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How to Establish Your Personal Brand Online
Aug 20, 2018
As a Digital Marketing Strategist, I spend 80% of my time on social media platforms working to understand the importance of brand identity from a business perspective. The importance of vision, content, consistency, building relationships, and reputation are all elements that can make or break whether someone notices you and chooses to do business with your company. When you think of how important brand identity is for doing business, personal branding can be equally as important to making yourself more employable on a personal level.
The conversation has always been “Why is it so important to have a personal brand? I thought social media was meant for sharing only my personal life experiences?” Unfortunately, this is just not the case. With every millennial attached to their phones, and the younger generations utilizing them even more; we live in a strictly digital age. If you are looking for a new job, you are most likely using a social media profile of some kind to do so, or a job search application such as Indeed or Monster. Anymore, if you are applying to jobs these companies want you to have an online portfolio, and they want to investigate your social media profiles to ensure that you would be a good culture fit for their company, but if they aren’t clean and consistent; you could really hurt your chances of getting that initial interview.
So… what does a personal brand look like and what do you need to be successful?
The most important thing is to make sure that your social media profiles are up to date, and that you are posting relevant content to all your platforms consistently. This makes it easier to understand what skills you possess and what you are interested in, especially for companies that might be scoping you out.
The next step to becoming more valuable in your personal brand is to understand what you are an expert in. For example, since I’m a Digital Marketing Strategist I typically share articles related to the latest changes or updates to social media platforms, how to use digital marketing as a recruitment strategy, and articles based around the impact that branding makes on overall company success. Sharing this type of information shows your audience that you are informed and that you can be a value add to any company potentially looking to hire you.
Creating a personal brand digitally isn’t just about what you post, it’s about being social with others who have the same interests as you or people that you can continue to learn from in the future. It’s about interacting on their posts with positive feedback, sharing their information if it pertains to your brand, and getting involved with groups to continue to learn and grow. Social media was built as a social space first and foremost, so don’t forget this important piece of the puzzle.
It’s no secret that video out performs every other medium in the digital space right now. Data and analytics prove it. So much so, that from my experience I’ve created video posts that get over twice the traction than that of a post with just a standing image. Video also helps you become more real to your audience, and it gives your brand the personality that people crave. Many employers these days look for individuals who would be a good fit for their company before they take a hard look at skill set, so incorporating video to your personal brand could be a step in the right direction to getting your dream job with a culture fit to match.
Last but not least, you need to make sure that you stay true to who you are and that you’re authentic to your brand. Share information that you know to be true and verify that it comes from reliable resources. There are plenty of articles out there that don’t always share accurate information, so verifying this information could prevent you from sharing inauthentic information. Companies want to know that you are doing your research and that you believe in your brand, so be prepared!
Personal branding is actually simple and could very well get you noticed by the company of your dreams. Because the unemployment rate is at an all-time high, most candidates today are passive. This means that recruiters are fully examining online profiles before making their move, which means your digital space is essentially your resume. Staying consistent, authentic, and knowledgeable online might just be the answer to having a successful career that you love!
To find out more about what employers and recruiters are looking for on Linkedin, email cmurray@hirelevel.com for some expert advice and more quick tips.