Personal Branding Trends 2021, the year of the syringe

The Personal Branding Trends 2021. I have baptized the 2021 like "the year of the syringe", you can imagine why. Covid immunization vaccines will be the protagonists, and what they have in common is all one thing: the syringe that will administer them. I guess the manufacturers of those cannulas will have a good year..

One more year I venture to write down some ideas that I think will take hold of personal branding in the years to come. It's not really an individual job., I rely on conversations I've had with colleagues in the branding areas, Personal Branding and Marketing.

More than one reader of this blog has asked me about the accuracy of trends of other years, so I'll start by talking about it, what happened to the trends of the "damn year" 2020.

If you're short on time, I summarize personal branding trends 2021 in a minute:

What happened to the "damn" tendencies 2020?

I wrote down these seven trends, I developed in an ad hoc post for each: 

1.- The impulse of social conscience It seems one of the most foreboding. The Covid accelerated a process that many of us thought would be more guided. Socially conscious brands are starting their way of extinction.

2.- Experience. Facts are imposed on the sayings The story based on real facts is imposed. Some call it "storydoing., But this 2020 we've seen how communication has become more emotional and authentic.

3.- From being an influencer to being influential. The fall of the great "influencers" has been offset by the rise of people with their feet on the ground, "micro-influencers" and by people with messages that have transformed our lives, the influential.

4.- Don't think about Google, think about your customers. Here I was wrong. First, I was penalized for "San Google", During 6 months my audience plummeted. And second, it seems that many prioritize SEO positioning over creating value for their customers.

5.- Don't let technology step on you. Use it for your favor. That trend not only fit beautifully with the covid year, but accelerated and repeated to 2021. We've learned to work remotely, to study remotely, to use countless digital tools that were unknown to us, to consume podcast…

6.- Watch. Brevity is effective but ephemeral. I think that the excess of brevity and above all lack of context created the year with the most fake news of history. Companies that are dedicated to identifying bulos have made their August this 2020.

7.- I am the content... But I'm still the King. The year of confinement has forced us to "cure" content like never before, separating the grain from the straw so as not to intoxicate us.

And now it is, seen that the success rate was frankly high, detailed Personal Branding 2021 trends.

1- The business model as the epicenter of our Personal Brand

Well, yes, we have to become the real tailors of our Personal Brand. I'll talk in more detail about this point in another post, but right now, if the use of the term "Personal Branding" or "Personal Brand Management" were prohibited, I would bet on "Personal Business Model"

No one asks you to "fix" the business model, everyone asks to improve their Linkedin profile or create a website. But behind that request there is usually a problem with the business model and with the Value proposal.

I had an interesting talk with Luigi Centenaro about it, that I'll explain more calmly.

2- Greater relevance, contribute to import and build long-term relationships

Value, Relevance, Provide. We have become value proposition detectors without being aware of it. If someone sells us smoke, our smell detects it before ever. You know, if you don't contribute, you don't matter.

Contributing means adding value to others. Importing is that that value translates into a long-term relationship.

Relevance makes relationships stable, meditated, non-impulsive.

3- More experiences, fewer words

If last year he pointed to "the facts are imposed on the sayings", this year I add the nuance of experiences.

I'm not going to blame the words., we need them. But I do charge about promises. Anything we can't prove will be in promise. And what better demonstration than experience.

Recounting experiences, in words, with images, with video, with audio, will be more interesting than ever.

4- Increased specialization, without losing sight of global knowledge

I had an informal conversation with a friend who is engaged in retail consulting. He told me he wants to focus on the retail area for food, because it's the environment you know as the back of your hand. That's what I call letting the specialty flow naturally.

There's another phrase that expresses it well: "Shoemaker to your shoes". It's tempting for a consultant to span a lot to expand the business. But there's a risk of losing your DNA as "one of the people who knows most about this."

Knowing how to see the forest above trees is always interesting, but we are increasingly looking for specialized professionals.

