10 Practical Ways To Elevate Your Digital Personal Brand As An Executive Leader

In 2024, having a strong online presence can be key to taking the next step in your career – find top tips within today's edition of Faur Sight.

Why Finding Your Own Online Voice Matters

‘Personal branding is the intentional, strategic practice in which you define and express your own value proposition.’ (Source: Harvard Business Review)

Goodness, isn’t that a mouthful? Though useful, this type of business speak can often put people off promoting themselves professionally online. It can feel a bit like you’re selling your soul, and give you the almighty ick.

However, personal branding does matter. There is now a large body of research showing that ‘stakeholders expect executives to use social media to lead.’ (Source: Brunswick Connected Leadership). Doing so benefits:

• Your organisation: According to employees, there is often no one better to advertise an organisation and communicate its value than those who lead it. Stat: ‘73% of FTSE 350 employees believe it is important for CEOs to actively communicate about their company on social media’ (Source: Brunswick)
• Your reputation amongst colleagues: They can discover elements of skills and experience that you can bring to a role, but which they may not otherwise be aware of. Stat: ‘By a 4 to 1 ratio, employees prefer to work for a CEO who uses digital and social media’ (Source: Brunswick)
• Your reputation amongst peers: Building and being an important part of a strong network can be key to learning, collaborating, and building credibility as an expert in your chosen field
• Your own career progression: Hiring managers will research your online presence for any senior role, looking for red flags (which can include a lack of a presence), plus it creates new opportunities by putting you in the sights of potential recruiters

So, how do you get started?

Well, funnily enough, I presented a 50-minute webinar on this very topic earlier this month, which you can watch for free here:

To get you started quickly, I’ve listed the main takeaways below, but do take a look at the video above if you want to get more detail and depth about each of these elements. It includes more about the platforms to be on at this time, the challenges, extra ways to find your voice, cautionary things to bear in mind, plus a whole lot more.

Anyway, without further ado:

10 Practical Tips For Getting Started

1. Start with a commitment to regular engagement – build into your schedule

Look to carve out a regular spot in your daily calendar. The earlier, the better: that way, you’ll feel fresh and begin the day with positive engagement.

2. Identify a primary professional platform based on your audience (most likely LinkedIn)

LinkedIn rules the roost for professional networking online with almost 40 million active users in the UK alone and over one billion members globally. Approach each platform you’re planning to be on with a distinct plan – who is the audience on there that you intend to reach, and how will you do so? Don’t spread yourself too thinly.

3. Produce and keep handy: a one-page ‘cheat sheet’ of personal brand elements

By jotting down your purpose, values, passion, skills, U.S.P., and goals – and keeping the results by your side – you can keep yourself on track with your decision-making and content production.

Also, make a note of your basic audience persona – the type of person you want to appeal to – as well as the tone of voice you want to adopt as part of your public professional persona.

4. Provide value to your audience with each post

This is crucial: if your target audience comes to expect quality and value every time they see your name online, they will stop paying attention. The secret of a good personal brand is that it is about them, not you, however contradictory that may seem.

5. Be inspired by others, don’t be afraid to experiment with different formats and approaches

This is especially handy for making good use of social and digital platforms – follow and connect with those that inspire you! When you spot something that makes a strong positive impression on both yourself and others – whether that ‘goes viral’ or makes a small but more significant impact – take a moment to understand why and see if there is a way you can apply that in your own unique way.

6. Build a supportive network, engage and reach others

Active engagement builds, cements, and strengthens relationships. Look to like, comment on, share, and generally promote great work and inspiring posts from others. This can help you appear on other people’s networks and reach new audiences in the process. (Guest blog posts and podcast appearances are another good tip in this regard.)

7. Practise good digital hygiene, create and maintain separation between public/private, and create crisis preparedness

Public profiles naturally bring some risk. Things you can do include: auditing your digital presence (hide or remove things that don’t cast you in a good professional light), ensuring personal profile(s) are set to private, and preparing yourself for situations which may feel like a crisis (to ensure you act rationally rather emotionally and reactively).

8. Note what works, get feedback, and adapt accordingly

All digital platforms have some sort of basic free measurement tools. Review these regularly to see what has performed most strongly, what hasn’t met expectations, and how you can amend your approach to move forward in the right direction.

9. Keep on trend

Look to keep abreast of digital and social trends, putting yourself in the right places to make an optimal impact. Subscribe to newsletters (such as this one!), follow credible and influential thought leaders that you see being one step ahead, and attend webinars about digital trends related to your industry and the niches in which you plan to excel.

10. Make it enjoyable – get as much out as you put in

The last practical tip, and arguably the most important! If you make building your personal leadership brand too much of a chore, you will either fall out of the habit of pruning and maintaining it or become jaded enough that it will show through generic and uninspired content. Aim to make it the most fun part of your day, and something which does not feel too much like hard work.

Want to know more?

You can watch the full webinar video for free above or on our Personal Branding Offers page, where you can get in touch if you would like a copy of the presentation document and/or you would like a consultation chat.

💡 If you have feedback on any/all of the above, please comment and let me know – I’ll look to share any received.

…one more thing

Will Google’s AI Overviews Destroy Googling as We Know It?

“Let Google do the Googling for you.”

Those words last week from Liz Reid, head of Google Search, at its annual I/O developer conference, heralded the launch of its AI Overviews.

Amidst a multitude of announcements, AI Overviews in particular stood out as something we could very well change search as we know it. Just look at this example:

If/when you see that, will you feel any need to click on further links, or will that suffice in itself? Many whose business models depend on search engine traffic – such as within the media industry – fear that this could have an apocalyptic effect on their companies.

Will this be the case? Given that this feature is already rolling out to users, we will likely see results (or lack thereof) soon.

Either way, it is a pertinent reminder not to rely too much on one platform to reach your target audience – this includes search engines. Diversity ensures that you have the room to adjust when fundamental shifts take place, and ideally, you should have routes that are as direct as possible for when things truly go sideways. This is precisely why email and direct messaging continue to be such an important means of communication, whatever other channels may be in vogue.

It is worth reading more about Google’s announcements and the Spring Update from OpenAI, which also shows how, with Generative AI, these companies are increasingly looking to provide a permanent companion and assistant for our daily lives.

Need help with Digital & Communications?

Faur is a strategic digital and communications collective that helps you find your online voice. We apply ingenious thinking to ensure you reach and engage key audiences with the right message – empowering you to stand out online amongst all the distractions and noise.

Learn more about who we are, our services, and our previous work.

You can also follow us on these channels:

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Or fancy a chat? Just email info@faur.site

Many thanks for reading. If I can ask one additional thing, please forward this email to anyone who may find the Faur Sight newsletter interesting. Reaching new readers is a pleasure, and I am always grateful for your assistance.