In a dynamic and complex professional environment, building and maintaining a personal brand has become a necessity. Extending it into the digital world is, too. “A personal brand is every professional’s most valuable asset, and building a strong one takes time and effort, ”said Sebastián Bezzo, regional director of Sprinklr and a graduate of the Master’s program in Communication and Institutional Image at the Walter Benjamin Foundation in Argentina.
The online event “How to Manage Your Personal Brand?”, in which Bezzo explained how to build a valuable professional image in the digital sphere, took place on Thursday, August 27, 2020, and was part of the Management and Business Lecture Series.
Today’s world offers a variety of channels for self-expression, where everyone is a “prosumer”—both a producer and a consumer of content. This presents a great opportunity to build a strong personal brand, one that should be leveraged through a comprehensive strategy. “We all have a personal brand; the difference lies between those who consciously plan it and those who leave it to chance,” explained Bezzo.
Communicating Through Your Personal Brand
Everything communicated through one’s personal brand must align with one’s professional reality. To achieve this, the first step for any professional is to engage in self-reflection to identify their strengths and weaknesses and determine where they want to go. “This part of the process is essential for building a strong personal brand. It is achieved by taking time to reflectin a quiet setting.”
Another important point is to seek feedback, the expert noted. In other words, ask a friend or colleague to provide an outside perspective. Once you have that perspective, you should place your personal brand within a broader context.
“Everyone has an interest in a particular sector, and it’s good to keep a close eye on market trends in our area of interest,” Bezzo said.
The speaker noted that professionals must have a clear understanding of their short- and long-term goals in order to know where they are headed. He added that it is essential to identify a target audience—that is, the specific group with whom they aim to engage, exchange ideas, and gain visibility. This will help them determine where they need to maintain a consistent presence.
Personal Branding in the Digital World
All of this work must be reflected in the digital world, which currently plays a major role in the job market and continues to grow. In addition, the expert emphasized the importance of understanding the extent of the impact of these actions in the digital sphere.
Bezzo highlighted the importance of the social network LinkedIn for building a personal brand: “LinkedIn is the professional social network par excellence. Today, has than 645 million users worldwide and 830,000 users in Uruguay, making Uruguay one of the countries with the highest penetration on this social network.”
Therefore, it is very important to work on your personal brand on LinkedIn, keeping it up to date and consistent with your professional profile: “We need to communicate what we do, who we are, and what we want to do.”