Trends 2023 in Personal Branding (and so on)

Starting the year with trends is taking a little risk, But it is a custom that I started in 2019 (No, I did not foresee the pandemic of 2020) And I see that the percentage of success exceeds that of error.

In the Forecasts for 2021, I got "The Year of the Syringe" right, we do not stop seeing them in the news of TV and press. But I was wrong about the concept of "digital sustainability.", We have continued to hoard digital content without assimilating it.

Nor can it foresee, in the Forecasts for 2022, that Elon Musk would buy Twitter or that the metaverse would not dominate the world. So you see, I don't have the crystal ball, But based on movements that have been launched timidly, you can point to what will remain a habit.

This year I did not want to stay with trends in personal branding only, I think that to understand the context it is worth knowing what the trends are in Communication, Digital marketing and branding.

Here's a one-minute video summary, Hand in hand with Berta Recolons:

Here you can listen to it in the episode 2016 of Everything leaves a mark on iVoox, Google Podcast, Spotify Or Apple Podcast.

Context 1. Trends 2023 in communication

My dear Nagore García Sanz has compiled trends in communication for 2023, according to the forecasts of Cristina Aced, Amalia Lopez Sidewalk, Pedro Irusta Mendieta, Nerea Kortabitarte, Noelia Jimenez And Amaia Ocerin. Not bad at all.

Cristina Aced

• Communication more human
• Boom in the value of Intangible
• Storytelling and new formats
• Corporate activism

Amalia Lopez Sidewalk

• Rise of the Podcast in the communication strategy
• The content in Video will be the most accepted
• We will have to experiment with social media

Pedro Irusta

• Rise of the Podcast in the communication strategy
• New networks Social on stage
• Change to Google Analytics 4

Nerea Kortabitarte

• Artificial intelligence in press and digital platforms
• Rise of the Humarketing
• Success of the Short video in RRSS and audio format.

Noelia Jimenez

• Rise of the Podcast, even paid
• Increase in Chatbots and copywriters specialized in them
• Increase in Native audios In Email Marketing and Blogs

Amaia Ocerin

• The management of Intangible will become increasingly important
• Actions and campaigns Transmedia
• Strategies to capture and harness First Party Data

Context 2. Trends 2023 in Digital Marketing and Social Media

Here I have chosen three sources, Montse Peñarroya for changes in SEO, Vilma Nunez for social networks and Google for Digital Marketing.

Montse Peñarroya

• Considers that Google already scans links no-follow (Wikipedia, Twitter, LinkedIn...)
• Renew your Articles "Evergreen", those that work on your website
• Creates Clusters of content, Example, A central content with related articles

Vilma Nunez

• Opt for the Variety of formats (Videos, Carousels, Direct...), especially with the Z's
• Consider associating your brand with Content Creators
• Take advantage of the expansion of the ecommerce on social media

Google

• Engaged — and active — advertising with a cause. Turn promises into actions
• Privacy and tranquility: Internet data privacy takes on unprecedented importance
• Don't try to attract Z's to your world: Show your content where they are Those users
• The experiences of augmented reality. Scan this code from Snapchat and you can try on MissDior sneakers
• The rise of the Short video: YouTube Shorts has 1.500 million monthly active users and more than 30.000 millions of daily views

Context 3. Trends 2023 in Branding

Here I also stay with several sources, 99 Designs, more focused on the visual identity of the brand and Masterbrand (with Iván Díaz at the helm) focused on philosophy and strategy of Brand with capital letters.

99Designs

• Embracing an era: Brands that take us to Other moments Historical
• Brands over stimulated: Visual images and bold colors to capture attention and captivate the senses

• Less is more: Use the least number of elements that a brand needs to provide maximum expression and personality
• Replacing letters with icons: A fun way to inject Personality to the brand
• Mission first: It's not enough to worry about social causes. You have to prove it Making an impact
• Humanize the personality of the brand with a pet
• Use the Humor and satire: Brands don't have to take themselves so seriously

Masterbrand

• The Non-trend trend. The main trend is, Worth the inconsistency, Diminishing the impact of trends
• Plastic Brands: We live in the age of relevance, Today more complex than ever, And we've never had so many channels and touchpoints to shine at.

• Post-Putomodernism: As in the era of Blanding, in which all brands were meaninglessly added to the codes of cool and empty identities, him It's the turn of the tone of voice.
• Liquid Companies: From the operation, to marketing, managing your brand, of employees, Companies able to adapt, anticipate, change… and with a philosophy of digital work applied to everything.
• Turn away the green: As with digitalization, sustainability (and responsibility) It has already become a cross-sectoral hygienic, Except Patagonia, Tesla and a couple of other brands, Very few are able to turn it into a relevant differentiation vector.
• Activating the purpose: We've been hearing about purpose for a long time.. Many already have it, Now comes the moment of truth, Tap on to activate it and make it happen.
• Tribucentric: Relevance goes through Fitting into people's lives as if you were a glove, and in a world that is now distributed more by tribes than by profiles, it has impacted the Brands.
• Rationalism: With uncertainty, The reptile inside you always wins. The rational prevails on the rest of Maslow.

