A arte do personal branding

Numa era em que todos têm uma voz ativa, em que as carreiras não são estáticas e, acima de tudo, em em que estamos a aprender novas skills e a incorporar novos empregos, é cada vez mais importante trabalhar a nossa imagem como profissionais.

Seja um médico que quer potenciar o âmbito das suas consultas e atrair mais pacientes, ou apenas posicionar-se junto da comunidade científica, ou até um profissional, de qualquer área, que esteja à procura de emprego, ou que pretende mudar de carreira – é importante trabalhar a perceção que o mercado tem do seu perfil como pessoa e profissional. É aqui que entra a estratégia de personal branding.

O personal branding é isso mesmo, uma estratégia de desenvolvimento e construção de um perfil profissional, gerado com base num posicionamento e num conjunto de mensagens que queremos passar ao nosso mercado/ audiência.

O nosso branding é a chave para transmitir quem somos de forma autêntica, carismática e impactante. É o resultado da nossa apresentação, das nossas palavras, do nosso estilo de vestir, das nossas ações diárias e até mesmo dos conteúdos que partilhamos on-line. Reflete os nossos hobbies, valores, experiências marcantes e conquistas alcançadas. É como as outras pessoas nos percecionam quando não estamos presentes. Nesse sentido, temos duas opções: ou deixamos que elas formem uma imagem baseada nas suas próprias perceções ou assumimos o controlo de forma consciente, e garantimos que essa perceção está alinhada com a nossa verdadeira essência.

Ao assumirmos o controlo, estamos a trabalhar a nossa credibilidade, que é o ponto chave que nos faz destacar da multidão. Como sabemos, neste momento quase toda a gente é «criadora de conteúdo», o que faz com que a oferta seja muito maior, tornando-se ainda mais difícil de fazer a diferença. Assim, o importante é trabalhar uma estratégia estruturada começando por definir um posicionamento: onde é que a minha marca pessoal se posiciona no mercado e quais as mensagens que quero passar?

Com o posicionamento bem definido, temos metade da estratégia desenvolvida, por isso é crucial refletir sobre qual o valor que podemos acrescentar à indústria e que tipo de conteúdo vamos desenvolver. São vários os tipos de conteúdo, mais ou menos dinâmicos, o que interessa é que façam fit com o nosso perfil. Não nos podemos esquecer que a autenticidade é tudo, e que com tantos estímulos diários que temos em termos de conteúdo é importante destacarmo-nos por aquilo que, efetivamente, é o nosso fator diferenciador (felizmente, todos temos um).

Outro ponto que não pode falhar é a consistência no conteúdo partilhado – quer na frequência, no tipo de conteúdo, na mensagem, etc. A audiência não vai criar engagement com um perfil que não tem consistência. É preciso criar uma rotina com quem nos vê.

No entanto, também há que ter em conta que tudo o que é demais enjoa, e que apesar de ser necessário manter a consistência, é mais importante que exista relevância dos conteúdos para o mercado.

Num mundo de cegos quem tem olho é rei. Ter visão estratégica e saber como se apresentar profissionalmente perante a sua audiência pode ser o passo que falta para levar um negócio ao próximo nível. Afinal, já lá vai o tempo em que as redes sociais serviam apenas para o dolce far niente, e no final do dia o que conta é a arte de saber brilhar com autenticidade.

»»»» Andreia Mitreiro é chief executive officer (CEO) da Your Trend, empresa que fundou em 2020, ano da chegada da pandemia de Covid-19 a Portugal. Especialista em marketing digital e career coach, Andreia Mitreiro concebeu a Your Trend como uma agência especializada em personal branding e redes sociais, conjugando os seus conhecimentos como psicóloga e marketeer.

Publicado na Revista Human - https://www.human.pt/2023/11/03/a-arte-do-personal-branding/

How to generate leads through social media

Generating leads through social media can be a challenging task, but it can also be the most successful platform in some cases. With over 3.5 billion people using social media worldwide, it's an ideal channel for companies to connect and acquire leads. The key to making the most of social media is to employ the right techniques at the right time.

Today we will give you 10 ways to generate leads with social media, and you must understand that things take time and you don’t need to try all of them at the same time; slowly you get farther!

Make use of sponsorships to get more leads on social media

Sponsoring television shows, blog posts, and YouTube channels that are popular with your target audience can be an effective way to generate leads through social media. Instead of relying solely on paid advertising, promoting on social media sites that your target demographic is already reading can be more engaging and effective.

Use social proof in your posts

Sharing customer stories and testimonials is a great way to create social proof, establish credibility, and attract potential clients. By demonstrating how your goods and services have benefited previous customers, you can get people deeper into your sales funnel and build trust with your brand.

Use lead magnets

Developing appealing lead magnet offers is a great way to encourage people to offer you their information freely. Lead magnets can include free tools, research papers, webinars, case studies, whitepapers, discount codes, and other services. Creating an enticing lead magnet offer can be a great way to generate more leads through social media.

Use targeted ads and special offers

Paid social advertisements are a great way to effectively target your audience. By utilizing highly targeted tools, you can display offers that are tailored to pique the interest of your audience. You can consider using these ads to promote content on particular themes, discounts, and special time-limited deals on your products and services.

Make the most of lead-generation ads to get more leads

Take your social media marketing to the next level with lead-generation ads. These ads come with pre-populated forms that make it easy for customers to

sign up without spending too much time filling out personal information.

