Find Balance in Marketing: Align Your Online and in-Person Brands

Have you ever had the experience of meeting someone in person and then looking for them online—only to find a huge disconnect? Their balance in marketing is off; their brand isn’t consistent. Whether that is their personal brand on, say, LinkedIn, or their business brand on social media or their website, when it doesn’t match what you met in person, you can feel misled. You might even feel a little gypped. Who is this person? What is this brand?

Cool in Person, Bland Online

I recently joined NAWBO and went to my first meeting as a member. I was excited to meet with the other women in the room and start to forge connections. Like others in attendance, I had some great conversations and collected business cards to follow up later.

But when I looked at these women online, I didn’t always see the same people I’d met in person. The women I saw on LinkedIn weren’t the same I’d seen at the networking event. Their balance in marketing was off. And a part of me died a little bit—as it does every time this happens. Why? Because I know people who aren’t aligned in person and online are losing their ability to serve potential clients. They are losing their ability to form more relationships because how they’re showing up online isn’t the same way they’re showing up in person.

After all, a lot of us start conversations in person. We attend events, network, and meet people. But our ability to continue those relationships depends on how we show up when we’re not actually in the room together. It’s all about finding balance in marketing.

How Do You Show Up Online?

Could this misalignment of your in-person and online brand be happening to you? If you’re not sure, I suggest you Google yourself. Look at your social media presence. Check out your website. Are you seeing the same person online that you see in the mirror? Does that person on LinkedIn look like you—both literally and figuratively?

When there’s a disconnect between your in-person and online brands, you lose your balance in marketing. And that can have repercussions for your overall branding and marketing.

Find Balance in Marketing

When you are sharing the same image online and in person, you can influence more people. You can make sure your work gets seen in the world. And you can serve at your highest levels.

You can easily find out how your online presence looks by requesting opening an incognito or private browsing window and then Google yourself (search, it is just putting your name in the search bar… no need to make it a double entendre). See what comes up, and what it looks like when people look for you online.