In the senior living industry, there are various ways to share your mission, message, and solutions with the industry. However, thought leadership is an increasingly important avenue to share what matters most to you and your industry. Unfortunately, in an industry full of great ideas, you may feel like you can’t share what you have to offer simply because you don’t know where to start. For years, Solinity Founder and CEO Josh Crisp has developed a personal brand to share his mission and vision for senior living. Now, we are pulling back the curtain to show you how to create your personal brand and begin sharing your unique perspective with our industry.
Build a Strong Culture
The first piece of a brand is a strong culture that starts with a unified mission and shared values. When your team rallies behind a clear purpose, it creates an authentic brand identity. Passionately living out your values fosters a sense of belonging, both within your organization and for your audience. Your culture isn’t just internal, it’s your external identity. Showcase it proudly to highlight what sets your brand apart.
But culture isn’t only shaped by your team: it’s also reflected in the partners you choose. Every collaboration you make is essentially a stamp of approval on that partner. If they fall short of the standards you’ve set and your audience expects, your endorsement could create doubt or even skepticism that weakens your brand. That’s why it’s critical to be strategic about partnerships and ensure they align with your values. In senior living, especially, culture extends beyond your walls to include every person and service connected to your brand.
Focus on What Sets Your Brand Apart
Another way to develop your own personal brand is to focus on what your brand does really well that no one else is doing. What is it that your audience enjoys about your work that they wouldn’t find elsewhere? Where Solinity Marketing can help you is by walking side-by-side with you as we creatively unpack the ways your brand stands out, which helps take your brand to the next level.
Leverage Technology
Technology is a game-changer for personal branding. Use these tools to enhance your visibility and credibility:
- SEO Optimization: Optimize for voice search by addressing how people speak their queries. This ensures your audience finds you quickly and easily.
- AI Tools: Use AI like ChatGPT to generate content, analyze data, and simplify complex tasks.
- Consistent Online Presence: Identify the platforms where your audience spends time and establish a presence on each.
- Website Design: Your website is your digital front door. With users forming opinions in just 0.05 seconds, it’s crucial to have a visually appealing, user-friendly site tailored to your specific demographic.
- Testimonials: Showcase authentic stories from clients and partners to build trust and illustrate your brand’s impact.
- Email Campaigns: Foster relationships and nurture leads with thoughtful email communication.
- Podcasts: A podcast is a powerful tool for sharing your story and connecting with others in the senior living industry. It allows you to build a network while offering value to your audience. Bridge the Gap is a prime example of this.
These are just a few tools that can help you leverage technology to build and develop your brand.
Use Social Media to Tell Your Story
Your story is one of the most compelling tools for building meaningful connections. Social media provides a platform to:
- Share Your Mission: Highlight your values, culture, and the unique aspects of your work.
- Build Excitement: Create interest among your followers by highlighting what you’re doing with in-the-moment content. Give your followers a look behind the scenes to create a sense of excitement.
- Network with Industry Peers: Use social media to connect with other leaders in senior living and foster collaboration.
- Put Faces to Your Brand: Personalize your work by showcasing the people behind it, strengthening connections with your audience.
Solve Problems with Value-Driven Content
To stand out, your content should address your audience’s challenges and provide actionable solutions. Here’s how:
- Blogs: Share insights and solve common concerns to position yourself as a trusted expert.
- eBooks: Dive deeper into topics to educate and empower your audience. This type of content can also serve as a great gated content that helps build newsletter subscribers or even leads.
- FAQs: Simplify the decision-making process with concise answers to frequently asked questions.
- Explainer Videos: Create short videos to showcase your personality, services, and solutions, offering a glimpse of what you bring to the industry.
Providing helpful, relatable content builds trust and strengthens your personal brand. When your audience can see that you not only know what the problems are, but also how to solve them, this helps create a good rapport with the industry. Delivering quality content that connects with your audience also allows you another opportunity to develop your personal brand.
Developing a personal brand doesn’t have to be daunting. Our marketing agency, Solinity Marketing, can help you by supporting you throughout your brand journey. Contact us today.