Personal Branding Campaigns-Goals

An effective personal branding campaign benefits executives in several ways.

Most obviously, an effective campaign will increase your profile within your industry (or industries). That means a higher profile with prospective customers who will come to see you as an executive with effective solutions. Reaching out to potential customers via a blog that addresses industry trends, for example, and their concerns in particular, is often the beginning of a long-term relationship.

More than just dispensing technical wisdom and establishing your credibility as an industry figure, trend articles and a blog can give your audience a snapshot of the person you are, and convey a sense of the experience of doing business with you. Showing a bit of your personality will instill added confidence that you're someone with whom they would like to do business.

The importance of a high profile within the industry also explains why so many medium to large-sized businesses support personal branding campaigns on behalf of their key executives--they know that such efforts also raise the company's profile in the marketplace and reinforce confidence in the company's own image.

An effective personal branding campaign is also a way to position you, within your area of expertise, as an industry source to the media. And a turn of phrase that cleverly sums up a particular situation will ensure that the press will brand you an industry expert and keep knocking on your door to get your comments on current industry happenings. Here's a great example of a Big Picture quote by an industry insider that found such resonance with the press:

"Derivatives are financial weapons of mass destruction." (Financier Warren Buffet)

Granted, Buffet is one of the most successful men in the world, but there are many successful businessmen who don't get quoted either because they haven't reached out to the press or because they have nothing of significance to say. Buffet, however, was able to define the conversation around the causes of the recent recession that rocked the world's economy.

Another reason that personal branding campaigns are part of the New Normal is, as John Kotter has observed, "We live in a world where 'business as usual' IS change." It's no longer enough to demonstrate past accomplishments. The companies you need to reach all want to know how you will lead the change.