Creating Brand ‘Self’ in the Digital World

Give yourself the required time to digitally monetise the work you have done for years and optimise the impact of various digital and social media platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter. It’s a perceptive world out there and you deserve to manage it better because, after all it’s brand ‘You’ at stake!.

Zoom out of your personal space, go above your function, zoom out of your company, then industry, exit region, then continent, now the universe and galaxy…Pause here, gather yourself and look down beneath…its magnificent at each level you have crossed and made it big…the journey traveled so far, the laurels collected…and then…suddenly you realise you don’t see yourself anymore…it’s so crowded and gets even more so with every zoom out…eventually making you a speck of dust in the sea of everybody and everything. What makes you think that you will be noticed and noticed for long enough?

Believe it or not but in this digital era, talent is spotted, discovered, researched, met and hired on digital and social media platforms. When you compare your performance and laurels within your company, the bars you set and the targets you met, vis-a-vis your equity on social media, your personal capital on the perception scale-measured at LinkedIn , Twitter and other social platforms - the latter clearly wins over the former and defines your chances for making the next cut, for being spotted among the crowd, for being called for that all important chat-for the next big role!

The Power of “Brand Self”

The power of brand ‘SELF’ in today’s world is redefining the way executives are head hunted in the corporate world, a world crowded with talent. The screaming equation of Jobs to talent beckons differentiation. As I stress on the importance of visibility and relevance on digital & social media platforms, I must clarify that my “note” today is directed at the uber qualified and talented millions and not as a short cut/ substitute to hard work and brilliance. It reemphasizes the need for each of the hot talent out there that they are in a crowd of hotter talent and to be discovered and appreciated in the larger stage need to be widely “visible” and “appreciated”. And the path to redemption leads through the gates of digital and social platforms.

Many executives today acknowledge the need to invest their resources into being visible and differentiated but few understand the real, far reaching career impact it can have. Some of those who do understand it’s importance, struggle to have a structured approach or are unable to find time to execute this. Doing it right on digital platforms has not been taught at school (there wasn’t a thing like digital & social media then) or college nor is it part of most of our work KPI’s. So, this then needs two clear aspects to build: Skill and effort investment. I am keeping intent out as that’s the first step to be taken to get here.

What makes it work?

A friend of mine was an early convert and adopter of the benefits of digital and social media platforms as an integral part of his career progression. His thumb rule was to spray paint LinkedIn and Twitter with his presence every waking hour (he could not figure an auto push feature while sleeping!) Ok, I am exaggerating here to make a point, but he was resolved to maintaining a frequency of two posts every hour - sacrosanct. I wouldn’t go there, it’s beyond an overkill. He seemed to be co-branded with LinkedIn and Twitter. But did it help him stand out and create Brand ’Self’? For what I know, , in his case, his social media behavior could be the singular reason for not getting any relevant calls and attention. Which means that the platforms which are meant to be an exciting launchpad for you can easily backfire and bring you down overnight, if the digital community get overdosed by your posts and  you may get tagged as a noise maker for good. Of course, this good soul had no clue about the social media etiquette and how to drive benefit from relevant communication and engaging conversations on digital platforms. And I am very categorical when I say “conversation & communication” here and not “posts”. Let’s acknowledge the fact that even best of authors need traction and followers for continuous engagement. Failing in production of engaging conversations can be extremely costly for brand ‘Self’ as our mind filters content as good, bad, ugly and we blink past the latter two types of content with zero interest, typecasting the author -uninteresting, monotonous, boring etc. So, now we come to that stage of our conversation where we need to deep dive into what is the right approach to effective “communication” on the professional digital platforms?

Brand ‘Self’ needs a structured approach to creating a relevant and engaging public profile

A picture speaks 1000 words! More often than not, we create subconscious liking for a person when we associate the name with the face. So start by creating your profile picture.

Remember that brand ‘Self’ is competing with people, machines, ideas scrambling across with their stories through articles, panel appearances, talks, just forwards on digital platforms. It is important to plan and pen down your end game - what you want to be known as and known for. Presenting my 4 point litmus test! Try to answer the questions below honestly for they will help you to  build your digital profile with an end picture in mind.  Who am I to my digital audience? Am I a

·      subject matter expert?

·      visionary - jack of all trades with a world view on everything?

·      Curator of news?

·      Or an original content writer?

Paint the canvas

Once you have the clarity on who you are or want to be for your digital audience, give a pat on your back; for you have successfully drawn the sketch for your digital journey. Now it’s time to start filling up the colours. Plan well, start with homework and what works what doesn’t, who is posting what and how is your content standing out, is this adding to the garbage out there or simplifying it. Find your niche, it could be something you love and not something from work. It will be most impactful when it comes with a lot of conviction and of course, research. Don’t be a forward button. Statistics tell us the only forwards waited for and rated high is porn. So, contain that urge to forward unless it is really appealing. Read, research and add your thoughts to articles and re post with your own interpretation and comment. That makes it tick.

Now, the next pertinent question is if  there is a measure of success? The answer is Yes, there is! with the number of post readers, likes on the post, profile views, number of people who now want to connect with you all tell your success story. The impressions and engagement numbers would directly relate to the success or failure of your public profile sketched by you. Remember here the journey begins with your own belief in your brand and goes on to manifest in the minds of your audience and thus completing the circle of influence.

Pace it nice and long

Be conscious of being suffocated by the weight of your own posts and articles. I have known lot of senior executives who have been there and overdone it. Result is a rapid and forever loss of audience and a self-sense of suffocation for the author. And then, these executives suddenly vanish, go off the grid and return back to oblivion. And I confess, I do miss some of them today! So, avoid the cacophony at all cost. We all know that digital platforms are places where we share our success, interesting thoughts, great ideas etc…and these do come once a while. If they are happening daily… well, then that’s a make-believe world! Hence, it’s important to pace it well and let it last. The audience would appreciate the silence, if they like your posts, they want to enjoy it and not get burdened by it-Period

I hope some of these thoughts gets some of you started-on a journey of creating a public digital profile as vibrant as your work. Give yourself the required time to digitally monetise the work you have done for years and optimise the impact of various digital and social media platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter. It’s a perceptive world out there and you deserve to manage it better because, after all it’s the brand ‘Self’ that’s at stake!

By Sameer Mahapatra, Country Sales Head-India & SAARC at Aeris Communications