To start off, what is a brand’s personality?

Although this can seem like a loaded question, in simple terms a brand’s personality is what human characteristics you would attribute to a brand if the brand were a person. A brand personality comes into existence when human-like adjectives – like unique, empathetic, funny, trustworthy, creative, cheeky, honest, rebellious, quirky, etc. – shine through and become associated with the company. 

As you may have guessed , a brand personality helps a company shape the way people feel about its product, service or mission. Before you launch a company, build a podcast or anything creative, you must think through what your brand personality is. 

Once this is determined it should come alive in everything you do from messaging, to branding and marketing campaigns. The goal is to  elicit an emotional response with your target audience and overtime build a loyal following.  

Below, we explore 5 content marketing mediums that can shape your brand personality. Let’s keep reading!

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1. Website UX and UI

Is your company website an accurate reflection of your company's brand identity? If it isn't, it really should be. Whether you’re a B2B or B2C brand, customers conduct research online before making a major purchase, which typically begins on a search engine.

Your brand's identity is communicated to prospective customers through your website. Most website visits are not transactional, instead, customers are looking for information. This could be their first – or last – impression of your brand. 

Your website design should keep in mind the following:

A major contributor to moving prospects through your sales journey is if your website reflects who you are, your mission and values, and is an easily consumable and navigational site. This includes everything from graphics (is your brand fun and young? Is that reflected in your site design?) to copy (is the tone the same on your website as on socials, does it fit with your brand personality?) 

Most consumers aren’t patient, so ensure that your site has a quick load speed and that you’re communicating your brands’ key messages quickly and early. 

Ensure your site is mobile friendly and gives your customers options for where to find the information they need. A website that isn’t optimized for mobile can often leave potential customers feeling like the brand doesn’t care or is not current. 

• Make sure your customer is front and centre on your site – don’t focus on communicating all the things you’re great at but more so on how YOU will make THEIR life easier and add value! 

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2. Newsletters for growth and engagement 

Newsletters are a fantastic marketing medium for showcasing a brand's personality since they cultivate an intimate and personalized experience. Brands can use newsletters to share their values, insights, and expertise, making readers feel like they are part of an exclusive community. Through the use of language, design, and visuals, newsletters create a strong emotional connection with readers and establish a unique brand personality.

In addition, newsletters offer a great opportunity for brands to engage with their audience on a regular basis. By delivering valuable content straight to their inbox, brands can stay top of mind and build trust over time. As readers become more familiar with the brand's personality, they’re more likely to engage with the brand in other ways, such as through social media or purchasing products. 

Here are a few things to keep in mind when developing your newsletter:

1. Make your emails visually appealing: First impressions matter, even if we wish they didn’t sometimes. That’s why making sure your newsletter pops is so important. When thinking about design make sure it is clutter free, easy to read and aligned with brand colors. 
2. Grab ‘em with a punchy subject line: Let’s be honest, on any given day, we are bombarded with marketing emails so if your subject line doesn’t draw someone in, the chances of them opening up your email is slim-to-none. So, before you spend all your time on design and content, make sure you really crack your subject line. 
3. Keep things easy to read: Most people are skimmers,  so it’s important that you keep your font easy to read, have spaces between paragraphs (keep them short!) and use bullets where possible. 
4. Include images that reflect your brand: They say a  picture is worth a thousand words. There is no better way to draw people in than by including images that humanize your brand. Make sure the visuals reflect your brand’s look and feel – whether it is zen, feisty or bubbly. 
5. Add value: Your newsletter should be adding value – whether that’s through your opinion, sharing behind the scenes footage, including interesting facts or your latest finds. Your audiences are giving you space in their inbox, make it worth it.
6. Encourage engagement: Make sure your readers are left with a CTA – whether it’s signing up for something, joining you on social or leaving a review. The point of your newsletter should be to get your reader to feel excited that they’re part of a bigger community. 

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3. Creating impact through branded podcasts 

A branded podcast is an excellent way to showcase your brand’s personality. A distinct and well thought out brand personality conveyed through a podcast not only makes you more memorable but also builds deeper connections with your audience. We always say that branded podcasts bring a more human element back to your brand. It gives you the opportunity to introduce your audience to the faces and voices of the company, reminding all of us that there’s a passionate individual behind the brand.

This is also why selecting the host of your branded podcast is a critical step. The host is who listeners are going to connect to most, you want them to effectively display the brand personality you’re looking to get across to an audience.  Podcasts often feel like an intimate experience, as if you’re having a conversation with friends in your living room, make sure your host is someone a listener would want to have a conversation with. 