Use retargeting ads and drop-basket campaigns on social media

Retargeting is a powerful tool that can help you reconnect with potential customers who have previously visited your website but didn't fill out a form. By retargeting them, you can encourage them to complete the registration process.

Host your own webinar or conference

Virtual conferences and events can be an excellent way to connect with a highly targeted audience and showcase your knowledge and expertise on a particular subject. They are also an effective way to generate leads on social media, as attendees usually provide their contact information while registering for the event.

Referral campaigns help generate leads on social media

By rewarding your leads for referring others, you can expose more people to

your products or services and potentially gain new leads.

'Listen' on social media to generate more leads

Actively listening to the social media conversations that your potential customers are having will give you valuable insights into the topics they are

interested in any pain points they may be experiencing. By identifying these opportunities, you can provide solutions that meet their needs and create high-quality leads for your business.

Be human, be real!

Keeping a human touch is crucial for successful social media marketing campaigns. People buy from and engage with people, and this human connection drives the world forward. It's crucial to showcase your brand's values across social media and ensure that the people behind the social media accounts are always ready to help.

By implementing these ten strategies, businesses can expect to see a significant improvement in their social ROI.

It's essential to measure the impact of lead generation efforts and look for ways to optimize them for long-term growth.

Customer Intimacy : what is and how does it work?

Customer service is a crucial aspect of every organization. By knowing more about your customers than anyone else, you can tailor-make a product for them or choose a bundle of products and services that meet and exceed their expectations. It can take a lot of thought and effort, but it enables you to build strong, personal relationships with your customers, driving loyalty and retention.

However, providing excellent customer service is not enough to have a trustworthy and personal relationship with customers, which can give a company a competitive edge. What makes the difference is "customer intimacy."

Customer intimacy is one of the three core elements of "The Values Discipline Model", which was developed by Michael Treacy and Fred Wiersema. The other two elements are operational excellence and product leadership.

To decide whether customer intimacy is right for your business, you need to ask yourself some questions, such as: Are delivering a high-quality product and good customer service enough to create a strong brand anymore? Or, do I have access to plenty of data?

Switching to a customer intimacy model may be a solution for those who have a low-profit margin on their product, want to offer more value to their customers, or are trying to use social media to get their brand's message out there but find it difficult to get their voice heard and to build relationships.

Customer service is an essential aspect of any organization, but establishing a loyal customer base is not enough. Building a personal and trustworthy relationship with customers requires customer intimacy. Here are four steps you need to take to develop customer intimacy:

1. Empower your team members: Provide your team members with the necessary tools, training, and resources to deliver the best customer experience. Motivate and inspire them to go above and beyond when interacting with customers. Recognize and reward team members who exceed expectations, and recruit people who share your values.

1. Use data effectively: Gather feedback, talk to customers, analyze their behaviour on your website, and monitor trends in your industry. Conduct a PEST analysis to determine the political, economic, social, and technological trends affecting your organization and industry. Once you have all the relevant information, store, interpret, and make sense of it effectively.

1. Narrow your customer focus: Identify high-value customers and market segments and focus on serving them. Appoint account managers or teams responsible for each segment and provide them with deep training and knowledge on their segment.

2. Explore outside partnerships: Collaborate with other companies to find solutions that benefit the customer. For example, Worten, through the Worten Marketplace, sells products from smaller retailers, offering a greater range of products to customers.

It's important to note that achieving customer intimacy is not without challenges. Your organization must embrace customer-centricity, and leaders may need to decentralize decision-making. You must capture data at every stage of the customer journey, not just after a purchase. Your organization must be agile enough to respond to the data you collect. Lastly, focusing on a single customer or market segment can be risky, as you may lose a diverse portfolio of clients if the market shifts.

Importance of online presence

Creating a solid online presence can be a game-changer for your business, as it allows you to showcase your brand and set realistic expectations for your clients. Social media platforms provide an opportunity to showcase what your business is all about through images and videos, which can make it more attractive to potential customers.

Through effective communication on social media, you can strengthen relationships with your clients, reach new audiences, and build customer intimacy through live chats. By promoting upcoming services and tailoring your advertisements to showcase exactly what your potential audience wants, you can increase engagement and reduce marketing costs.

However, it's crucial to strike a balance between organic and advertised posts to avoid overwhelming customers with too many advertisements. Remember, the key to successful social media marketing is to provide relevant and valuable content to your target audience and, above all, not be boring.

While building your online presence, you can collect data and start getting to know your audience better. Social media platforms allow for a two-way interaction where clients can get to know you and you can gain insights into your customers. It's a win-win situation that helps build strong relationships.

To wrap up, you must remember that customer service and customer intimacy are important aspects of any organization.

While delivering high-quality products and excellent customer service is crucial, building a personal and trustworthy relationship with customers through customer intimacy can give a company a competitive edge. To develop customer intimacy, you need to empower your team members, use data effectively, narrow your customer focus, and explore outside partnerships.

Achieving customer intimacy is not without challenges, but it can help build strong relationships with customers and drive loyalty and retention. Additionally, creating a strong online presence can help showcase your brand and build customer intimacy through effective communication on social media. Building your online presence also allows you to collect data and gain insights into your customers, helping you build strong relationships with them.