Ketaki Mehta advocates personal branding for all in B2B companies as an integral aspect of employer branding strategy.
Focusing on employer branding is one game changer for B2B companies. This can be done not necessarily by elaborate brand campaigns alone. But a simple and elegant way of focusing on their employee’s Personal Branding could be the key.
Personal Branding is all about the impact that one has on others. It is a strategic investment that leads to a better company image, and better customer trust and eventually, drives business growth.
Adding Human touch to B2B interactions
Humanising B2B interactions makes them more memorable to clients and prospective employees.
When founders and employees showcase the core values of the company both offline and online, it builds trust, respect and credibility of the company brand.
Mitul Bid, founder of Coditas, focused on the quality and reliability of code written in his company. But he supplemented this when wrote posts about the quality of working life in Coditas to showcase the people-first ambition of the company.
Talent Attraction and Retention
When the company’s culture and growth opportunities are promoted by their employees, new and right talent gets attracted.
When employees are celebrated with gusto, the retention rate increases at a higher rate.
Salesforce encourages employees to become advocates of the company and their products. The Salesforce family is called ‘Ohana’. This idea enables the overall success of the company.
Enabling Business Growth
A founder’s personal brand, especially plays a pivotal role in the success of their businesses.
The personal brands of founders Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar have played an important role in establishing Atlassian as a successful B2B software company.
Their journeys focussing on tech advocacy, value emphasis, community engagement, and innovation engagement have led to a positive perception of Atlassian. Ultimately it has led to business growth.
Future-ready and adaptable
The personal brand of the founders especially helps reflect their commitment to innovation and flexibility. An apt example of this is Adobe’s co-founder John Warnock’s leadership and vision has showcased the company’s ability to stay future-oriented and adaptable.
Adobe pioneered digital imaging technologies, then moved on to subscription-based models and further expanded into new markets.
In a gist, the Personal branding of founders and employees leads to the enhancement of the external image. It also attracts top talent, retains employees and enables them to position themselves as adaptable to sustainable growth in the ever-changing B2B landscape.
The success and longevity of B2B brands are rooted in the shift towards a more human and personal approach. And this directly contributes to the Employer Brand.