When you think about personal branding, you tend to think of it as a one-size fits all strategy.

In reality, there are several personal branding strategies you can follow to expand your reach and generate interest in your business and services.  

From thought leadership, contrarian positioning, to authentic selling—personal branding is a lot more multifaceted than you might think.

Here are 3 personal branding strategies and why they work.  

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1. The Thought Leadership Strategy

A thought leader is someone who’s seen as an authoritative or influential figure in their field. Thought leadership is a powerful personal branding strategy for C-suite executives like CEOs, CMOs, and CTOs because it positions them as the go-to experts for their target audience.  

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Why it works?

Psychologically, people are more likely to buy from those they trust. Especially if you prove you can solve their problems in the most effective and cost-worthy way.  

Thought leadership strategy works because it builds authority, creates trust, and influences decision-making.  

58% of decision-makers choose to buy from a business based on its thought leadership simply because people buy from experts. Think about it: How often has brand positioning like “the number one experts” worked on you?

How to create a thought leadership strategy

Understanding the value of thought leadership is the first step; putting it into a cohesive strategy is the second.

Producing high-quality content like whitepapers, articles, blogs, podcasts, videos, and speaking at events are all great ways to connect with and build authority with your audience.  

Then, it’s important to distribute the content effectively. Determining the channel your target audience is most likely to be active on is essential. Whether they’re most active via email, social media, or in-person events, the important thing is to comment consistently on industry trends and relevant news. This will position you as an expert to your audience, building trust that you can answer their most important questions and pain points.

Challenges to overcome

50% of business leaders say time is an obstacle to producing effective thought leadership. You need to be able to write and schedule high-quality content as well as time to conduct in-depth research.  

Consistency is another challenge. In order to be effective, you need to post or engage with your audience regularly, be reactive to industry news, and create timely, relevant content.  

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Tips for a successful thought leadership strategy

‍Find your niche

Generalist marketing approaches rarely work; the same can be said for personal branding and thought leadership. To stand out, you need to establish yourself as an expert in a specific area rather than trying to cover everything.  

Say you own a motorbike shop that specialises in classic motorbikes, being an expert in vintage bike restoration over general motorbike maintenance is a more valuable strategy. Yes, it will significantly narrow your audience, but you’ll end up with more interested, more engaged prospects whose interests align better with your services.  

Set a publishing schedule

To implement an effective thought leadership strategy, it’s recommended you post around 2-3 times a week. This can be hard to maintain manually, so having a schedule or content calendar is a good way to stay on track and consistent.  

Do your research

Where a lot of people go wrong in thought leadership is thinking they can just regurgitate someone else’s opinion and pass it off as their own. To be an exceptional thought leader, you need to bring something genuinely insightful, new, and interesting to the table, which requires in-depth research.

Open a dialogue

A lot of thought leadership strategies fail because they don’t engage with their target audiences’ pain points and questions. Reacting to and starting a conversation with other people in your industry is key.

2. Contrarian Positioning

Another strategy that’s proven to be effective is contrarian positioning. You might think creating a good personal branding strategy means agreeing with your audience to relate to them. But you’d be wrong.  

See how we snuck in an example under your nose? True, aligning your message with content that piques their interest is important. But sometimes, getting someone to sit up and pay attention involves taking a slightly controversial stance…    

We don’t mean saying anything that will upset or anger; we’re talking about finding an opinion that’s unexpected or contrary to what is widely believed.

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Why it works?

In a heavily saturated media cycle, people who reject popular opinion are the most likely to be listened to.  This makes the contrarian strategy a good way to stand out from the crowd and most useful to people in highly competitive markets.  

This technique works because it grabs attention and creates an emotional trigger response, causing your audience to want to engage in the conversation.

Nowadays, people are dulled to a lot of messaging. The same regurgitated narratives are everywhere and overplayed. Not to mention the complications brought about by AI-generated content, where underdeveloped and impersonal cliches have become the norm.