5- Visual Thinking or Visual Thinking

Let's make it easier to understand concepts visually. And I'm not just talking about infographics, but small visual elements that help us make decisions.

In the book "Nugde. A little push" by Richard H. Thaler, it explains a visual experience that saved the government of a Scandinavian country millions.!! Yes, a fly painted on male public urinals saved a lot of money in cleanliness and improved hygiene.

From this topic I will go into more detail, hand in hand Naomi Vico, passionate about the subject.

6- Flextrapreneurship, make work easier no matter the format

It is one of the trends pointed out by William Arruda a year ago, and that I think that after the Coronavirus it takes on a new dimension.

It basically refers to a new entrepreneurial mindset on the part of company members, something that also scored Tom Peters in his article 1997 The Brand Called YOU. 

Companies with the most business-minded team members are going to outper get over everyone else no matter their experience, place or how to provide Value.

7- Digital employee advocacy

Digital employee advocacy is to facilitate companies' human communication to the market at once using digital media. It is important to differentiate the medium (digital resources) last end (humanize communication to better connect). 

To be honest, I think it's quite difficult to develop the drive programs of internal brand ambassadors without resorting to digital strategies and tools.

No doubt, the employee is the biggest source of trust and the great transmitter of corporate purpose and values.

8- Brandscaping, eliminate elements that distract attention around the brand, staff or corporate

It has a lot to do with focus. Brandscaping means eliminating the strange things that distract, divert or disorient. It means making sure you come up with something powerful and clear.

An effective personal brand comes from identifying the only thing you want to be known for. If you focus on what you can do for others, you can stand out from the noise and be recognized.

9- More technology, but always at our service, to human service

Don't be afraid of technology. More technology. To help us earn one of life's scarcest resources: time.

I will treat this point more calmly with digital humanist Joan Clotet, but for now, I'll leave you his talk at Personal Branding Lab Day 2020 "Beautiful place to stay", that perfectly explains this trend: 

10- Digital Sustainability

Digital sustainability is avoiding digital Diogene syndrome. You've noticed a lot with the Covid. People signing up for free digital events as if it were the end of the world... and then not attend.

People requesting the video or PDF of an event they have not been able to attend... to never see it, out of sheer cumulative eagerness. Do you know if the event will be recorded? It was a 2020 trend question.

But we have to learn not to accumulate, to live the moment, which is where the experience is optimized, where you have the option to contact your protaginistas. Less Dropbox, more direct.

I hope these Trends Personal Branding 2021 have contributed you. And if so, don't cut yourself, Share. From January I will develop them one by one, and any contribution will be welcome. Happy week!

Stock Photos from Tropical Shapes / Shutterstock

Postscript

SUPER-event TEDx Eixample: Shape Your New World

Surely we have more awareness than ever to drive our own change and to change the world. But at the same time we're without a compass, no solid values to tell us where we're going. References to interpret and really change reality.

Faced with the great challenges we have we want to know the form and solidity of our world. What are the limits? What's immutable, believable, true?

Are you ready to remake your world? 

Speakers:

• Albert Sierra. Albert is an art historian and declared technophile, Ago 13 years spent communicating cultural heritage
• Joan Clotet. Digital Humanist, digital talent advisor, Speaker, author and Executive Coach will tell us about the future of work.
• Carme Ruscalleda and Rael Balam. Chefs, they'll tell us about the relationship between what we eat, how we move and how we feel.
• Gisela Detrell. Dr.. Gisela Detrell is a member of the team of researchers from Niwa, a sustainable city proposal on Mars.
• Núria Florensa. Her parents left town and she will share her experience encouraging us to change our relationship with the planet
• Pedro Siri. Fifth year high school student in Argentina, will tell us about the importance of visual elements in human relationships.

When, How

• Saturday, 12 December 2020
• De 18:00h a 20:00h GMT+1
• Free online broadcast
• Registration: https://www.enterticket.es/eventos/tedxeixample-shape-your-new-world-846474 
• Sponsors: Bbva