Businesses large and small spend a lot of time cultivating their brands. There’s a good reason for this, as a company’s brand is a powerful tool for attracting new customers and keeping existing ones. For example, Apple is based on being a forward-thinking, user-friendly tech leader. McDonald’s wants to be known as a family-friendly, affordable place to get a fast, high-quality meal. Amazon has built a reputation as a retailer that can deliver virtually anything to your door in a matter of days. Whether or not these images always reflect reality is irrelevant — the goal is to make these impressions so strong in a potential customer’s mind that it’s almost impossible to dispute.
As a professional or job candidate seeking marketing manager jobs, you may not know that the power of branding can work for you. Of course, you’re not a multinational conglomerate with an army of marketing pros massaging your messaging for you. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t leverage the same basic principles to create a strong brand of your own. With the right approach, you’ll be able to set yourself apart from your peers and stand out among others in your field. This could be the key to achieving your career goals. Here are three steps for securing your personal brand:
1. Define What Sets You Apart
This means taking a close and honest look not only at your skills and abilities but also those of your fellow professionals. Compare what you bring to the table and look for anything that stands out as a differentiator. Emphasize your strengths, but also take note of any weaknesses you may have. Your strengths can serve as the pillars of your brand, while your shortcomings should be de-emphasized while you work to overcome them.
2. Set Your Goals
A critical component of developing your personal branding is determining what you want to accomplish in your career. If you want to secure a leadership position someday, be sure to include that. If you’re trying to achieve a specific goal, let the world know it. It’s much more difficult to succeed in life when you don’t know what success looks like to you.
3. Build Your Brand
Once you have a clear idea of what kind of image you want to present to the world, it’s time to put it into practice. Your brand should be the foundation of your portfolio, professional website, social media presence, and more.
Branding is good for more than just corporations and other businesses. For a reminder of what it takes to build your brand, see the accompanying resource.
This infographic was created by Michael Page, a recruitment agency for marketing manager jobs
Author bio: Nicole Marie is Senior Content Executive at Michael Page, an international recruiting firm. Before joining the recruitment industry, she worked in media and journalism. She now covers employment trends and insights in a variety of industries such as construction, technology and marketing.