LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and even SnapChat are social media giants being used by individuals to connect with others, network and create their own image, ultimately, develop their own brand. Going back to how I got familiar with Personal Branding, when I was working in a startup’s Public Relations department, it was up to to me how we got out there – what we said, how we said it and what the company image looked like.  This was my first dive into Corporate Branding.

Within a short period of time, it was quite evident that creating a brand out of a healthcare organization was going to be relatively tougher than it is with others since the making of a health related brand requires the utmost level of human trust. This comes from ticking a bunch of checkboxes one of which being personal connection with the customer.

Paarul Chand, Editor, PRmoment India mentions the emerging significance of Personal Branding, “Among communication consultants, I am seeing a rising trend of professionals maintaining their own brands online. No longer are they content to be just behind the scenes coordinators. I often find such platforms useful sources of information about the world of PR. In a world where emotional connect matters as much as the sales connect, it is inevitable that the personality of the person doing the selling will come into play.”

Do you have what it takes?

A Brand is nothing without a story. You are your own Brand. What is your story? How does it support your growth? #PersonalBranding

— Bruce Van Horn (@BruceVH) July 2, 2016

Saurabh Uboweja, Founder, CEO and Chief Brand Strategist, Brands of Desire recently launched a first-of-its-kind online learning platform called Branding Institute to educate entrepreneurs, leaders and managers who want to build dominant organizations using the power of branding. He said, “There are many areas where a person might excel but the struggle remains to take the call and choose one. This is because being a jack-of-all-trades is the biggest downside for someone building a personal brand. When a person does set his mind to develop his brand around a specific domain, it should be something that comes natural to him – there’s absolutely no beating around the bush.”

Why Personal Branding?

People trust brands because they are brands.

But foremost, people trust people.

According to a survey conducted by a New York City based social media agency called Brandfog, CEOs who are active on social media are perceived as better leaders who can build better connections which employees, customers and investors.

Personal branding is synonymous with reputation and that’s what makes it so powerful.

The idea is to customize the product or service according to the company brand.  Taking a brand like Facebook, where Sheryl Sandberg oversees human resources, public policy, and communications among other departments, her personal branding revolves around women empowerment – further making use of her position to raise the issue of equal pay at workplace. This is a clear case where personal branding can be seen influencing the existing face of company to a more gender-friendly brand.

Paarul further adds, “With the entry of the start-up culture in India has come the concept of personal branding that helps sell a product, a service, an organisation. It’s hard to separate the personalities of co-founders of organisations such as FlipKart, SnapDeal from the organisations themselves. Internationally, too, you can see this in the impact storied entrepreneurs such as Elon Musk have on their brands like Telsa. It’s not surprising then that this is percolating into the non-start up world as well.  When it goes well you have brands such as No Nasties (where the personal commitment of the founders towards helping cotton farmers is tied strongly with the brand’s value proposition), Ratan Tata (whose personal integrity has a strong impact on the trust with which Tata companies are perceived) and Raghuram Rajan (whose personal credibility lent so much to RBIs policies). When it goes wrong you have a Rahul Yadav (Housing.com), a Donald Trump (who is doing incalculable damage to the idea of American democracy).”

Personal branding is subtle yet the results are extraordinary.

A brand is created over time.  There’s a lot of ground work that goes on to bring the focus on the brand:

• Developing and working around a real-time calendar on industry news and trends;
• Creating content around researched keywords relevant to anything from personal experiences, country and global concerns;
• Persistent efforts and long-term commitment to these tasks with the help of social media platforms increase readership among the target audience, which facilitates customer loyalty and indirectly impact company website SEO and ultimately revenue.

Eventually personal and corporate branding is absolutely vital in this competitive world. #Personalbranding is,in fact,what we underestimate

— Anna Komarova (@annakomarovaa) July 4, 2016

When compared to corporate branding, personal branding is rather unpredictable.

Does it matter how many times a founder publishes an article on LinkedIn in a week? The answer is no. Prior planning is not instrumental, in fact impromptu ideas are more than welcome. In conclusion, personal branding is unpredictable especially since it’s based on how a person interacts with another.

No medium is the right medium.

Some medium might work well for one, while another medium may work well for someone else. A brand that comes to mind – Shradha Sharma. After the launch of YourStory, she came out as the real storyteller. Through self-written articles she shares on LinkedIn, she is honest, inspiring and down-to-earth.  She is active on all social media giants, especially Twitter where she has over 52K loyal followers. She is the perfect example of how Personal Branding aids Company Branding. Not that YourStory needs it (116K followers) but the fact that the founder is so vocal and focused on what she aims to achieve with her company is what makes it so appealing.

More and more influencers from all over the globe are focusing on developing themselves as a brand. While corporate branding is indispensable, Personal Branding is key in helping a person stand out in a sea of people and emerge as an expert in his domain. But does the increasing importance of personal branding mean that one day it might overtake the significance of corporate branding? Only time will tell.

Originally posted on Inc42 media.