Your brand isn’t just the polished stuff you planned during your rebrand or mapped out in a Google Doc.
It’s also the unintentional trail you’re leaving behind: The throwaway content you post just to stay visible, the clients you take on because you had bandwidth (even though the work doesn’t light you up), that random rant you posted on stories that doesn’t actually reflect who you are as a service provider.
All of it speaks. And all of it’s telling a story, whether you meant for it to or not.
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Your Brand Is More Than What You Intentionally Build
Most business owners only think about the intentional aspects of their brand: brand voice, color palette. fonts, offers, social media, website…
And they assume that as long as those assets look good and sound clear, they’re safe.
But branding isn’t just a visual or verbal identity. It’s a perception, and perception doesn’t care about your intentions. It’s shaped by every single touchpoint somebody has with you, whether you planned it or not.
This blog post you’re reading right now could completely alter your perception of me and my brand. An IG story I put out could rub you the wrong way, and suddenly you’re like, “Nah, not really feeling this anymore.”
Everything you put out has the potential to alter your brand presence and brand perception.
If you’re treating some of your content like, “Ah, it’s just a silly little nurture post” or “It’s just a personality piece,” cool. But understand that any post could technically be someone’s very first impression with you. And it could be the only impression someone ever gets!
You don’t get to decide which post becomes someone’s first touchpoint with your brand, but you can control what you’re putting out there.
When Off-Brand Content Becomes Your Brand
I see this all the time. Somebody posts a goofy trend because it was fun. And I’m glad you had fun. Your existing audience probably got a good laugh out of it.
But if, God forbid, that’s the only piece of content somebody saw about you, was that your moment? Your one shot to get a dream client to find you, fall in love with your work, and want to go deeper into your content?
Let’s say you showed up on the explore page for an ideal customer. But the post they saw didn’t have anything to do with what you actually do. Sure, you got the views, you got the eyeballs. But that wasn’t enough to get somebody to go, “Oh, this is somebody I should learn more about.”
I think about this all the time when I look back at when I first started my business. I had just gotten Benson, and I posted a lot of dog content. The dog content got views. It put me in front of people. Technically, the algorithm loved it.
But I’m not a dog trainer. I’m not a pitbull page. I’m a marketing girlie.
So if people saw that dog content and thought, “OMG, look how cute this dog is,” great. They probably loved it. But they had no idea I was also a marketing professional. And if other marketing professionals saw it, they probably just scrolled past thinking, “Why do I care about dog content?”
People aren’t going, “Oh well, she only posted one dog post, but the rest of her content is good.” No. They’re just seeing what’s in front of them.
You have the choice. You can still post silly, goofy things. That’s totally up to you. But you have to be aware that if you’re putting lots of silly, goofy things out into the ether, those could be the impressions you’re forming and building.
The Work You Showcase Matters More Than You Think
Let’s say you have a client case study and you keep sharing it because the work is so good. But you know, deep down, you would never take on that type of work or that type of client again.
Even though you know that, your audience is going, “Okay, this is what they do. They work with these types of people.”
A prime example would be if you worked with an organization that was polarizing — maybe a nonprofit geared toward a specific cause — and you took the work because money’s money or whatever. But personally, you don’t believe in the same values that brand or organization had.
If you’re showcasing that work and highlighting, “Look, I worked with this business that does XYZ,” in other people’s minds, it signals that you also align with those things. Could be good, could be bad. But if it’s something you’re personally like, “I just worked with them because a job’s a job. I actually hate their guts,” that’s not a good move for your business.
People stumbling upon you for the first time are going to think those organizations align with your values. Or they’ll see that those organizations go against everything they believe in, and they’ll think, “I thought this person was different. This is weird.”
It’s going to cause confusion and give the wrong perception.
When you’re showcasing your work, that’s a signal that you’re putting the work you’re proud of front and center. If you’re not proud of something, don’t show it. Because people will think that is your best work.
Your Brand Is Bigger Than What You Post
Reminder: your brand is bigger than what you post. It’s the caliber of the work you say yes to. It’s the companies you say yes to. It’s the partnerships you pursue. It’s the content you let live online, whether it’s there for 24 hours or 24/7. It’s the way you speak about your offers behind the scenes.
If you’re going on stories being like, “Oh my God, I am so stressed, I can’t do anything,” and then your clients see that, they’re going to be like, “I thought you had this in the bag.”
Everything can alter brand perception. It’s the micro moments, not just the highlights or the curated pieces.
So ask yourself:
If somebody Googled me today, would I be proud of what they find? Or would I be frantically going through deleting things?
If somebody saw your last 10 posts, and that was their only impression of you, would they get it? Would they understand what you’re all about? Or is it a bit of a mishmash of chaos?
If a dream client was silently lurking you for weeks, would they feel aligned through and through? Would they see a consistent brand presence? Or would it look like you were on track and then — wild card! Something totally off-brand. They’d probably get confused.
What Story Do You Want to Tell?
This whole episode is basically me wanting to make sure that what you’re building actually matches what you mean to build.
If you’re realizing right now that you’ve been unintentionally building a brand you don’t actually love or aren’t proud of, that’s okay. Awareness is gold.
But the question then becomes: What story do you want to tell? What kind of brand do you want to be remembered for? What kind of clients do you want to attract? What kind of work do you want to be associated with?
Moving forward, start telling that story. But not just telling it… live it. Be it!
🎧 Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify
