In today’s fast-paced and hyperconnected world, personal branding is not just important, it’s essential!
Having a stellar reputation is simply no longer enough. If you want to make it in today’s competitive professional landscape, it’s time to be proactive and start crafting a personal brand that reflects who you are and what you stand for.
Fortunately, there are several tools at your disposal. One of the most valuable tools in your arsenal is social media, which offers you an open stage to connect with clients and evolve your personal brand.
With the right strategies and tactics, you can make social media work for you and take your personal brand to new heights. So, let’s dive in and discover how you can get noticed and achieve your professional development goals.
1) Identify an appropriate platform
Social media has revolutionized the way B2B buyers navigate their purchasing journey.
In the past, sales representatives played a central role in providing information and building relationships with buyers. However, social media has caused buyers to become more independent and self-sufficient in their research process.
According to research from Gartner, B2B buyers only spend 17% of their time meeting with sales representatives when considering a purchase. This number drops to just 5 or 6% when they are comparing multiple suppliers.
Today B2B buyers and consumers mainly use dark social, especially social media, to research their options and reach decisions. Dark social describes the areas that are difficult to track with marketing attribution technology. If a customer buys from you, is it really possible to accurately measure the influence of your marketing campaigns on their purchase?
Say your customer listened to your podcast, viewed your LinkedIn post, decided to contact you by doing a direct search on Google, and then clicked on your ad. The attribution technology will tell you that the customer found you because of that advertisement.
But the truth is, the customer arrived at your webpage through your podcast and LinkedIn post; only then did they do a direct search on google and find the ad. The ad didn’t have any influence on this buying journey, but the technology couldn’t track the activity conducted on dark social channels.
LinkedIn is the number one dark social channel for professionals and B2B purchases today. It is therefore crucial that consultants are active on LinkedIn to maximize their access to B2B buying opportunities and build their personal brand.
By leveraging this platform effectively, B2B marketers and sellers can better align with modern buyers’ needs and preferences, ultimately driving more sales and building lasting relationships with customers.
2) Define an effective content strategy
Content is king, but an effective content strategy is essential to logically structure your content and develop your personal brand over time.
A smart content strategy purposefully attracts your ideal customers. Base your content on what is most important to your clients and consider how you can connect your own story, personality, and ambitions to the product or service you offer. Adding elements of personality to your content allows your followers to relate to you more, boosting engagement on LinkedIn.
Routine is crucial on social media. Aim to distribute content from your personal profile at least twice per week and aim for the same frequency from your company profile if you have one. Avoid posting more than once in a 24-hour period because too much content too fast can overwhelm the algorithm and be treated as spam.
Posting anywhere between 2-5 times per week is generally considered the optimum. Building a content calendar could help you hold yourself accountable for being consistent with your posts. Even if you aren’t initially getting a strong engagement rate, keep going—it can take some time to see results.
3) Craft meaningful content
LinkedIn is a great place to build your professional network and connect with potential clients or collaborators.
However, developing relationships goes beyond simply making new contacts. It’s important to nurture those new connections by engaging with your growing audience and offering valuable content that helps to develop your unique personal brand.
Developing a post that showcases your expertise is one way you can connect with your audience and establish yourself as a thought leader. This could be in the form of a blog post, article, or even a video that showcases your unique perspective on an industry topic or trend.
If someone comments on your content, make sure you take the time to engage with them. This will show that you are open to growing your network and will help you build stronger and longer-lasting bonds.
Ultimately, the key to building your personal brand on LinkedIn is to create content that resonates with your audience. By tailoring your content to their interests and engaging with your connections through comments and messages, you’ll be on your way to growing your brand and business on LinkedIn.
4) Manage your online reputation
Social proof and reviews are essential to B2B buying today. Clients look for testimonials, case studies, or other people’s opinions to refine their potential choices.
Getting feedback from your clients is essential, and asking for recommendations on LinkedIn is a meaningful place to start. Although peers’ recommendations are helpful, they aren’t as impactful to your business as feedback from your previous clients, so you should focus on gathering this evidence.
Building engagement on LinkedIn ensures lots of people see your content. Engagement correlates almost 1:1 with reach on LinkedIn and is vital for increasing your followers.
Because it’s such an important part of building your personal brand, you should think carefully about who can help you with engagement. Start by writing a list of people with different networks to you who could engage with your content. Simply reach out and ask them if they would be willing to comment on or share your latest content, and make sure they know that you can do the same for them.
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Your personal brand helps you articulate who you really are. Building your personal brand makes it easier to strengthen your connections, stand out from competitors, form authentic relationships, and achieve your professional goals. Start by taking these steps on LinkedIn, and you’ll soon see your personal brand reach new heights—along with your business.
The post Make Social Media Your Secret Weapon: 4 Tips to Develop Your Personal Brand Online appeared first on COMATCH .
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