Here are some ways you can start showcasing your brand personality through branded podcasts: 

1. Hosts with personality: Like we mentioned, choose hosts or guests with unique personalities that match your brand's tone and values. This will help establish a personal connection with listeners and create a memorable listening experience.
2. Storytelling: Use storytelling to convey your brand's personality and values. Whether it's through personal anecdotes, interviews, or case studies, storytelling is an effective way to connect with listeners and make them feel invested in your brand.
3. Humor: Injecting humor into your podcast is a great way to showcase your brand's personality and make listeners feel at ease. This can be done through witty banter, playful jokes, or funny skits that tie into your brand's message.
4. Music and sound effects: Music and sound effects help to establish your brand's personality and tone. Whether it's a catchy intro jingle or sound effects that play throughout the podcast, these elements create a consistent and memorable listening experience.
5. Branding and graphics: Use branding and graphics to showcase your personality visually. This can include custom artwork for each episode, branded graphics for social media promotion, or even branded merchandise that listeners can purchase.

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4. Whitepapers, reports, and guides

Long-form content such as whitepapers or reports can address a business’ vision, an ongoing issue, showcase a product, or outline a competitive situation. Longer than a blog post, but shorter than an e-Book – these mediums generally range from 4 pages to upwards of 20. 

Whitepapers and reports can be a great way to share technical & expert knowledge and generate buzz and publicity – all while keeping your brand personality front and centre. 

Because whitepapers and reports take hours of research, creativity, and effort, the good news is that you can repurpose and recycle snippets from your content that can be used across other mediums such as: 

• Articles
• Videos
• Series of blog posts
• Webinars
• Live speaking appearances
• Newsletters
• Podcast content

Make sure you can share major takeaways or important messages from your content, give readers a reason to consume it. But most importantly, make sure the whitepaper or report and all the content surrounding it reflects your brand’s voice, look & feel, tone, colors, values and visuals. 

That way anyone who is downloading it or exposed to its contents immediately knows what to expect from your brand and knows that you're addressing their pain points. 

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5. Positive social media presence

Every social media platform speaks to a specific demographic, so knowing your audience and which platform they’re likely to live on is a great way to shape your brand’s personality. 

Once you identify which platforms you want to be on – Facebook, LinkedIn, Snapchat, TikTok, Twitter,  Instagram, etc.. – you can then create content that brings your brand’s personality to life. 

If you want to come across as friendly and approachable, your brand personality might be one that responds casually or playfully to followers who comment on your posts. If you want to position yourself as a credible, confident and authoritative leader in your field, your brand personality may be more professional and straightforward. 

Imagining your brand personality as an actual person makes it easier to adopt its traits and curate your brand’s social pages authentically.

Three great examples of companies that are using social media effectively to develop their brand personality are:

• Chipotle was one of the first brands to take a chance with TikTok, but it’s an investment that’s paid off for them. Most of its content involves the TikTok trend of challenges. Its first, #ChipotleLidFlip, generated over 240 million views on the platform. Its second, #GuacDance was even more successful with 430 million videos in six days. By creating fun and unique content on TikTok, Chipotle has once again become relevant to younger consumers, succeeding in engaging them in this increasingly popular channel. But it all worked because Chipotle doubled down on its brand’s personality that was fun and trendy. 
• There’s a reason that Starbucks has millions of followers on its social platforms. The brand makes sure that their content strategy is infused with humour, compelling storytelling, quirky graphics, and creative campaigns that often encourage consumers to join in. Over the years, it’s cultivated a friendly and approachable brand personality that can appeal to all their target demographics. From coffee drinkers who like their coffee classic black and for those who prefer unique seasonal drinks like pumpkin spice lattes.
• Merriam-Webster has created a witty and interesting brand personality on Twitter. Because the company is known for dictionaries and reference books, it’s able to balance being both informative with its observations about language and playful with its word play. The brand creates amazing social content consistently, from interesting “Word of the Day” tweets to crosslinked posts about word usage. This ensures that like-minded people, like language lovers, keep coming back for Merriam-Webster’s content.

Once you’ve established your  brand personality, make sure you are consistent in maintaining this character on your social media pages. This makes your brand more memorable and recognizable.

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Content marketing mediums to showcase your brand’s personality

A brand's personality is crucial in shaping the way people feel about its product, service or mission. Customers are tired of dealing with faceless corporations. They prefer humanized and personalized brands, because it sparks a real and genuine connection with them. 

By establishing a strong brand personality, you can elicit a certain emotional response with your target audience and build a loyal following over time. In this article, we explored five content marketing mediums that can shape your brand's personality, including:

• Website UX and UI
• Newsletters
• Branded podcasts
• Whitepapers, reports, and guides
• Social media
  

By keeping your brand's values, tone, and visuals consistent across these mediums, you can effectively showcase your brand's personality and build a strong emotional connection with your audience. Remember, a strong brand personality is not just about standing out but creating an authentic and memorable experience for your customers.

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