Personal Branding:
The personal branding and personal branding is an increasingly popular concept in the digital marketing , so surely you’ve heard it many times. This concept has also gained popularity, as well as importance, with the arrival of social networks, since it is the place where an image, behaviors, values, a reputation can most be projected …
We explain what personal branding is and why it is so important to create it.
- Do you want the best templates to create an effective step-by-step marketing plan?
What is a personal brand?
Personal branding is the way other people perceive you. This perception is achieved through three key elements: what is said, what is done, and attitude.
This personal brand or personal branding is important for an individual to be considered a company and can differentiate themselves from the rest, thus achieving greater professional success. Of course, only a well-defined personal brand is capable of making someone stand out within a professional group, making it visible so that they choose it before another and that they know and recognize it.
What is clear is that personal branding does not consist solely of designing a logo and having a website, blog or profiles on social networks. Although all this is interesting to reinforce the personal brand and can be part of the strategy, it is necessary to manage and project an image that serves to differentiate itself from the rest.
Why it is important to have a personal brand
Nowadays, and especially because of the use we make of social networks , it is very important to have a personal brand to be successful and grow professionally.
One of the main reasons why any professional should have personal branding is to be able to position themselves within a specific job market and become a benchmark within a sector. Personal branding is also the most effective way of ensuring that there is a relationship between brand and profession , as well as that it is talked about and recognized within the entire sector.
Of course, you always have to sell what you do and not what you are, as well as it will also be necessary to manage your personal profile as if it were that of a brand.
Today there are many good professionals who offer a quality service or product. However, this is lost among many other professionals who apparently give the same. To stand out and be the reference it is necessary to have something different from the rest. And it is precisely here where personal branding comes into play. As we have already mentioned, this serves to transmit, always from a professional image, values, behaviors and a reputation, in addition to standing out.
Key elements of personal branding
There are a number of key elements that are essential to create a good personal brand: what we say, what we do and attitude .
- What we say: the first image is created from everything that is published on social networks, be it text, images or video; all the speeches that take place outside of them and what we project through gestures and clothing.
- What we do: what is said has to be accompanied by actions. This part is very important, since it is useless to transmit an image if the actions do not correspond to it. So you have to be very consistent with what you say so that you can act on that later.
- The attitude: it is what determines what has been said and done. That is, the way in which things are said and the way in which they are done are determining factors in creating a definitive image of the brand.
To be able to define a personal branding well, it is necessary to know yourself. So you ask like “who am I?” What do I want to do? ” and “what goals do I want to achieve?” They can be the beginning to know what services or products can be offered, the value that can be given to the brand, the profile that could be interested … That is, before creating a brand there must be a previous work of self-knowledge. It is not about creating a false image of oneself, but about exploiting to the maximum the virtues that one has.
When a personal brand is created from deception, there can be contradictions in the different messages, which can cause the loss of trust on the part of the audience.
How to build your personal brand step by step
You know what a personal brand is, how important it is to grow professionally and its key elements. If you think that to achieve success you just lack personal branding, we explain step by step how you can build it.
Know yourself well
As we have mentioned, it is necessary to do a previous work of self-knowledge to create a personal brand, since it must always be created based on the individual behind it, so it must highlight their strengths, virtues and abilities. What really works is authenticity, as that is what builds trust.
When you create a personal brand, it is done to enjoy what you are doing and grow professionally with it.
Set a goal
Many ideas remain in the pipeline, hence the importance of setting a goal and objectives .
In order not to abandon a project, you have to set goals, since without them it is very difficult to establish a strategy. You can start with short-term goals and gradually expand.
It is normal to make mistakes along the way, the important thing is to set realistic achievable goals and grow little by little.
Get a domain
Having a website is essential today to be visible. For a personal brand to grow, the ideal is to get a domain .es or .com with the name and surname . In addition, for this case there is no better logo than the proper name.
The social media accounts, the blog (if any) and all the pages that accompany the main website must have the same name so as not to confuse the audience.
It does not matter whether the full name and both last names are used, only the last names or only the first name and one last name.
Both the web and the social networks or blog are the image of the personal brand, so you have to take maximum care of these spaces and always provide quality content optimized for SEO. The navigability of the web and its structure must also be taken care of.
Make it clear what you offer
The services or products offered must be made clear on the main website and on social networks . You must also specify what its utilities are to create a need in the public.
For a service or product to be useful and necessary, it must save the public time and money, in addition to providing well-being. It has been found that when something manages to give these three things, success is practically assured.
Watch the competition
To know where to shoot it is sometimes necessary to observe the competition . Analyzing what other professionals in the sector are doing, what they offer, how they communicate with the audience, what type of material they publish on the web and in networks can be a great source of inspiration.
As a personal brand, it is not about copying what others are doing , but about improving it by contributing the strengths and virtues of oneself.
Observe your audience
It is very important to listen to the voice of the audience , as their feedback can give clues to the mistakes that are being made, as well as what the biggest successes have been.
It is also a very good idea to see the blogs, websites and customer profiles, since that is where the needs and concerns they have are seen.
Don’t forget about the offline part
Being alone on the internet may not be enough. Going to events, conferences, talks, fairs … related to the profession can help a practically unknown personal brand to become known.
In this type of event it is important to be open, active, participatory … Of course, without ceasing to be what one is. Without a doubt it is the best way to show that what appears on the web and in networks is really what is behind it.
As you can see, having personal branding has become for many professionals one of the best digital marketing strategies. Of course, it requires prior and constant work, in addition to setting goals.
Achieving a successful, recognizable and remarkable personal brand above others is the result of constant work, but totally necessary to differentiate yourself from other professionals who offer the same or something similar. And above all, never forget the most important thing, authenticity.
