Manifesting a Digital Profile

“The future of business is social.” – Barry Libert?

Previously, I spoke about the importance of creating a unique brand for your company. As a recent convert to digital marketing myself, I had previously relied on word of mouth and my client relationship to steer my company’s growth. I didn’t fully consider strategic brand building or active marketing in any space, digital or otherwise. I depended on my reputation to organically acquire new clients. This was largely because, when I started PTP in 1996, most of the digital branding tools we use today simply did not exist. There wasn’t much internet, no social media, and no understanding of digital outreach. ??

This changed after I decided to hire a digital marketing consultant for PTP to develop a dedicated marketing strategy for the firm. This led to building a powerhouse team from the ground up that I trust to build a digital presence for PTP and create an online profile for the company that carves a unique space for us within the recruiting industry. As a result of our burgeoning digital marketing presence, I’m not only in a position to attract new clients and candidates but keep our current audience engaged and listening. ?

You NEED digital marketing?

“Innovation needs to be part of your culture. Consumers are transforming faster than we are, and if we don’t catch up, we’re in trouble.” – Ian Schafer?

If you’re an established business that’s been around for a while, start thinking about repositioning your brand to leverage new trends which impact your industry or consumer base. Consider adding to your messaging to attract a new generation of consumers. ?

Most candidates today, and many clients, operate entirely via the internet and social media. I had to reinvent my business to match the digitization of my market and in the process reinvent my brand as well. My team of digital marketing and branding experts help me expand my company brand using digital platforms. I’ve learned to communicate directly with my audience using online communication tools such as blogs, videos, e-newsletters, social media, etc. ??

And it’s taken my business in a whole new direction. Clients and candidates today know PTP as a digitally inclusive brand that has a highly active online presence. We aim to inform, educate, and deliver quality content to our community to keep them up on the trends in recruiting that we are privileged to have a front-row view of.? ??

The last few years have been an eye-opening crash course in what digital marketing can do for my business. This is what I’ve learned:?

Make your digital strategy work for you?

“The brands that can connect with the client in a real way will win” – Gary Vaynerchuk?

The end goal is simple—to execute a strategy that connects you to your customer, increases your brand awareness, and expands your bottom line.??

I said simple. I didn’t say it would be easy. How do you hit all these targets??

Let your business dictate your marketing?

When creating a digital marketing strategy, the destination is a set of defined marketing goals you hope to achieve from your efforts. Your marketing goals should be tied back to the fundamental goals of your business.?

Give the audience the content they want?

Here is an age-old tip to keep your audience; give them what they want. If you want to engage your crowd create content that speaks to them and their interests. Instead of asking them to pay attention to your preferences, find out what theirs are and cater to it.?

No one does this better than Amex. American Express invites guest authors from a variety of sectors to share their business knowledge and wisdom. The result is a content-rich mega-site that’s popular with search engines and gives their viewers the type of content they need to stay engaged.?

Choose your marketing channels carefully?

If you want to sell beer, you wouldn’t advertise in a coffee shop, right? But you might approach your local watering hole for a shout-out. The same applies here. Don’t waste time and resources spraying every inch of the market with your digital output. It’s far more useful to identify a few highly-impactful channels of communication and focus on them. This can take a little trial and error but if you understand your consumers you’ll know where to begin.?

When my team was preparing PTP’s marketing strategy we knew right away that some channels, like Instagram and Facebook, would be essentially unsuitable for the kind of clientele or candidate we were looking to attract. Whereas more professional channels like LinkedIn are where exactly where our audience reach would be best utilized. Hence, you’re reading this article on LinkedIn and not on Meta, for example.?

Be prepared to go where the tech takes you?

I cannot state enough the importance of leveraging current technologies when preparing a marketing strategy. The word “digital” says it all.??

This is a lesson that I learned as a recruiter, much before I entered the world of marketing. You need to stay current and adapt your strategy to leverage the technological trends of the day. As a recruiter, this meant upgrading my services from the phone book to the palm pilot to LinkedIn. PTP’s marketing strategy has moved in a similar direction.??

Digital marketing today gives you the biggest bang for your buck of any mass communication media in use. It’s no wonder that major corporations like Airbnb spend billions of dollars in ramping up their social media and digital marketing initiatives to maximize their reach to the fullest. They are particularly able to use visual media like Instagram to full effect (bringing us back to my earlier point about using the right channels) by sharing compelling images from their travel locations around the world. And this works for them. During the pandemic, AirBnB was able to steadily increase its followers on social media, many of whom were converted into customers after travel restrictions were eased. ?

Conclusion?

Most recruiters today, at least the ones that hope to have a future in the industry, have accepted that their role has moved inevitably online. While you’ll still find a few old-school souls who insist on doing their jobs over the telephone, recruiters today know that to stay competitive they need to be making the most of the ongoing digitization. Whether this means using social media, leveraging the power of AI, or introducing next-gen services like data science into their businesses, recruiting today is a digital profession.?

Marketing is no different. Billboards and cheesy ads on local TV stations just don’t cut it anymore. A modern marketing strategy, especially for smaller businesses, means investing in digital tech and media. No matter what your business is, be prepared to go digital or prepare to go home.?