First impressions last
Famously it was quoted that “you never get a second chance to make a first impression”. But, gone are the days that the only way to make a first impression is in person.
Be honest with yourself have you ever researched, or seen, someone online before you met them? Likely the answer is yes. And this isn’t uncommon – it’s normal.
This “spying” like phenomime has quickly filtered into the business community. People work with people and it’s human nature to research if a new relationship will be fruitful. The more information that is available through social media and websites, the more we’ll, as a collective, use it to create an opinion of someone.
Questions like: does this new candidate/ employee/ business relationship clearly define what they do, who they do it for, how will they do it, what can they potentially do for me and finally will they “fit in” need to be answered. And “online proof” can do this.
Because of this, it is important to think about what your personal online footprint says about you. Have you tried Googling yourself recently? What does the first page say about you and how can you influence it?
Should you consider making some of your social media accounts private… Should your company consider “people profiles” on your website (for some industries Google literally uses profiles to judge if the website should rank higher) etc.?
LinkedIn is the most likely social media account to appear in search results when someone searches your name [if you have an account…]. Does it reflect how you would want to be seen? How can you use it to better position yourself as an expert in your field?
If you don’t have one, ignoring the fact that over 50% of people earning £45k+ are on the site, should you have one? If used correctly, it can really help to position yourself on Google when someone searches for you.
As technology and social media continue to grow, I predict we will care less about the company brand, using it more as a security measure, i.e. they work for XXXX so they must be qualified, and more about who we work with.
Why?
People work with people and the more information out there to build that “first impression” and relationship, even if we’ve never met them, means we have the tools to develop trust that previously, we may not have had; because interactions were few and far in some cases.
First impressions may no longer be just in person but they are still as important as they have ever been. Make sure yours reflects you.
If you want to learn more, please do contact our Kent based Digital Marketing team.
