In an increasingly competitive business landscape, establishing yourself as an industry expert and thought leader is more critical than ever. Yet busy entrepreneurs and executives rarely have time for content creation and personal brand building.
Social media has allowed ordinary people to build engaged followings to grow their reputations as thought leaders in their industry. As personal branding on social platforms continues to evolve, there is an important distinction emerging between social media influencer marketing and leveraging your professional personal brand on social media strategically.
The ‘social’ proof is in the pudding
It’s plain to see why being strategic about how you position your brand is so important.
Here’s the numbers:
- 93% of marketers today are using influencer marketing as part of their strategy.
- There are a whopping 500, 000 active influencers on Instagram alone.
- Data from X’s annual insights report revealed that messages from credible voices and leaders drove 6X more reshares than those from affiliates or influencers.
Similarly, a LinkedIn analysis found that long-form content gets exponentially higher engagement and interaction rates compared to promotions or flashy visuals alone. Their data suggests users are craving substantive, insights-driven personal brands.
So while influencer marketing is booming, audiences are also seeking out authentic thought leadership from professionals using social platforms to share expertise versus purely promotional content.
Savvy leaders are capitalising on this hunger for credible industry voices.
Leadership Profiling vs Influencer Marketing
Let’s delve a bit deeper into how this all works.
Influencers achieve commercial success through their sheer popularity and persuasiveness and brands leverage the influencer’s audience and credibility to promote products.
An influencer earns money through sponsored content, affiliate commissions, or brand gifts. Nearly anyone can become an influencer – the barrier to entry is having a compelling personal brand and great content.
Thought Leaders Take a Different Approach.
Whereas influencers leverage their fame and followers for financial gain, thought leaders focus more on substantive knowledge sharing. Thought leadership content tackles complex concepts that educate and empower a professional audience. The goal is to build authority through showcasing intellect, experience and insight.
Thought leaders write articles, speak at conferences, and participate in panels – they generate Great ideas and original thinking. This intellectual capital helps establish expertise and trust. Thought leaders still care about scale, but privilege things like idea quality, brand affinity and industry impact over vanity metrics.
The Rise of Leadership Profiling
As platforms like LinkedIn and TikTok continue to grow in popularity, an exciting personal branding strategy is emerging – leadership profiling. Business owners, founders and executives promote experience, skills, knowledge and judgement by building and leveraging a professional brand.
There is an emphasis on crafting a personal brand around human-centric, authentic storytelling, founded in the principles of transparency, first-person narrative anchored in experience and affinity with their audience. The difference being is that audiences get a look behind the brand curtain and see a genuine and realistic take on the people behind the scenes.
For executives and entrepreneurs looking to strategically align their business objectives to their personal brands while establishing trust and reputation in their industries, leadership profiling on platforms like LinkedIn and TikTok provides the ideal avenue.
Why Leadership Profiling Matters
Simply having a strong product or service is no longer enough to truly stand out. To capture attention and build meaningful connections with your audience, you need to establish yourself as a credible thought leader that people know, like, and trust.
Leadership profiling offers executives and entrepreneurs a powerful way to cultivate that authority and authenticity through strategic personal branding. By providing a behind-the-scenes look at your expertise, experience, and original insights, you can engage your professional network on a much deeper level.
Whether through longform articles, speaking engagements, or casual social media posts, leadership profiling empowers you to share your unique vision and perspective in a way that educates audiences and strengthens brand affinity. It’s about going beyond surface-level marketing to have real, substantive conversations that deliver value.
The most effective leaders don’t just sell – they inspire, challenge conventional thinking, and leave a positive impact on their industries and communities.
Ready to take the first step towards crafting your personal brand?
Your personal brand, Made Great.
Contact the team at Made Great today to explore our strategic leadership profiling solutions for established executives, business owners and entrepreneurs. Our strategists are ready to profile you as an industry thought leader across today’s most influential professional platforms.
