The concept of branding, initially used in marketing, consists of building a brand image through different marketing actions. In the same way that you can give an image to a brand, it is also possible to promote your own person! This is called personal branding. Born with the web and social networks, personal branding is gaining ground in an environment where our information is visible to everyone. It is an excellent tool to assert your expertise to a targeted audience and standout from the rest in a professional setting! In this article, find out what the benefits of personal branding are for your career and how to build it.
What is personal branding?
" Personal branding is the practice of an individual promoting his or her own image and skills through the marketing and advertising techniques usually used to promote his or her brand."
Personal branding is an essential tool for career success. It allows you to present yourself in a positive way and to better expose your skills and qualities within our professional ecosystem.
With the advent of the internet, this practice was mostly used by politicians or artists who were looking to promote their image. Since then, public visibility has expanded widely with social media. Today, some recruiters look at their candidates' profiles on social media in order to learn more about them and make an initial selection. You might as well control your image so you don't miss out on great opportunities!
Who is personal branding for?
Everyone! When you are a student or already in the workforce, it is essential to know how to put yourself forward in order to find a job/internship or evolve in the company in which you work. Freelancers also need to be able to communicate and talk about themselves if they want to make their products or services known.
What is the purpose of personal branding?
Get to know each other better
Before going through the self-promotion stage, personal branding helps us get to know ourselves better. Just as you prepare for a job interview by anticipating the recruiter's questions, personal branding needs to be prepared and involves introspection. It's time to take stock of our strengths, weaknesses, backgrounds, goals, passions, area of expertise, uniqueness... In short, all the characteristics that make us unique ! By questioning ourselves about these different aspects concerning ourselves, we have a clearer vision of ourselves, our goals and ambitions. This reflection will then allow us to build a coherent profile that will accompany us throughout our careers.
Make yourself known
By creating a personal brand, we will talk about ourselves, we will highlight our skills, our personality, our achievements... Having an active personal brand exposes us and allows us to be known. But be careful, not with everyone! Rather, it is a targeted notoriety among people in our professional network. These are the very people who will help advance our careers.
Personal branding is a personal communication strategy ! To build it, you need to ask yourself several questions: what is my project? Who is my target? How to address this target? What is my positioning? My added value? What makes me different from others? Once you've done that, adapt your social media presentation accordingly.
Generate Opportunities
The time spent building your personal brand pays off by generating incredible professional opportunities. Personal branding allows us to get out of anonymity and become visible in our market. Expanding your professional network is the best way to multiply professional proposals!
Stand out from the crowd
And yes, like a communication strategy, personal branding requires us to establish our positioning and our differentiating factors. Why do you decide to choose one brand over another? Its values? The quality of its services? It's kind of the same way that applies to yourself. You must highlight your added value and your uniqueness so that as many people as possible in your professional environment follow you. People will remember you and associate your profile with your expertise !
How to succeed in your personal branding?
After the theory, it's time for practice! Here are a few examples that will help you build a solid professional image:
- Be active on professional networks such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook;
- Offer content for Internet users : write articles on sites recognized in your field, keep a blog;
- Monitor in order to share up-to-date news;
- Keep a consistent image on social networks and take care of your image (profile picture, personal information);
- Combine online and offline communication: don't hesitate to participate in networking events (trade shows, fairs, webinars, etc.) in order to present your skills and expertise to a targeted audience.
Ultimately, personal branding helps you gain more control over your image and career and increases your chances of success in your professional environment. Knowing your qualities and knowing how to communicate them will allow you to be a reference in your field of activity in the long term. It's up to you!
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