Personal Branding for Procurement Professionals

The thought of personal branding may bring on instant nausea to some. To be sure, executed poorly, it can be viewed merely as an excuse for shameless self-promotion, conjuring images of a generation on Instagram claiming to be building an empire. So let's rebrand branding. 

Professional branding is image management, and maintaining a clear and consistent voice and character, across all platforms. I know, you're in procurement, who has time to worry about branding, and building an audience? You do. Or at least, you should make it. If done well, it can help to establish your position and increase your status in the industry. It sets the stage for opportunities, giving you a venue to showcase your value and increase your worth. 

It's a valuable thing. And although for some, it may feel a little uncomfortable, to share so loudly and be so visible, in today's digital world, if you're serious about success, you need to be serious about branding. 

Why Brand

The truth is, whether you manage it or not, you have an online presence that speaks volumes. Even the lack of a LinkedIn profile says a lot and can flag you as a non-engaged party. A poorly constructed or incomplete profile tells your employer you are comfortable, likely not looking for work, but also, lacking ambition, and shows potential employers the same. 

In today's world, one can't afford to ignore their online presence and must manage their brand to at least some degree. Branding is a powerful tool, helping to future proof your career by building your digital Rolodex. It is a living and breathing CV, showcasing your expertise, your experience, and your awareness of current industry happenings, not only to other industry professionals but to your current coworkers, higher-ups, and stakeholders.

Branding and setting a digital strategy can have you showing up in searches more often, and build you an audience and a reputation as an industry leader. It can lead to job opportunities before they are ever made public, not to mention invites to contribute meaningfully to industry podcasts, speaking engagements, or relevant professional associates. 

Much like an insurance policy, personal branding is about putting in the time today, so that you're in the best standing possible tomorrow. 

Building Your Brand

Strategic branding requires an eagle-eye view of your long-term career intentions and some serious thought about how you want to be perceived and who your audience is. Are you looking to grab the attention of people in procurement, or your industry? Are you a category specialist and wanting to make it your niche, or looking to step up into more senior management roles and want to position yourself accordingly?

Good branding should be authentic, and an honest reflection of who you are as a professional, with perhaps a little extra polish. But don't be afraid to be well rounded and show a bit of your personal side. Companies understand that people are more than just their jobs and sharing a little of your life outside of your work humanizes you and builds connections. The more authentic and comfortable you are with your brand, the more likely you are to make sharing a habit, and the more you share, the more you reach.

Building Your Media Strategy

Once you set your goals and given thought to who your audience is, you'll want to decide what you're going to share, and how often. What expertise or experience do you have that can bring value to others?

Good shares that get engagement should educate, inspire, ask questions, provoke healthy debate, or offer a new viewpoint. Once you know your audience, and what you'll be sharing, start to build your following by connecting with the right people and leveraging your #hashtags and @'s to broaden your reach and hit the correct targets.

If you've slain a dragon or wrestled with one of the giants like AWS or Walmart and lived to tell about it, share the story, your strategy, what you learned, how you succeeded, or even what you learned from failure. With LinkedIn's publishing tools, you can pen your prose and weave your tales along with valuable tips and information. Find your voice and share your value.

While curating and resharing great content is an excellent way to build good faith while showing that you are in touch and paying attention to what is happening in the industry, pulling a quote from the content itself, and adding a comment goes a lot further than a quick reshare.  

The Platforms

For professionals, there is no doubt that LinkedIn and Twitter reign. Two completely different platforms, each with unique offerings and working cohesively to cross-market in just a click.

Twitter helps to raise your profile and reach a wider global audience in just 280 characters or less. This is where to go for, and share, hot, trending topics, and industry activities. Follow industry leaders, and hashtag your way into being seen. 

LinkedIn is the Facebook for professionals, working much the same way, allowing for extensive profiles, and the sharing of large pieces of information, either through posts, links or articles published directly onto the platform. Read our post to make sure you get the most out of LinkedIn, amp up that profile, optimize for SEO (search engine optimization) and make yourself easier to find.

The Twitter game isn't quite as extensive, it's a fairly straightforward platform, but it moves at high speed as people share frequently. Make your Twitter handle relevant and easy to remember (try and avoid numbers; nobody remembers JohnPaul678532. And make that bio pop. This is your shortest, punchiest elevator pitch, including value prop., and your area of expertise. Make it good.

Facebook isn't quite dead for professionals, but it's not exactly thriving. With much the same options in terms of how and what you can share, but less networking and professional presence, unless you think you have an audience that are heavy Facebook users, we suggest you keep it for personal use. But do check your privacy settings...

If you're looking to up your game even further and build a larger audience, you may want to look into a few more things. Auto-posting apps allow you to create content ahead of time and help you to schedule your posts for high traffic times to ensure maximum exposure. Do your hashtag research; Twitter suggests only 1-2 hashtags per Tweet, so make them count, and make sure to mix them up. Also, keep yourself informed on the latest algorithms and SEO rules, especially if you're considering your own blog or podcast series.

Branding's poor image to some aside, social media marketing is a powerful tool that puts you in the driver's seat when it comes to managing your career. Ignore it at your peril.