Online personal branding and online corporate branding both act as driving forces behind your company’s public relations campaign. As a business owner, you may have noticed how these two search engine optimization (SEO) tools can appear very similar yet different in helping to protect your company’s image, reputation, and bottom line. While these tools are both integral to the achievement of your SEO goals, it pays to know that there’s a stark contrast between these two – something you must take into consideration when developing your SEO strategy.
Online personal branding is all about who you are as a person and as a professional. It is the impression that you make on the online audience and the summation of all the posts and updates contained in your own virtual space. While your online audience is making the determination on who you really are, you can choose to maintain and present your personal brand in a manner that you want to be known. In creating your personal brand, you express not just your identity, but also your values and beliefs, which is what qualifies your brand as an important driver for your business’ online reputation management. Your personal brand brings a “personal touch” to the company, allowing you to get closer to your consumers, gain their loyalty, and reach your corporate goals.
On a different note, online corporate branding aims to make your company recognized and appreciated as a whole by the global audience. It’s the process of creating online media channels and platforms that are true to the company’s image, perspectives, and goals in order to forge customer loyalty. A significant way of doing this is by using social media sites, where personal branding plays a role.
Personal and corporate branding can be inseparable entities, and their significance depends upon your professional background and goals. Usually, career-seekers focus entirely on personal branding to create their own niche in their chosen industry, whereas business owners and executives are more inclined to use both SEO tools, since their personal brand is tied to the image and reputation of their business.
In this social media-driven marketplace, there is an increased need to brand executives and organizations in equal measure. However, this kind of branding methodology is risky, and it can produce inferior outcomes. In this situation, caution is advised as this could make or break the reputation of both the executives and their organization.
Sources:
http://www.business2community.com/branding/separating-corporate-branding-from-personal-branding-027186
http://www.slideshare.net/francesannevandenberg/media-vision-online-branding-frances-vdb