Have you ever noticed how we remember people? We remember someone by how they made us feel, how they sounded, how they acted, what they smelled like, or by what their personality was like…
That’s why developing your brand’s personality is so important. We don’t want our business to be the same as our competitors…we want to stand out.
You’ve probably heard a lot of people telling you that you need to build a brand persona for your business. And if you haven’t yet, that’s ok! We’ll cover a little bit of it here in this post.
Building your brand persona (or giving your brand some personality) helps us connect emotionally with our audience. And it helps us leave an impression so they remember us in the future.
Nailing your brand personality helps with different aspects of your business…
It can help with your messaging…
Your core values…
The way your brand sounds on your website…
How we even provide our services…
Maybe you already know that you need to infuse more personality into your brand, but you’re not how…
Or maybe you do, but you’re not quite sure how to be consistent with how you do it…
If you ever feel like you need to infuse more personality into your brand or maybe you feel like your messaging doesn’t really resonate with people…or maybe that your blog has a lot of personality, but your website’s a dud…then let’s look at it from a different perspective!
Your Brand and the Enneagram
I love the personality tests. I’m not an expert when it comes to the Enneagram, but I use what I know to help me in business…
And in this post, we’ll talk about how we can use the enneagram types to add more personality to our brand!
When it comes to the Enneagram and your brand, you should ask yourself…
“If my brand was an enneagram type, what number would it be?”
If you’re not familiar with Enneagram Types, you can learn more about one of my favorite personality tests from the Enneagram Institute website.
Type 1: The Reformer
Type Ones are organized, self-controlled, purposeful, and a bit of a perfectionist.
Ones are highly value driven so they’re all about doing things the right way and always think that they can make things better. Super organized and detail-oriented, a brand with a One type might have processes for everything they do. And they might provide tons of resources that revolve around planning, organizing…and include checklists and how-tos.
If your brand was a One, your brand’s core values might include: Responsibility, Honesty, Structure, and Accuracy.
Type 2: The Helper
Type Twos are generous, friendly, empathetic, and sincere.
Twos truly care about helping people. They find it easy to step into someone else’s shoes and see things in their perspective. They care deeply about people and love building strong relationships. Twos are great listeners and are always ready to serve their customers.
If your brand was a Two, your brand’s core values might include: Service, Empathy, Connection, and Generosity.
Type 3: The Achiever
Type Threes are ambitious, energetic, driven, and image-conscious.
Threes are success-oriented. They’re ambitious and driven, always wanting to succeed or excel in everything they do. They’re motivated to position themselves to stand out from their competitors. People really look up to them for the ability to achieve great things in the world, but they also enjoy motivating others to achieve their goals even when they don’t think they can do it themselves. Who doesn’t love that?
If your brand was a Three, your brand’s core values might include: Growth, Results, Respect, and Adaptability
Type 4: The Individualist
Type Fours are expressive, personal, creative, and honest.
Fours are sensitive and expressive. They’re honest and personal. They feel different from other people and are known as individualists. They strive to have significant meaning in their business. They value beauty and authenticity and want to help others bring their beauty and uniqueness to the surface.
If your brand was a Four, your brand’s core values might include: Authenticity, Creativity, Imagination, and Aesthetics.
Type 5: The Investigator
Type Fives are perceptive, innovative, curious, and independent.
Fives are generally able to focus on creating complex ideas…they’re always thinking. They’re independent and innovative and want to be known as competent at what they’re doing. They ask great questions and wonder why things are the way they are and constantly want to understand how things work.
If your brand was a Five, your brand’s core values might include: Quality, Mastery, Innovation, and Knowledge.
Type 6: The Loyalist
Type Sixes are engaging, responsible, trustworthy, and practical.
Sixes generally seek meaning and question everything to feel prepared for any situation or problem that might come up. They’re insightful and are known to be problem solvers. They anticipate problems and want the best possible outcome. They’re generally warm and loyal.
If your brand was a Six, your brand’s core values might include: Support, Commitment, Loyalty, and Preparedness.
Type 7: The Enthusiast
Type Sevens are spontaneous, versatile, playful, and optimistic.
Sevens are creative thinkers who generally try to enjoy life’s pleasures and have a positive outlook. They’re spontaneous, engaging, and energetic. They’re great at generating enthusiasm, thinking of new ideas, and engaging people with fun activities.
If your brand was a Seven, your brand’s core values might include: Joy, Optimism, Adventure, and Community
Type 8: The Challenger
Type Eights are self-confident, decisive, resourceful, and protective.
Eights are strong, bold, and assertive. They’re highly independent and generally feel the need to protect and control those around them. They have a deep commitment to truth and justice. They’re extremely passionate, want to make big things happen, and love using their voice to make an impact.
If your brand was an Eight, your brand’s core values might include: Justice, Responsibility, Challenge, and Respect
Type 9: The Peacemaker
Type Nines are accepting, creative, optimistic, and supportive.
Nines generally search for harmony and avoid conflict. They’re easygoing on the outside, relaxed, and usually make excellent facilitators because they draw out the ideas of others to make sure everyone gets heard. They’re supportive of others and because of that, they tend to keep their opinions to themselves to avoid getting someone upset about something.
If your brand was a Nine, your brand’s core values might include: Consistency, Harmony, Empathy, Acceptance
One of the questions I got regarding this approach was, “Does your brand’s enneagram type have to be the same as your personality?”
And the answer is no!
Although it does make sense to have something similar (especially when it comes to personal brands), it doesn’t necessarily mean that it will or has to, be the same.
Identifying your brand personality can be influenced by your own personality, the clients you want to work with, or the type of business you have.
After a small introduction to the enneagram, how can you use what you’ve learned to help you determine your brand’s personality and how can you incorporate this into your messaging, copy, resources, and visuals?
