How To Market Yourself In The Digital Era

Globally, the marketing budgets given to digital advertising are growing year-on-year and, in some cases, now exceed the budgets given to traditional media.

We are at a stage where technological advances are blurring the boundaries between work and personal lives.

Most professionals and business owners really need to dedicate time and effort to strengthen their own brands as a part of their daily routine, something that’s becoming very easy in the digital era.

However, your online interactions always need to be honest and should accurately reflect your offline life, but it is more important to identify your goal for being online.

Are you looking to be an industry thought leader? Are you looking to make more connections? Do you want to increase page views for your blog? The point here is to remember that how you present yourself in the digital landscape is as unique as you are!

There are several channels that will help you achieve the right reflection of your digital image.

LINKEDIN

A LinkedIn profile is a combination of a resume, cover letter, references document and a moving and living database of your network. Use it to create your own personal advertising, to search for jobs or meet new people. A professional life may be deemed incomplete without a LinkedIn profile.

FACEBOOK

Facebook can be an excellent way of branding yourself. You can design your page to reflect your personal brand, enrich your friends’ perceptions with photo albums, ‘like’ things you care about and ‘share’ things you find interesting.

Be sure to include a decent picture of just you, without any obscene gestures or unnecessary wine bottles. Also, input your work experience and fill out your profile, while turning on the privacy options that disable the ability for people to tag you in pictures and videos without your permission.

BLOG/WEBSITE

Depending on who you are, how much time you have on your hands and if you can accept criticism, you should either start a blog or a website.

Those who blog will have a stronger asset because blogs rank higher in search engines and lend more to your expertise and interest areas over time. Thus far, it is the most powerful personal branding platform the digital world has seen.

TWITTER

It is unbelievable how much one can accomplish in a matter of 140 characters or less! Building a personal brand one tweet at a time is a great way to introduce your thoughts, deeds and philosophies to the world through a digital space.

Apart from these, there are other platforms like Google+, YouTube, Pinterest, Slideshare, Reddit, Stumbleupon, Instagram, and more.

Once you have chosen your networks and the type of content you’ll be broadcasting, building relationships is key.

Everything you do online may also stay on the internet in some form or appear in search results when people type your name. This is called a digital footprint.

It is the data trail left by the interactions in a digital environment and provides data on what has been performed. In social media, a digital footprint can refer to the size of a person’s online presence measured by the number of individuals with whom they interact.

Personal brand is not a goal in itself, but a means to an end or a natural expression of who you are. Digital expression is a powerful tool in one’s hands and if used properly, can be a boon for self-branding.

How deep you go in the digital- sphere tells a lot about you and your direction. But bear in mind, more is not always better.