Words typed out across a screen are often skimmed over. People jump from keyword to keyword, trying to get the gist of what you’re saying (For example, 6 out of 10 of you will just read the subheaders in this article to get the basic idea of what is about to be said and leave it at that.) Whether it is because our attention spans are decreasing or there are just too many distractions, the chances of people reading EVERYTHING you write and post is pretty slim.
Fortunately, we have the ability to share something that is incredibly impactful and will capture interest. Images. They can be so compelling that it is impossible to not look at them. The way that we are able to share images today has revolutionized the way that we socially communicate. When we look at how social media has invaded our lives, it is easy to understand how this has been possible.
Studies over the past couple years reveal that the average person will spend over 5 years worth of their time looking at platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and SnapChat. That’s a heck of a lot of time staring at a screen.
What does this have to do with you and your career though?
Boost Your Brand With Images
In a market that seems to be overwhelmed by competition, you have to take the opportunity to identify yourself as a viable option. Regardless if your career path leads you be an employee or an entrepreneur, you should be building up and nurturing a brand. Your brand should establish you as a credible person in your industry and reveal insights into who you are. But to simply just writing it out in an introduction statement isn’t enough anymore. You need to up the ante.
Regardless of which social platform you use the most, you can boost your brand with images. You don’t have to post an endless stream of selfies, but rather you can post images that represent what you do, who you are, and where you are. As trendy as images are in today’s society, it is actually the story of the image that matters.
How to Leverage Images on Social Media to Push Your Career Forward
Let’s take a look at a few examples.
Instagram: When You’re Hot on the Job Search Trail
Instagram can either be a jumble of photos or it can be a strategic place where you really demonstrate your value. In the midst of a job search campaign, a visual content creator and social media specialist leveraged Instagram to create a resume.
Every image that Taylor Jones posted came with a written post that explained the value of his work regarding a project or accomplishment. When you think about a traditional resume, this approach blows that piece of paper out of the water. Interested organizations could actually see and better understand the power and impact of what he can do. He treated himself like a product that needed to be marketed. He took advantage of social platforms to further build up his brand with powerful images. Taylor started fielding offers pretty quickly and wasn’t on the job search trail for long.
That’s a pretty unique way – and situation specific way – to use images for your brand. What about when you aren’t hot on the trail of a job search, but rather just moving along with the flow?
LinkedIn: Establishing Your Credibility & Influence
LinkedIn is a wonderful platform for networking within your industry and outside of it. It’s a place where you can
comfortably talk about work and share your interest in your field and feel certain that there are going to be many others who are interested in what you have to say. It’s also a perfect spot where you can establish y
our credibility and influence in what you do. You can be happily employed with no desire to move on, or you can be feeling the itch to secure a new position. Regardless of which position you are in, you can leverage LinkedIn to showcase what you do, how you do it, and where you do it.
Melissa D, who is an Employer Relations Consultant at a post-secondary institution, leverages LinkedIn to help position her prominently in her career but also to advance the objective of her current role. While she shares a good amount of curated content relevant to experiential learning and new grad employment, she also makes sure to post good images of her career life ‘on-the-go.’ She captures shots at career fairs, employer panels, student events, conferences, and so on. She gives her connections (and 2nd and 3rd degree connections) a glimpse into what she does at work.
Instagram: Building Know, Like, Trust
When we think of a ‘Brand’ typically we think of a company and product or service, not a person. When brands come to social media, their goal isn’t to just sell the latest product, but rather, it’s to build up an online relationship with their audience that is based on know, like, and trust. They want us to know who they are, like what they do, and trust them enough that we would without a doubt, buy and recommend their product. They aren’t focused on immediate customers, but rather on building up a pipeline of long term loyal customers.
You can do that too. Again, it doesn’t matter if you are an employee or entrepreneur. You can capture the interest of people who want to hire you in some capacity; hire you as an employer, or ‘hire you’ in regards to purchasing whatever it is your business offers.
Mindset, Nutrition, and Lifestyle Coach Emily Gough does that just. Through her Instagram she builds up a rapport with her audience which A) gives a view of who she is as a person B) shares about what she does and demonstrates how passionate she is about it, and C) gives us enough information about her credibility that we trust what she says. Her feed is fun, branded, and has variety. She incorporates aspects of real life and business to create an appealing account that connects with people on a variety of levels. On top if that, she has been able to capture a corner of IGTV and has been reaching an ever wider audience by being active on it.
Your brand matters. How you say it and how you show it matters. If you are looking to position yourself just that little bit more, consider ways that you can start to incorporate image into your brand. You don’t have to be a stellar photographer and you don’t have to worry about perfect. You just have to worry about being real and showing value.
xo Melissa + Julia
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