Why Do You Tweet? Social Media And Your Personal Brand
I am an advocate for social media marketing and personal branding which I believe can help to benefit both your company and your career. And so I am often asked why I tweet, why I blog and why I participate in both online and offline social communities and events.
Despite the huge press coverage around social media, I am still surprised at how many marketers and other market-facing professionals resist the call to participate in social media and to be brand ambassadors. To me, social media is all about personal branding. Grow your personal brand, with respect and proper attribution to your company as an ambassador, and the company benefits through the greater exposure of a positive voice out to the market it serves.
As a marketer, I feel compelled to participate as an individual voice in my company ecosystem. Companies are a collection of individuals with all the diversity that is inherent in its employees. A company brand is directly impacted by the voice of its employees, along with customers, partners and the larger community and ecosystem in which it participates. I actively and passionately participate in social media conversations with authenticity and I do it because I want to. But I also believe success in building my personal brand is direct evidence of my abilities to execute an overall marketing strategy for the company – in essence to build the company brand.
So what is “personal branding?” According to Dan Schawbel it includes those characteristics that make you unique and also how you communicate that to the world. He proposes that the objective of personal branding is in fact professional success which is directly linked to the success of the company brands we serve.
Brian Solis, recognized as a thought leader in social media and author of the book “Engage” made this prediction at the beginning of the year in his post titled A New Age for Social Media Marketing:
In 2010, Social Media will rapidly escalate from novelty or perceived necessity to an integrated and strategic business communications, service, and information community and ecosystem. Our experiences and education will foster growth and propel us through each stage of the Social Media Marketing evolution.
So what are you waiting for? Some companies and employees still perceive social media as a personal distraction from work. Some employers still ban the use of social networks.
Paul Chaney, author of The Social Media Handyman blog and the book “The Digital Handshake” provides excellent advice on how to Balance Your Personal and Corporate Branding. His post mentions the need to strike a delicate balance between personal and company brand promotion citing the same inextricable link between employee and company success.
Finally, here are a few basic B2B Marketing Insider tips to get you started advancing your personal brand and social media presence.
- Persistence may be the single most effective technique for growing your personal brand.
- Find your voice. Who are you online? What is your social persona? I am targeting B2B marketers with tips and advice from an insider point of view. You can be anyone - from a soccer coach to an executive leadership coach.
- Mom laws: use your manners and common sense. Be nice and say thank you.
Michael Brenner is the author of B2BMarketingInsider and serves as Director of Online and Social Media Marketing for SAP. Michael's B2BMarketingInsider blog is dedicated to sharing the ideas, topics and marketing strategies that drive real results like sales, leads, and higher customer loyalty.
Well, if you’re having trouble with marketers understanding the importance of social media, it’s going to be twice as hard to explain to business owners
I think the “social media concept” is taking so long to form its correct foothold in business minds because there is SO much information and mis-information going around as to it’s exact purpose and function. For the time being, it’s mainly going to be a fun ride for savvy marketeers to continue to educate and educate. I agree, that business owners should understand that their personal brand must be in all their social media activities. Spot on Michael
Some businesses try to be too much about their products or services, and sometimes that’s all you hear. But really they need to understand that people buy from people, and more specifically – from people they like! So identifying and working the “personal brand” really is key.
Fiona, thanks so much for commenting
And you are so right about the confusion and the attempts by businesses to promote. Social media is a way to converse with customers. It is not another vehicle to SPAM unwanted content.
Michael, I like your perspective on the role of social media in creating professional brands. It reminded me of this post:http://marketing-has-changed.com/why-do-i-blog/ The video was very encouraging.
As an individual, social media as a whole…not just tweets…are an incredibly powerful way of putting yourself on display. And, why do that? The older you are, the greater your tendency toward complete and utter privacy.
To be successful moving forward, you’re going to -have- to become proficient in using contemporary tools of the trade. As an individual seeking new employment…in whatever form…my social media activities (strategically interlaced) have resulted in a number of people reaching out -to- me. Why? Because they liked what they saw and wanted to talk with me further.
From a ’sales’ perspective, while opportunities have not yet come together for various reasons, those reaching out to me were at least 50% pre-sold. They called out to me because my efforts illustrated who I was, what I was all about, and what I was looking to do.
These are many the same reasons business owners, corporations, and the like should be considering investing into social media themselves. Like a snowball going downhill, it takes a while to develop momentum. So don’t wait.
John, Great video! I am sitting here contemplating my next post (with a little writer’s block) and seeing this was just perfect timing. Thank you for sharing.
Hi JT, Yes sales is the great sought after goal of many in social media. And I believe sales will come to those of us who are out there and participating with personal authenticity and with the intention of making connections. Good luck to you and thanks for commenting.
Interesting article, and I totally agree with Fiona and JT. I recently came across a viral video from NYU Stern that reminds me of this exact topic of companies trying (needing) to react to social media, and Twitter in particular (the part in the video about misusing Twitter is actually pretty funny – http://www.youtube.com/user/NYUSternExecEd).
Seems like Stern is hosting a summit to discuss this exact topic of getting companies to understand how they can use social media (and that they HAVE TO to survive). Sounds promising…
Thanks Steve. “Dr. Media” would do very well conducting therapy sessions and emphasizing the need to focus on content.