The chorus of eyerolls is almost palpable when a social media post pops up from an agency leader filled with ego and no substance. If you don’t know what the message is, it’s likely just generating noise.
At Jago, the personal branding agency has developed a strategic approach to help agency leaders master who they are first, so they have clarity around their messaging and positioning, turning that noise into leads.
The possibilities, if personal branding is done right, are seemingly endless for leaders. It might pave the way for more confidence to achieve big career milestones, open up conversations to their desired target audiences, or major business growth.
Filled with key insights from over 250 leaders on how they currently think about their personal branding, Jago has published a first Personal Brand Benchmark Report for agency leaders, with some important takeaways.
Jago’s research has discovered personal branding is an undervalued tool for business growth, but a more strategic approach is needed to fully tap into its potential benefits.
Beyond a polished persona on social media or building up a large following on those platforms, authenticity is key when building a personal brand as it helps to establish trust and credibility with your target audience.
It’s a big part of the work Jago does with the leaders. But what does authenticity actually mean?
“For us, it’s around understanding yourself to represent yourself. If you know yourself deeply, what you stand for, and what you’re passionate about, then that’s going to be very purposeful in terms of your actions,” explains Ryan O’Keeffe, co-founder of Jago.
“If you’re going to step up, there’s a lot of vulnerability that comes with that.
“It’s a really powerful thing because it gives you clarity. Through that clarity, you get confidence. I don’t care who you are, what leader you are, what size your business is, we all have doubts around stepping up and putting ourselves out there.
“Trust me, we know that from working with some of the biggest, inspiring leaders out there.”
To do it well, and to start seeing results, it’s crucial to establish that authentic voice “rather than just adding to the noise.”
But it’s not just about authenticity. Personal branding means leaders also need to actively manage their reputation through a multi-channel approach, as being consistent with content can help to build long-term engagement and stronger relationships. So how does Jago do this with agency leaders?
How does Jago work with agency leaders and what do they get out of it?
“Our whole methodology for that discovery and strategy phase goes deep on understanding who you are from an identity perspective,” says O’Keeffe.
It starts with Jago’s Personal Brand Health Check (PBHC), which only takes two minutes to complete and is free to access. It sends leaders customised results instantly to show them where they’re currently at with their personal brand, what they might be missing and the steps they need to improve.
To uncover that, Jago’s unique approach begins by figuring out the gap between where a leader currently is with their personal brand, then where they want to be, and works to “close that gap”
After leaders complete the PBHC, Jago offers two phases to help leaders build their personal brands.
During the first discovery phrase, Jago “digs deep” to uncover things leaders either don’t know about themselves or that they might hide. It stems back to Jago’s Personal Brand Benchmark Report, which discovered that although leaders say they understand their identity and value, they are not using authenticity within their content.
“For whatever reason, you hide because you’re not confident to be an authentic leader and have an authentic personal brand,” explains Steve Richards, co-founder at Jago. “You might fear judgement, or you might not know your audience well enough to know that they’re going to connect with that and resonate with that.”
In the race to get more leads quickly or under pressure to win more business, some business leaders are entering the personal branding arena without a strategic approach and they aren’t being consistent on social media.
“What we don’t want is to be a rudderless ship in a rush to nowhere,” says Richards. “We believe in a strategic approach and doing things properly, which is you don’t run a marathon without doing any training!”
The second phase evolves into regular storytelling support, coaching and strategic support sessions whether that’s in the form of social post guidance, videos or help with that next keynote speech a leader needs to prepare for.
“When it gets hard, we give them that counsel on how to tell a certain story. We don’t necessarily change the DNA, we just get them to maybe look at the way they might frame that to attract the audience that they’re after,” explains O’Keeffe.
From working with corporate clients such as law firm Clifford Chance to an agency like Boutique in Leeds, Jago also offers workshops and coaching sessions on personal branding and its benefits.
“We’re backing leaders that have a purpose behind their views and their beliefs.”
One of Jago’s success stories is Phil Blackmore at Create Health, a specialist healthcare marketing agency based in Bristol. After enlisting the support of Jago with his Personal Brand, Phil has recently won a whale account, which is worth north of £500,000. They have two more prospects they are currently talking to that have the potential to both be whale accounts.
Phil and the rest of the board at Create Health have decided to cut most of the marketing spend in areas that were not working and invest most of their budget into Personal Brand with Jago. The additional investment will accommodate the rest of the senior leadership team to go through Jago’s process and include video storytelling to help scale Phil’s Personal Brand.
To join the likes of Phil and other agency leaders who’ve seen success through Jago’s strategic personal branding approach, download the Personal Brand Benchmark Report below.
Stay tuned for the final piece next week with Jago, featuring an exclusive chat with Propaganda founder Julian Kynaston on how Jago – and personal branding – has helped him and his businesses see success.
