TrendTalks Feb 2010 hosted by Adwomen Middle East -www.adwomenme.com YOU2.0: Leveraging Social Media for personal branding Akanksha Goel from Socialize.ae covers how to leverage online platforms and tools to monitor your brand equity and build thought capital. She also introduces how executives can help humanize the corporate brand and successfully pitch to bloggers and community influencers, using a successful personal brand. As a new age marketer, it's essential to demonstrate knowledge of Social Media tools for your clients and businesses – and the best place to start is with your own personal brand. Get your brand to the top of Google, your business will follow. Supported by: Shelter, Acuma, Kraft, Alchemy Films

1. YOU2.0
Leveraging Social Media for Personal Branding
Socialize
www.socialize.ae

2. Case Study: Du
Social Media Objectives/Goals:
Customer Service and Feedback / Sales / Brand Awareness and Promotion
Key Platforms used: Twitter / Facebook
Strategy Adopted:
DU is using the platforms to achieve multiple objectives. Du responds to customer
complaints – whether they may or may not be directly addressed to them – and then directs
the complaint to the relevant department. The account is also used to converse with its
audience and gather feedback on its products and services. Lastly du uses its account to send
out interesting news and updates from around the world on mobile phones and services.
A few Du staff members have personal twitter accounts and regularly interact with the
community on a personal level but at the same time are willing to help with any Du related
issues and concerns.
Results:
Du has done a tremendous job of building relationships with its followers; users are not
only having conversations around Du‟s offerings, but also having friendly and casual
conversations that are „off-topic‟. Some of these users have become evangelists, thereby
promoting du to their friends and family.
24/2/2010 Written by Bhavishya Kanjhan, Socialize 2

3. CONCEPTS AND CONSTRUCTS
To Build A Successful Personal Brand
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4. The 2P’s
Protection
In order to be successful building your personal brand, ensure
that you protect your identity and create an online footprint
To-Do:
• Visit Instra ( get yourself a .com/.ae ID)
• Create a Google Profile Page
• Grab your name (vanity URL) on the social
networks you use
Promotion
Social media tools are obvious ways to get your name out there
for no money, at the cost of your time.
Myth: If you build it, they‟ll come
To Do: Publish your domain/ links on all pages
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5. The Three C’s
Content
The best blogs are the ones that have access to information
others do not, such as research reports or thought
leadership.
Comments
There‟s no better way to attract new readers, brand yourself
on other blogs and network than commenting.
Community
You may engage in on-blog conversations with other bloggers or
readers, but the real power lies in off-blog conversations.
24/2/2010 Inspired by Dan Schawbel – The Personal Branding Blog 5

6. A STARTING POINT
For LinkedIn and Twitter
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7. 24/2/2010 7

8. Tips For Twitter
Protection
Twitter account names are starting to be
treated like domain names. Eg: Tweexchange
Promotion
Fill out the profile completely
Brand yourself based on your passions and skill sets
Create a background: Twitpaper/Twitterimage
The 3C‟s:
Content is king: Who will you be ?
Comments: Using the “@” symbol / re tweeting
Community: Create your own clique
Tip: Use Twellow, WeFollow or TwitterLocal to find
local/relevant people
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9. Personal Brand for PR
To pitch to online influencers:
Know your blogger
Become a part of their
community
The Social Media Press
Release
Be passionate and
creative
Google: „Twitpitch”
Google: “Social Media Press Release”/Pitch Engine
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10. Conclusion
"Regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of the
business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand
the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own
companies: Me Inc.
To be in business today, our most important job is to be
head marketer for the brand called You."
Tom Peters in Fast Company, 1997
Materials available for download at :
blog.socialize.ae
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