creating and managing your personal brand using social media
TRANSCRIPT
Building and ManagingYour Personal Brand Using Social Media
A Presentation for San Diego State University Career Services by Dr. Andrew Baker, marketing
2/13/2013
@andrewbaker13
Agenda*
1. Prepping Your Social Brand for Future Employers2. Establishing a Long-Term Social Media Strategy for
Your Personal Brand
* …or wherever the raised hands take us.
1. Preparing Your Social Brand for Future Employers
1. Learn: How are managers using social media to look at you?
2. Plan: How can we use this information to build up a personal social media game plan?
3. Act: What are some specific, concrete steps we can do to begin building our professional self on social networks?
Some ground rules• Beware the all-knowing “gurus”• Technology is always changing• There are probably exceptions to every “rule” I share here today…
• … but every well-known practice for managing your professional reputation in the REAL WORLD also applies to the DIGITAL WORLD
CareerBuilder online study conducted by Harris Interactive. 2,303 hiring managers and human resource professionals. Study was from Feb. to March 2012. Link
37%
11%
52%
Do HR Managers Use Social Networks to Research Candidates?
Currently Using S.N.
Starting Soon
No Plans
Takeaway: Assume your future employer will use social networks to learn more about you.
CareerBuilder online study conducted by Harris Interactive. 2,303 hiring managers and human resource professionals. Study was from Feb. to March 2012. Link
Present yourse
lf pro
fessionally
Good fit for c
ompany cultu
re
Learn
more about y
our pro
fessional q
ualifica
tions
See if
you're
well
-rounded
Looking fo
r reasons t
o NOT hire you
65%
51%45%
35%
12%
How do HR Managers use Social Networks to Research Candidates?
Takeaway: Your social presence is a chance to impress! Three of the four top reasons can always be managed, and three of the four are “soft skills”
CareerBuilder online study conducted by Harris Interactive. 2,303 hiring managers and human resource professionals. Study was from Feb. to March 2012. Link
Lied about qualifications
Discriminatory comments
Bad-mouthed previous employer
Poor communication skills
Evidence of drinking / drugs
Inappropriate photos or info
22%
28%
33%
35%
45%
48%
When Social Media Activities Cost Someone a Job Offer, What Were the Reasons?
Not Professional
Not Professional
Not Professional
Not Professional
Not Professional
Qualifications Takeaway: Actively limiting unprofessional behavior online is also important.
Which social media platforms are used to: RECRUIT new employees?REVIEW potential hires?
Number of recruiters with at least one Bullhorn Reach account connection on the respective social media platform. About 35,000 accounts from 2011. Bullhorn Reach is a social media recruiting service, do not interpret these numbers as “% of ALL employers using these platforms to recruit.”
• 98% using LinkedIn• 42% using Twitter• 33% using Facebook
For companies using social media to recruit, social media is LinkedIn-centric…
… while Facebook and LinkedIn are equally used
to research candidates
65%63%16%
Takeaway: Hunting for jobs via social is LinkedIn & Twitter, but Facebook and LinkedIn is where most future employers will go to learn about you. These are the Big Three of professional branding.
21%(all 3)
What is . • “Facebook for professionals”• 200 million registered users– 74 million in U.S. vs. 163 million U.S.
Facebook users• Features:– LinkedIn Profile = “Resume Plus”– Job Search -with- intelligent matching– LinkedIn Groups based around
educational experience, career aspirations, industry interests
– Has a Facebook-like newsfeed, but no funny cat pics and lots of career-oriented sharing
So What Should I Do?
• Align your online brand with your audience’s social media activity:– Exhibit the capacity for professionalism– Demonstrate your qualifications
(aka – showcase your marketable skills)– Demonstrate you’re well-rounded– Be a good fit for company culture*
• Complete the Social Media 1.0 Checklist
*This makes sense once you have a specific company or a few companies that you are targeting. Online social review sites for companies (such as Glassdoor) can be excellent tools to learn about culture.
Social Media Prep 1.0 ChecklistThe tasks in this checklist are suggestions to help inspire you to start the process of building your online professional brand. This is not a complete list; it is just a starting point. Sorry, no “recipes “ or “cookbooks” out there.
Facebook LinkedIn TwitterGet in the Game
Create Facebook Account Privacy Settings Locked Down*
(Privacy assumed, public if desired)
Create LinkedIn Account Privacy Settings Unlocked (Public
assumed) Complete LinkedIn Profile (Summary,
Experience, Skills & Expertise)
Create Twitter Account with Professional Username, pic, and profile
Privacy Settings Unlocked (Public assumed)
Exhibit Professionalism
Have a trusted older friend/family member perform a “social content audit”. Delete ALL questionable content (see earlier slide)
Like or Join at least four professional or student organizations that are in the industry / field you care about
Upload a “professional” headshot & clear mission statement
Connect with past employers, current employers, and other professionals you interact with regularly (professors!)
Join five active LinkedIn groups that cover industries / jobs / skills you care about
Follow five Companies that you would consider “dream jobs”
Ask for career advice in at least one of the professional LinkedIn groups you joined
Personally Recommend or Endorse at least three people in your LinkedIn network you consider to be influential for your professional career
Include career / future aspirations in profile Have a trusted older friend/family member conduct a
“Tweet Audit” of previous Tweets – check for poor spelling, grammar, swearing, rude, and angry activity. Delete ALL questionable content (see earlier slide)
Perform a “Following Audit.” Who you follows signals who you are. Delete unprofessional associations.
