At Lexicon, Executive branding (or personal branding) is a key service that we provide to busy CEOs and executives at major companies in Thailand. In this article, we’ll give you some examples of success while defining what we mean when we talk about personal branding.

Personal branding is a strategy in which an individual positions themselves in such a way that the public will perceive them as an authority figure who is both credible and sincere in their line of work. In effect, personal branding tells the audience about your character and your value as a professional.

According to Forbes, the business and marketing landscape is increasingly human-to-human rather than business to business or consumer. With that in mind, people are looking to build authentic connections with companies and having the CEO of the company represent the brand is an increasingly popular approach, think of Elon Musk as the obvious example.

However, this approach has a 50-year legacy with Richard Branson’s personal brand being the driving force of the Virgin brand from the very start. He embodies the energetic, youthful, frontier-pushing vibe that Virgin is known for and has been the key to the company’s empire building expansion over the years.

For most people, the problem is simple: They have extraordinary skills that could undoubtedly benefit businesses in their industry, but no way to demonstrate them. This is where personal branding comes into play. It helps illustrate the skill set that you possess, to the companies in your profession. Although this method is not straightforward, it will be beneficial.

Because social media is now the main way that people connect online, it is the ideal place to establish your personal brand. LinkedIn is the primary tool for top level executive branding as it gives you a direct broadcast network to tell your story to your employees, potential employees, clients, investors and clients of the future. 

According to a report by Qnary, 76.9% of marketing professionals believe that an executive’s social media presence can help their organization’s sales growth.  While in the same report, 65% of 18-44 year-old professionals surveyed said they were more likely to buy from brands or companies with executives that they followed online.

Why should you develop your personal brand?

Branding is all about showing who you are and what you can do. Similar to how businesses advertise their services by showcasing their products on various platforms to reach a wider audience, demonstrating the skills you possess lets people become aware of them.

Naturally, having a distinctive skill is very beneficial when working in a competitive environment. Yet if that skill is not known, no one will recognize its value. Displaying your talent outside of the workplace will help you make your mark in the minds of other people connected to your industry.

The key is to give away your knowledge for free and to be a helpful guide to your ideal target audience. Discuss the lessons you’ve learned along the way, including your successes and failures, signpost the future with your thought leadership, give a platform to your employees to recognize the great work they’re doing behind the scenes and video content marketing is an excellent way to show who you really are: whether through interesting presentations, podcasts or just generally helpful advice.

Our Founder, David Norcross is a great example of personal branding done right. He’s grown his audience to over 20,000 connections in Thailand. He posts regularly based on a content calendar with a mix of thought leadership, behind the scenes content, video advice and amplifying clients and other businesses. Follow him for daily tips on marketing in Thailand.

Still, creating your personal brand does not just happen overnight. Here are some tips that can elevate your branding:

• Identify your ideal audience by location, job title and industry. From there, create content that is relevant to your business and is designed to help your target audience to succeed.
• With a clear sense of your audience, start to connect to them directly on LinkedIn. You can send up to 400 new connection requests every month, so what are you waiting for?
• Building an online presence will assist you in making your internet presence visible and developing your public persona. It is up to you to choose what you want to include in your profile and how you want people to see it. 
• Creativity is greatly valued in the online world; therefore producing attention-grabbing content daily will help you expand your audience. People like to share interesting content, which in turn helps with engagement.
• Showcase your skills and past achievements, no matter how big or small. This will create professional opportunities by attracting people and companies that are looking for competent people who share similar values.
• Show the real and authentic you, and do not make up stories so that you can seem more interesting. Exaggeration will only bring complications in the future when people find out that you are not who you say you are. Many of Thailand’s leading executives record authentic videos at our podcast studio in Bangkok.

About the Author

Yanitha Maimongkol is a Brand Strategist at Lexicon working working with leading brands to develop impactful stories on a daily basis. Her team manages executive brands for busy CEOs, runs B2B marketing campaigns and develops social media marketing strategies.

Lexicon is an award-winning brand storytelling agency focusing on telling impactful stories for clients based in Thailand and South East Asia. Lexicon has been around for almost a decade and has told thousands of stories just like yours.