We have spent the first half of this year really drilling down and focusing on your own authentic personal brand, one that most accurately represents both the inner and outer you. This month, we take a look at Brand Positioning, which involves identifying a precise group of consumers that a brand will target. In personal branding, this target audience consists of the people who are in the best position to help you reach your career goals.

Identify your Target Audience and Competitors
Remember that your target audience can include your ideal clients or people who can influence your career path.  They are the key people who need to know your brand.

Who is in your target audience?

What opportunities do you have to interact with them? How often?

Who are your competitors?

What are you competing for?

Who else might be competing for this same thing?

Describe your competitors and colleagues. What makes you different (i.e., how do you stand out)?  What advantage do you have to offer that will make your target audience choose you over your competitors?  This can include your background and qualifications.

Position and adjust your brand (authentically)
With this in mind, positioning your brand involves looking at what your target audience wants, how you are differentiated from your competition, and in what ways you may have to tweak or highlight certain parts of your brand accordingly.

For example, if you are looking for promotion, you may have to highlight the driven or more extrovert sign of your brand. If you are writing a novel and want to get it published, yes, you need to tap into your creativity, but you will also need to show potential publishers that you can bring an understanding of marketing and promotion to the table, so could start by growing more of a brand presence on social media.

Your action this month is to research exactly what your target audience wants to see.

Of course, this goes back to your own aims and goals and first identifying your target audience. Once you’ve done that, it’s time to do a little homework. Turn to the internet, books, forums, social media and even straight forward questioning: asking people directly is often the simplest, unambiguous way to get the information. Even by doing that – for instance, asking “What do I need to do to get promoted” – you are positioning yourself already.