Follow 5 companies you want to work for Follow 3 professional organizations in your industry/field Follow 5 people you aspire to be like later in your career Follow 2 accounts of blogs that cover industries you’re
passionate about Ask for career tips / advice from at least 3 businesses /
professionals you follow
Demonstrate your marketable skills
Update bio to include school, job experience. Interests should include professional interests
Include in your profile at least five distinct skills & expertise you currently have
Research and identify 10 distinct skills/expertise that people with your “dream job” consistently list
Share your attendance and learning for the next extracurricular professional event you attended (re: mini-blog)
In the next 2 weeks, Tweet at least 2 things you learned in class or elsewhere that you believe are helpful toward your future goals
By the end of the semester, tweet about your most impressive academic accomplishment (project, presentation, survive a tough class, etc.)
Tweet about the next two times you attend a professional event (hint, hint)
Demonstrate you’re well-rounded
Add a cover photo and profile photo that positively conveys your non-professional but positive personal attributes/interests
Positively convey your personal goals and when you achieve those goals
Add all non-profit, community service, and student organization activity
Highlight one proud personal non-professional achievement (ex: I ran my first 10k!)
Include (appropriate) hobby / passions in your profile After 3 months of Twitter activity, assess your Tweet
ratio. Remember its okay to be a human being. Even the most professionally-oriented individuals tend to follow a 60 (professional content) / 30 (appropriate personal content) / 10 (other) rule
*There is a lot of debate about whether your Facebook account should be solely for personal use, a hybrid professional & personal, or strictly for professional use. The correct answer probably depends on the individual and the social norms around the job they want. This checklist presumes you have decided to primarily keep your Facebook content private but do want your basic info and select FB activity to be available to the wider public.
Social Media Prep 1.0 Checklist
• On Facebook:– Have a trusted older friend/family member
perform a “social content audit”. Delete ALL questionable content
• On LinkedIn:– Join five active LinkedIn groups that cover
industries / jobs / skills you care about• Twitter:– Follow 5 people you aspire to be like later
in your career
Pulling Your Online Brand Together…• Your brand is a PROMISE to others about who you are (or will be) as a
professional• You SIGNAL this promise through your online:
– Profiles– Images– Videos– Posts– Tweets– Associations:
• with other people• with other institutions• with other people’s shared content
• Brands must be consistent to be understood by others.– Inconsistency can lead to confusion (“I don’t know who this person is.”)– Inconsistency can lead to the belief you’re a liar (“This person can’t be who they
claim to be.”)
What about all the other social networks & social content?
Part 2: Pulling Together a Long-Term Social Media Game Plan
Establishing a Long-Term Social Media Strategy for Your Personal Brand
1. A long-term social media strategy for your personal brand should simply be a subset of the long-term strategy for your own brand
2. Designing long-term strategies for any brands is something marketers have long known how to do, we just need to:– apply it to individuals instead of products– use social media specifically instead of the other
ways we used to communicate
Start Your Social Media Personal Branding Journey in Four Easy Steps
1. Understand what you want your personal brand to be.
2. Understand who “customers” are and where they hang out online.
3. Learn how to listen in on your “customers” conversations.
4. Join the conversation yourself!
How to Build a Long-Term Personal Brand Strategy Using Social Media
• Step 1: Define Your Brand Positioningaka Understand Who You Are, and What You Want to be Seen As– What are you good at?– What are you uniquely good at?– What do you care about?– How are you weak?– What do you want to be uniquely good at?
(what do you want your brand to become)
Image by cpotter on rebubble.com
• Step 2: Define your “Customers”aka Identify The Online Community you want to Showcase Your Brand To– Who is the online community you need to impress with your brand?
• Where does this online community congregate?• What is important to them? What do they talk about?• Who are the leaders of this community? Who are the influencers?
?
“#hottopic1”“#hottopic2”
“important.newslink.com”
“Common Career Convo Topic!”
“Buzz around newsarticle.com!”
“Common Career Convo Topic!”
“Buzz around newsarticle.com!”
“So-and-so is super important!”
“Everyone buzzes when @so-and-so posts!”
Mr. So-and-so
• Step 2: Define your “Customers”aka Identify The Online Community you want to Showcase Your Brand To– Who is the online community you need to impress with your brand?
• Where do they get their online information?
?
• Step 3: “Research” Your “Customers’ Habits”aka Use Social Media to Listen in on the Ongoing Conversation– How can you start listening in on your online community’s conversations?– How can we systematically store this “listening” capacity and do it in an on-going way?
• “#hottopic1”• “#hottopic2”• “Buzz around
newsarticle.com!”
Mr. So-and-so
?
• Step 4: “Sell” to Your “Customers”aka Start Talking with the Community– Courteous– Thankful– Respectful– Knowledge-Seeking
• “#hottopic1”• “#hottopic2”• “Buzz around
newsarticle.com!”
Mr. So-and-so
?
Social Media Personal Branding Worksheet
Conclusions
• Managing your online brand is an ongoing process. Steps 1 – 4 constantly happen, and often happen simultaneously as you develop your online brand.
• Start today. Your brand can evolve. Like you will.• This process will not change, but social media and
social networks will.
• Thank you for your time. Preparing for this presentation inspired me to heed my own words!