How Do Others See You?

How do others see you is a question that I was asked yesterday. It really made me think, I know how I want others to see me, but do I really know how they actually see me. No of course the "me" I'm talking about is the brand me not the person me. That can be a hard line to distinguish when you are talking about a person that has also worked to create a brand around themselves. Easier when you are talking about a company or an organizational brand.

How Do Others See You – What Image Are You Portraying?

Knowing how others, whether those "others" are customers, clients, readers etc see you can be a great aid in closing gaps in your brand image. During the conversation that sparked this post I discovered that the person I was talking with saw my brand in a very different way than I see it. This was actually a very positive thing for me, as they saw me much further developed than I saw myself. Nonetheless having that conversation made me realize that so often we plough ahead with our own perception and forget to actually check-in with the constituents that really matter – our audience.

I intend to check in with my audience on at least an annual basis and find out how they perceive my brand. What qualities do they associate with it, what attributes come to mind when they think of the name and also what do they not think of when they think of my brand.

How Do Others See You – How To Ask

How do you find out how others see  you? Especially in perhaps a more structured way than just a casual conversation. Big brands can afford to have market research conducted to obtain this type of feedback. How does a smaller organization or even a solo entrepreneur get the same feedback?

This is where relationships come in. Building a network of customers, clients and trusted voices that you can reach out to for answers to these questions is the easiest way to get that feedback. Of course it takes time and if you haven't already started then you have a long path ahead of you. But building it has so much value that it simply can't be expressed in revenue terms. Customers and clients have so much more to offer your business than just money. They have the perspective that, as business owners, brand managers and marketers we so often lack.

So as my group of readers – how do you see my brand? What attributes do you associate with it?

How will you ask your audience how they see you?

Image used under CC license by Tambako


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