Trends 2023 in Personal Branding

And from here I use three sources, IEBS School, William Arruda, a few added last-minute of my partners Integra Personal Branding and my own. Let's go there: 

IEBS School

• We must Appear what we are and be what we seem, Principle of coherence
• The soft skills that gain ground: Adaptability, critical thinking, Capacity for self-management and leadership
• The Digital prowess becomes essential: new digital trends such as Artificial Intelligence, Robotics or data analysis
• The social media are one of the strongest communication channels, It is important to take advantage of them and use them as a catapult that helps you make yourself known. Special emphasis on networking provided by LinkedIn
• The Fingerprint that we leave on the net, at some point, can cause major problems. No personal social networks!!
• More naturalness, less posturing, Perfect lives and people are not real
• The Podcast Start taking the lead
• The role of woman becomes more relevant
• The values are valued: Near a 80% of customers choose brands aligned with their personal values

William Arruda

• The emergence of the post-covid leader:  The essential leadership style moves drastically toward inspiration and coaching built on a foundation of emotional intelligence
• LinkedIn gets personalized: We have started to see images of people with their family, Heartwarming stories of volunteering and vacation photos
• Brand ambassadors: with people working from home partially or fully, The opportunity to be immersed in your company culture is diminishing. But you have become a more important part of the Brand strategy company.
• Personalization of the Employee Experience: Work whenever you want, Wherever and however you want is the new mantra. Expect more flexibility to accommodate your work style along with opportunities to customize benefits and perks.
• The Personal contact is a priority: As the virtual and the hybrid prevail, In-person activities become more important than ever
• The Quality and concentration They are the key to being seen: We are overwhelmed with all the content that clutters our social networks. There is so much noise that it is increasingly difficult to be seen. Quality and consistency will be essential.
• Loss of feedback: The challenge of recent years lies in the loss of those moments of informal feedback that are difficult to recreate in the virtual world..
• Hybrid communications or multimedia: By becoming "hybrid professionals", Our communications will be too.. When we write a report, We will include a video summary and maybe some infographic.

Integra Personal Branding

• The human side of the personal brand will be the most explored during the coming years
• It is not enough to do things for the sake of doing them, people They are looking for meaning Longer life
• What are we doing to be credible and sustainable in front of others?
• The world needs real leaders, Not afraid to influence, with clarity of objectives and above all human
• Activation of Power Skills: active listening, Communication, Leadership, emotional intelligence, Conflict Management, Empathy, negotiation, Etc.
• Personal brand Digital based on real identity
• Co-Branding, The Power of Personal Relationships
• Female leadership, Creating new paths
• The figure of a Mentor will be relevant to improve quality of life or outcomes
• A personal brand Healthy in an integral way has the opportunity to bring more value to others

Guillem Recolons

• We become more suspicious. Cryptomodes, Phishing, bad social sealing practices... will require us to be able to (and brands too) to inspire more and more confidence.
• Or We adapt the technology or we fall. It's no longer just digitizing our communication, is to integrate tools such as AI, Blockchain or augmented reality in our tasks.
• The desperate struggle to capture attention demands New insights and dynamic value propositions
• We will all have a role of "Chief Purpose Officer", of the Drivers and activators of purpose in the projects in which we are involved.
• Change of narrative To the logbook: The Narration of our professional activity can help us better understand the complexities of our profession. Example: The podcast "It's none of your business" by Victor Correal or the experience with a cancer of Elena Huelva (Rest in peace, dear).
• Make talent visible by what you say (Marketing) and what you achieve (Branding). What we say is no longer enough, We must focus on ensuring that our stakeholders Showcase our achievements with inspiring feedback... and do it too.
• We become Explorers: We already know that social networks come and go, And now come more than go, which forces us to understand the value that the new ones can bring us (Moments, Mastodon, Bluesky, Bereal...).
• Public and private line disappears. The Private profiles on social networks lose their meaning. Instead, best WhatsApp, Telegram... The reason is that if they do not find us or we have something to hide, We will not be transparent, And that penalizes.
• The Video content Remains one of the most engaging forms of content. A Cisco study in 2021 projected that the 82% of all online content will be video content. One year later, a survey of Wyzowl confirmed those projections. Watch out for that..
• Your voice matters. Podcast and video-podcast (YouTube is the N1 in podcast listening) are becoming stronger than ever.
• Happiness: According to philosopher John Stuart Mill, "If you insist on going after happiness, You will only be unhappy.". And Tal Ben Shahar points out "The only ones who are happy are those who have their minds fixed on some object other than their own happiness.".

I think you have a great roadmap drawn here. The concepts and words that are most repeated are Humanize, Podcast and integration of technologies and short formats. I hope I have been useful with this compilation of trends 2023 in several areas... A big hug and have a good year!

Stock cover photo by Dilok Klaisataporn on shutterstock.com