If you’re thinking about pursuing a career in digital marketing, an important question to ask yourself is what do you want to be known for? Beyond your job performance you probably have a passion that you want to be remembered for.
In an age where your name can be searched in seconds, revealing your entire digital footprint, it’s important to be intentional about the way you present yourself online.
Effective personal branding sets you apart from other professionals in your field. If you can show potential employers or partners that you know how to use social media to market yourself, they’ll have the impression that you can do that for them as well.
In this blog post we will introduce you to what personal branding is, why it’s important, and we’ll also provide tips for taking the first steps to building your personal brand.
What is Personal Branding?
Personal Branding is about marketing yourself and your career as if it were a brand. Your personal brand is the way you promote yourself and your skills online. It is also the image people have in their minds based off of your online activities.
This can be scary to think about if you tend to be uncensored on social media. The reality of today is that nothing you share online is truly private and people, including potential employers, are going to judge your character based off of the content you share online.
If you aspire to be a working professional in digital and social media marketing, your credibility should be a top priority. What better way to build your credibility than by establishing yourself as an industry expert or online thought leader?
Why is Personal Branding Important?
As we mentioned earlier, building a personal brand can set you apart from the crowd in your industry. If you’re looking to land a new job, get a promotion, or land marketing deals with specific brands, a positive online reputation could give you a leg up.
According to Oberlo, you should think of your personal social media branding efforts as your online portfolio. The content that you share and create should allow people to get to know you better and the value that you bring.
You don’t have to have thousands of followers to start taking control of your personal narrative online. If you start creating and sharing content that aligns with your passions and career interests, the right people will eventually take notice.
How to Begin Building Your Personal Brand
If you’re in social media marketing, you know that online marketing takes strategy and monitoring, it’s no different when it comes to personal branding online.
BrandYourself.com states that building an online presence involves a 3-step process of creating a strong foundation of sites and profiles, optimizing for search engines, and then maintaining/monitoring content over time.
A great place to start revamping your personal brand online is to do a personal audit of your existing social media accounts. Would you be comfortable if a co-worker or potential employer saw your Twitter or Facebook feeds? If the answer is no, then you know you have some work to do.
Here are some questions to ask yourself when auditing your social media accounts:
· Does the content I share reflect how I wish to be seen?
· What do I want to be known for?
· Do my profiles do a good job of showcasing my accomplishments and skills?
· Am I connecting with like-minded people in my desired industry?
Take your social media audit a step further by searching your name in Google and exploring the results. If something pops up during your audit that doesn’t align with how you wish to present yourself, delete it if possible. You should also de-activate any social media accounts that you’re no longer active on.
If you wish to have a social media account that is solely for personal use, make sure you have your account set to private and disclose in your bio that it’s a personal account. You should also disclose whether your account is a professional account in your bio.
Once you determine the channels that you wish to build an audience on, you can begin creating and sharing content that showcases your interests and expertise. Building a personal brand online is an on-going process that does take work, but the benefits can be so rewarding.
In Conclusion
While we’ve only scratched the surface of everything that personal branding entails, we hope that you now have an understanding of what it is, why it’s important, and where to begin building yours. By optimizing your social media accounts and online presence, you can position yourself among experts and professionals in your desired field.
Social Media Marketing University will have more blog posts to come about personal branding; from the content you should be sharing to how to monitor your personal branding efforts. To be notified when we post new content Subscribe Here!
Excellent article!