Standing out, especially on social media, means getting your audience to stop scrolling and say, “Wait, what?”  

Contrarian opinions are also more likely to reach new audiences because they have a higher share and comment rate, making them an effective way to expand your reach.  

Potential challenges to overcome

The challenges might be obvious with this one...  

Not everyone will understand what you’re doing to start off with and it’s very tricky to find the balance between contrarian and too negative.  

Similarly, the goal is not to annoy, offend, or upset your audience—which can be challenging when trying to find a viewpoint that isn’t commonly challenged.  

Idea generation for contrarian marketing is hard. Not only do you have to research content ideas, but you have to find the right opposing view that will resonate with your audience.  

‍Tips for a successful contrarian content strategy

Understand the argument

Write out the traditional view point first. Before you try to find a contrarian side it’s important you understand the argument being made in the traditional stance.  

Ask yourself: Is this topic relevant to my audience? Is the story one-sided? Can I find a unique perspective that suggests there’s more to the story?  

If the answer is no, look for another view point or find another stance to challenge.  

Be natural

With contrarian content, it’s important to find ways to inject a strong opinion naturally. Your audience will notice if you start inventing contrary opinions that don’t land.  

You should always watch your tone and disagree respectfully. As mentioned earlier, the goal is not to annoy but to challenge view points in a way that doesn’t offend people.  

Be sparing

Constant contradiction of opinion can get a little old. When using this technique in personal branding, it’s important to use it sparingly. Make sure it’s mixed in with other techniques and you’re also finding viewpoints you agree with, so as not to come across a complete contrarian crackpot.  

Examples of contrarian positioning

To put this method into context, here are some common examples of contrarian positioning.

• The 5-day working week is dead  

• Email marketing no longer works  

• Paid ads are a scam  

• The customer isn’t always right  

3. Authentic Storytelling

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Much like the contrarian strategy, authentic storytelling is a way to connect with your audience using emotion.  

This strategy revolves around sharing genuine experiences from your personal life which helps your audience relate and connect with you.  

For example, there is a rising trend of CEOs sharing personal and professional anecdotes. Usually, the more vulnerable your narrative is the better. For example, stories about where you started vs where you are now or how you’ve overcome a particular personal or professional struggle.  

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Why this works?

Human connection is built on storytelling, and stories are powerful tools for influence. People relate to real and authentic messaging, and it can go a long way to helping you create a loyal following.

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Tips for successful authentic storytelling

Share your story

Sharing how you got into your industry and why might sound like a basic approach, but it’s a great place to start.

If you think about your favourite celebrity, chances are you know how they started out, where they came from, and how they got to where they are now. It’s all of these techniques that make you more interested in them as a person and what they have to say.  

Be yourself

When it comes to personal branding marketing—it’s all about being authentic and creating content you know will resonate with your customers and prospects.  

If you’ve been working in your industry for a while, chances are you share many of the same interests with your potential buyers. For example, if you’re the CEO of a fitness clothing company, you’re likely to be interested in athletics and sports yourself. Sharing your views and interests often attracts the exact clientele you’re looking for, so there’s no need to fake it.  

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Final thoughts

There’s no right or wrong way to promote your personal brand. But there are lots of different ways that can be more or less effective depending on your personality, your goals, and the audience you’re trying to reach.

A one-size-fits-all approach to personal branding doesn’t work. You have to tailor your style to your personality and goals and carefully consider which personal branding strategy suits you the most authentically. This will allow you to create a personal brand that’s true to your identity and more likely to resonate with your audience.

‍Need help leveraging the power of your personal brand?   

AXD Agency is a leading sales & content marketing agency specialising in sales enablement and personal branding services. We help business leaders stand out with impactful and high-quality content that positions you as a thought leader and the go-to expert in your industry.  

Your voice, our expertise  

To find out more, visit www.axd.agency or book a discovery call with our team.

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