The whole point of curating a personal brand is so the external world perceives you as the way you want them to. You ultimately want your ideal audience to see you in a way that will grow their know, like and trust in you. But what happens when the personal brand you’re putting across doesn’t get perceived in the way you want it to – there’s a gap – the perception gap.
The perception gap is the difference between:
How you see yourself (your values, skills, expertise)
How others perceive you (their opinions, assumptions, and experiences with you)
If these don’t align, your personal brand might not be working as you intend it to!
When there’s a gap between how you want to be seen and how people actually see you, it can lead to:
❌ Missed opportunities
❌ Lack of trust or clarity
❌ Misalignment with your ideal audience
A strong personal brand ensures people see you as YOU want to be seen.
First we need to dive into why a perception gap might happen:
Why isn’t your audience perceiving your personal brand the way you want them to? It could be down to a number of reasons, and in order to bridge the perception gap, we need to take stock of our personal brand and see whats going on. We need to work out if we’ve got any of these issues:
Lack of clarity
Wrong messaging
Inconsistent presence
Visual mismatch
Not understanding your audience
Not listening to your audience, or engaging with them
How we can bridge the gap:
To close the perception gap, or at least work on closing it, there are a few things we can do. Go through the points below and see which ones you need to work on, it might be one or two, or it might be all of them. Don’t be put off by this list, or by not having it all perfect right now, a personal brand takes time and strategy to perfect. It’s Ok to be a work in progress as humans, and for our personal brands too.
Define Your Personal Brand Clearly – Take time to get super clear on what you stand for, your values, and your expertise. What do you bring and want to bring to the world? What feeling do you want to leave your audience with? Whats your mission in life or business, what are you working on or towards? What do you like, who’s personal brand do you enjoy following yourself, and why? Who is your ideal audience, what do they like, what are they into?
Audit Your Current Perception – It’s hard to see yourself as others do, sometimes it’s best to ask for feedback from a trusted source. How do others describe you? Is it aligned with your vision? Choose someone to give you feedback who is like your ideal audience for a deeper understanding if you can.
Align Your Content, Messaging & Visuals – Ensure what you share online and in person truly reflects your values and expertise. And make sure that it is authentic! Are you over inflating yourself online, but then when people meet you in person you’re nothing like the person you’ve been portraying online? Or is your messaging coming across like bragging, when you’d never brag a day in your life? Also look at how you visually present yourself. Is it aligned with the audience you want to attract, and is it an accurate representation of who you want to be to the world?
Show Up Consistently – The word that is thrown everywhere these days, but it’s true – consistency builds recognition and trust. Keep reinforcing your message through your content and your actions. If you’re trying to come across like a dependable, reliable business owner, but then you’re showing up inconsistently in your personal brand over the year, your perception won’t match who you’re trying to be perceived as.
Engage & Listen – Pay attention to how people respond to you and your content. People have a kind of truth serum within them, if they don’t believe that you are portraying an accurate representation of yourself they will let you know. If there is a disconnect, tweak your approach.
Your personal brand isn’t just about what you say – it’s about what others believe. Make sure your actions, content, and presence align with the personal brand you want to build!
If you get stuck on these points, because it can be hard reviewing how you are perceived externally yourself, ask a trusted friend or colleague to give you their honest opinion. And don’t get offended when they give it, they’re just trying to help. If you don’t know your perception gap then how can you bridge it and make it better? It’s better to know and make adjustments, than not.
We can also help bridge the perception gap at Quirq. Gaining clients clarity and strategically pointing their personal brands in the right direction is what we do.
Curating a personal brand on your own can be hard, and confusing and take a lot of time. If you don’t have time to commit to this, or you can’t get the clarity you need, then speak to our team today.
Don’t struggle putting out a mediocre personal brand yourself, come to the experts and put out an exceptional personal brand!
