The Anti-Influencer Guide to Personal Branding

You don’t need a ring light and a morning routine. You need a point of view.

Influencer culture? It’s kind of on the way out 👋. And no, we’re not saying people are going to stop following accounts or liking content. But the trust? The influence part of “influencer”? That’s getting shaky. People are sick of being sold to. Sick of every opinion being linked to a #ad. Sick of watching the same recycled content wrapped in fake vulnerability or polished-to-death “authenticity.” When someone’s being paid to post, you have to question where the honesty ends and the brief begins.

Influencers used to be aspirational. Now they’re often just aspirational-looking people flogging collagen supplements and telling you how life-changing their sponsored suitcase is. The mask is slipping and audiences know it.

Which is exactly why personal branding is having its moment and why it helps to get clear on what personal branding actually is.

Influencers post what they’re told to say, whereas a personal brand is built around what you actually think. Influencers chase reach, personal brands build recognition. Influencers perform, personal brands position. A strong personal brand isn’t about how many likes you get, it’s about what people associate with your name.

Personal branding gives people something solid to trust in. It’s not filtered, scripted, or made to please a sponsor. It’s yours. Your story, your stance, your substance. And in a world full of noise, that kind of clarity is making moves.

People buy from people. They want to know who’s behind the work, what they stand for, and what they’re like to work with. That’s why more founders, freelancers, consultants and creatives are investing in personal branding. Not to be famous. Not to go viral. But to build reputation, connection, and demand.

The rise of the anti-influencer

People are tired of being sold to and personal branding trend predictions for 2026 point the same way. They don’t want perfectly curated lives and polished captions. They want realness. They want relatability. They want people who are building something meaningful, not just chasing brand deals and dopamine from likes.

A recent study backed this up, showing that when people sense a lack of transparency from influencers, their credibility nosedives. The trust just isn’t there.

Take Molly-Mae, for example. A few years ago, she was the blueprint for influencer success. Now, she’s being slammed as out-of-touch, tone-deaf, and bratty – all off the back of her recent Amazon docuseries Behind It All. Former fans have publicly said it “put them off her” completely. Not because of how she looks or dresses, but because of how far removed her world now feels. The luxury lifestyle, the massive earnings, the moaning about £86k motorhomes – it's not relatable. Not anymore.

And that’s the whole point. The influencer model is losing trust. Audiences know when they’re being sold to. They can spot when someone’s opinion is paid for and in a world where followers can be bought, trust is what makes a difference.

That’s why building a personal brand isn’t about becoming an influencer. In fact, we’d argue it’s the complete opposite.

It’s about creating clarity around who you are and what you stand for, so people know exactly what they’re getting. No pretending. No performing. No fluff, no bull.

Influencers sell products. Personal brands build reputations.

Influencers are often given a script. A brief. A product to sell. They’re being paid to say the thing. That’s the job.

But a strong personal brand is not tied to a product. It’s tied to your perspective.
It’s built on your experience, your voice, your values. And most importantly, it’s earned, not borrowed.

When you build a brand around you, people are buying into trust. And in a world flooded with content, trust is currency – a major benefit to personal branding.

You don’t need to go viral. You just need to be recognisable.

The goal isn’t to blow up overnight. That’s what influencers chase. Metrics that don’t really mean anything. You’re not here for 100k followers and brand collabs. You’re here for reputation. For recognition. For respect in your space. Think quality not quantity.

You want to be the person people think of when a project, opportunity or conversation comes up in your field. And that happens from being clear on who you are.

We’d rather you say one thing that actually lands than 20 posts of surface-level content that gets scrolled past.

Build slow. Build smart. Build once.

A good personal brand doesn’t need to live on every platform. In fact, most of the time? Less is more. Being active everywhere doesn’t build clarity – it waters you down if anything. You don’t need TikTok, Threads, Insta, LinkedIn, YouTube, and a Substack newsletter. Pick the channel that works for you – the one that fits your strengths, your industry, and your audience.

The goal is to position yourself properly. Let your brand work even when you’re offline. Let your brand work even when you’re offline. That’s when you know it’s strong.

That’s why a solid personal brand strategy matters and it also explains why most people struggle with building a personal brand. Without one, you have no direction. Strategy helps you choose the right channels, define your message, and build with purpose.

Thoughtful > thirsty

We’re not here for hot takes that disappear in 24 hours. We’re not here for forced vulnerability or “relatable” captions designed to farm engagement. That’s influencer territory.

A personal brand that works is built on:

• A clear point of view

• A consistent tone of voice

• Content that actually means something

• And visuals that reflect you, not some polished version you think people want to see

And guess what? You don’t need to shout about it every day. You just need to show up with intention. We always say: know who you are, own that sh*t, and lean into it.

So no, you don’t need to be an influencer

You don’t need a ring light. You don’t need a carefully filtered grid. You don’t need to pretend your opinions come from the heart when they’re coming from a PR brief.

You just need a brand that’s built on truth. You can’t build a strong personal brand on your own … you just can’t. It won’t have the same impact as hiring a personal branding agency.

At co&co, we’re not here to make you TikTok famous. We’re here to build a brand that gets you recognised for the right reasons in the right rooms. And even if you feel like you’re too shy to do this kind of thing, trust us, you can build a personal brand without faking confidence. It’s what we do.

If you’ve been putting this off because you thought personal branding meant becoming “one of them” – don’t worry. You’re not here to be one of them but you are here to f*cking stand out. Fancy working together?