way that you want it to. 

That’s where brand personality can play a role.

What is a Brand Personality?

Your small business represents a brand. And your brand comes across one way or another to clients, even if that’s unintentional on your part.

So, rather than let your customers form a fuzzy, inconsistent view of your small business, take control of your brand personality by asking this:

If your brand were human, how would you describe that person, in four or five words?

This could be a short list of adjectives or descriptive phrases. Anything qualifies if it helps you to paint a picture. You want to bring your brand to life, using human characteristics that we all understand.

As you’re mulling this over, it may help to ask this question: If your brand were a celebrity, who would that be? Once you have that person in mind, whether it’s Anne Hathaway or Matthew McConaughey, you can start to identify the shared personality traits that brought that well-known person to mind as an analog for your brand.

Brand Personality Exercise

Ready to get started? If so, grab a blank piece of paper (or open a new doc on your screen) and try to come up with five descriptors for your brand personality. Here’s some food for thought as you lean in:

Keep it Short, Please

No, there’s nothing magic about capping it at five adjectives, but you don’t want the list to go on and on! After all, the idea is to remember these words and act on them. Imagine this list of personality descriptions fitting on a scrap of paper pinned to your bulletin board, so it’s top of mind when you communicate with your clients.

This is an Internal List

As you work on your list of adjectives, remember that these words are for your reference only. You might never use any of these words in consumer-facing communications. After all, if you know a person that you would consider to be self-assured, it’s not because she goes around calling herself “self-assured.” Instead, you get that sense from intangibles, and how she carries herself. It’s the same with brands: What you say, how you say it, what you do, and how you do it – it all informs your brand personality.

Take a Lead From Other Brands

If you’re stumped for adjectives to describe your brand personality, think about other brands that we all know. Are you rugged, like Jeep? Cutting-edge, like Apple? Stylish like Ann Taylor? Maybe your brand is discerning like Nordstrom, or affordably cool like Target. (Yep, descriptive phrases are fair game – just don’t string too many words together. 😀) Note that a lot of these words say something about both the brand and its customers. At 17hats, part of our brand personality would be empowering, because we empower service-driven small business owners to manage business better.

Does it Sync With Your Look and Feel?

Take a moment to consider your logo and brand colors. What does your brand’s look and feel – including the typefaces you use – suggest for your brand personality? Do you use splashes of vibrant color to convey your fun, festive, and energetic personality as a brand? Or, instead, do your muted pastels and delicate typography suggest a brand that is refined, elegant, and romantic?

Seek Out Evocative Words

You want your brand personality descriptors to be as differentiating as possible. So be wary of first-thought, me-too adjectives such as dependable or professional. As you consider a word or phrase as a personality trait for your brand, ask yourself if it stirs something in you. Does it inspire you to act in a certain way as a brand? You may find that offbeat or informal descriptions – such as mischievous, gung-ho, or even not your mother’s high school portrait – go much further in capturing what makes your brand special.

Use Your Words: Descriptors to Consider

Just to get your juices flowing, here’s a list of 100 brand personality descriptions. Feel free to borrow one or more of these, if it helps. Or, better still, use these adjectives and phrases as a springboard to identify the perfectly apt descriptors for your brand personality.

A cut above.
Ahead of the curve.
Approachable.
Audacious.
Authentic.
Barnhouse chic.
Bold.
Candid.
Caring.
Casual.
Chill.
Classic.
Clever.
Collaborative.
Comforting.
Compassionate.
Cool and collected.
Cosmopolitan.
Cozy.
Creative.
Diligent.
Down to earth.
Earnest.
Easygoing
Edgy.
Enthusiastic.
Everlasting.
Exclusive.
Exuberant.
Fabulous.
Fashion-forward.
Free-spirited.
Friendly.

Full of moxie.
Fun.
Glamorous.
Glitzy.
Grown-up.
Hip.
Imaginative.
Inclusive.
Innovative.
Joyful.
Life of the party.
Memorable.
Natural.
Nerdy.
Never boring.
Nostalgic.
Optimistic.
Passionate.
Personal.
Playful.
Polished.
Pragmatic.
Pretty.
Proactive.
Protective.
Quirky.
Rave-worthy.
Rebellious.
Resourceful.
Responsive.
Retro.
Risqué.
Rock solid.

Sexy.
Sincere.
Sleek.
Softly feminine.
Sophisticated.
Southern charm.
Steadfast.
Street smart.
Sunny.
Supportive.
Swagger.
Sweet.
Team player.
Tech savvy.
The real deal.
Thoughtful.
Tireless.
Tomorrow-proof.
Tough as leather.
Tough love.
Traditional.
Trendsetting.
Truth-teller.
Unconventional.
Upbeat.
Urban.
Visionary.
Warm.
Whimsical.
Whispered softly.
Wholesome.
Wise.
Youthful.
Zen.

Stay True to Your Brand Personality

OK – let’s say that you have completed the exercise above. You have a list of five adjectives that perfectly describe your brand personality. And those adjectives (or descriptive phrases) leap off the page for you. You can now see your brand’s personality, as if your brand were a close friend.

Now it’s important to remain consistent.

Those brand personality words should serve as a touchstone that you refer back to often when your brand communicates. For instance, ask yourself:

  • Does my website reflect this personality?
  • Do my social media posts reinforce this same brand personality?
  • Does the text of my emails mirror this same personality? (Remember, 17hats members: You can use our AI assistant within 17hats, Hattie, to help write emails – and then even refine the email’s personality using intuitive prompts. Learn more here.) 

If your brand maintains consistency, your brand personality will come shining through, helping you to stand for something – and stand out.

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