As a CEO, a business professional or an entrepreneur, establishing your reputation via a credible personal branding rooted in your expertise is becoming increasingly de rigueur.
Personal branding is a process of communicating who you are, your vision, what you stand for and why people should care.
In a research paper published by Wioleta Kucharska, Assistant Professor at Gdansk University of Technology called ‘Tacit Knowledge Sharing and Personal Branding: How to Derive Innovation From Project Teams?’, she explained that for knowledge workers, it’s crucial to exist as a personal brand.
A significant discovery from Kucharska research is that corporates derive substantial benefits from having employees with a solid personal brand.
Helping employees identify what makes them exceptional and apply that to their work can ensure they are motivated, fulfilled and engaged (this can help with retention, especially when a great resignation erupts!)
Here are 15 things to include when building a Personal Branding that matters in 2022.
1. 2022 is about being human: As technology, AI and robots become more present in our lives, being more human will set us apart from the machines. Being human means connecting with other people. Listen to them, talk to them, offer help, be accessible to those who matter the most. Be clear who they are, though! It also means rehumanising the workplace with better social connections and strengthening online and offline relationships.
2. Doubling down on empathy and moving up one step to compassion: empathy is putting yourself in other people shoes, but compassion is doing something about it. When we see a problem, it’s not just enough to feel sorry and understand what people are going through. So what can we DO to help solve that situation? Look for ways to take action to solve the issues you care about.
3. Show up in person: Writing brilliant and clever pieces is a great start, but it’s essential to show your face when sharing your thoughts and vision with your stakeholders to connect and build trust. Stop hiding behind corporate talk and become more human.
4. Share your purpose and values: 79% of consumers engage with brands that align with their values (Toluna, 2021). The same principle applies to followers of your personal brand. They want to connect with your values and vision and know that you care about them. So make sure you share those. Share the bigger picture. A great way is to link your cause to the SDGs as people want to be part of something big.
5. Be you and relatable: share as much or as little as you want, but it has to be who you really are. You don’t have to be perfect. Be more authentic and vulnerable.
6. Become a storyteller: educate through stories rather than bland facts and corporate speeches.
7. Try videos & podcasts: Top communication media in 2022 to reach a bigger audience will be videos & podcasts.
- Share more videos even if you don’t feel confident: start with shorter videos. They can either be a piece to cameras or interviewing other people: staff, clients or other experts.
- Start a podcast or be a guest on podcasts in your niche to share your thought-leadership
8. Try an emerging social media channel in addition to #LinkedIn: Do some Instagram reels or TikTok videos to experiment and get exposed to a new audience.
9. Have conversations with your audience. Both longer (audio/podcasts) and shorter conversations (videos/ reels). Have virtual coffees also with your network to get to know each other and refer them to those who need their services if you can’t help them
10. Be clutter-free: Be super clear both in your communication and with your visuals. Less is more.
11. Be consistent: this is the condition of successful branding. It’s about the frequency and repetition of your message. Share & post consistently across social media, blogs, emails and other channels.
12. Create valuable digital assets: create long-form digital assets that establish your thoughts leadership like a book, podcast, courses, live streams. With the advent of web3 and NFTs, you can take complete control of your digital assets publication, distribution and monetisation.
13. Find your style: if you are naturally funny, add some humour in your content; otherwise, explore other styles that represent your top values and personality: if you are a tad eccentric, why don’t you add something that reflects this style in your content? Are you more on the serious side or authoritative? No problem, make use of that. Pay attention to your video background and make visible any object that can provide clues of what you value the most!
❓What are the trends that you will be paying the most attention to this year? Let me know in the comments below.
Are you ready to take your personal branding to the next level or empower your employees to build influential personal branding to improve their engagement level and benefit your company? 🤙🏽Get in touch.
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👩🏽 I help entrepreneurs, professionals & organisations to become recognised thought-leaders, attract their ideal clients and make an impact globally by developing their personal branding. DM me for a confidential call.
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About Francine Beleyi
I am Francine Beleyi, digital strategist, business mentor and personal branding expert. I am also the founder of nucleus of change and author of Personal Branding in the Digital Age: how to become a known expert, thrive and make a difference in a connected world. I am a speaker and the host of the podcast MWML podcast where I interview CEOs, entrepreneurs and thought leaders who share their journey both their success and struggles to inspire us to live a meaningful life.
I am on a mission to empower purpose-driven business leaders to position themselves as an authority in their field, attract their ideal clients and impact thousands globally.
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