Experience Online Branding Through the Eyes of an Engineer

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): TomKin Consulting LLC.

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020

To become a pillar in an industry is to become a pillar in branding in the industry, it takes game. To quote Big Daddy Kane, “Pimpin’ ain’t easy.” Neither is online branding. No matter how you slice it, you’re going to have a hard time. Because it’s comprehensive public presentation.

It takes a certain ability to bring all the requisite skills together at once. Then it’s presenting them in an appealing way. Some people have a natural knack for it. Others don’t, but work hard at it. Still others, they lack the ability and the interest.

Presumably, you’re one of the first two. Probably, you’re the middle one. But if you’re the first type, then no trouble honing some talents. Online branding is an incredibly difficult thing to define. But I think it’s contours can be defined, to start. Today, we’ll cover online branding.

It’s going to be from the perspective of an engineer this time. So, you’ll have to bear with me. Because it’ll be technical, in parts. It’ll give insight into the nature of branding too. The ideas behind branding. The ways branding happens online.

Everything online will impact things offline. Because, for one, we’re in an international health emergency. For two, our lives online integrate so seamlessly with our lives offline. Think about it, almost everyone in advanced societies have phones. Or they have computers.

We’re extended into our digital devices, mobile and desktop. All of our entertainment. All of our news. Every bit of our lives, even shopping and personal finances, have been offloaded to the online world. Whether we like it or not, barring some catastrophe, it’s here.

It’s here to stay for good. And probably, it’s for the better. Because everything developed to make interactions of trivial things faster, more convenient, and, in turn, increased productivity. We produce more finances per person than ever before in history.

This technology made us rich. It also made us powerful. But it can create a sea of similarity.  In that near-sameness, we’ve made ourselves publicly anonymous. We’re completely known. In being known so well, we’re the same as one another, almost.

So, we’ve lost the unique identity in the overwhelming amounts of information on offer. How do you, as they say, “Stand out”? How do you make an impression on the world? How do you bring your best self and leave a mark?

You can do it. But it takes more effort than before. Because the entire world is present and watching everything. It’s not something to escape because it’s part of life now. So, what is online branding in general terms? How do you brand online? How do you systematically brand online?

How does this more precisely look like from the view of an engineer? What are the skills necessary to bring this view into an integrated focus? And why even write a long article with the long title “Experience Online Branding Through the Eyes of an Engineer”?

What is online branding in general terms?

Branding online is complex. It can incorporate an infinite variety of surface level stuff. But it can probably be broken down into some components. And different organizations and outlets will look at online branding in different ways.

In the modern era, if you’re a person, you have a brand. Because brand is public presentation. This public presentation gives an image in the mind of someone else. Whoever views your online profile or identity, they know you, or of you.

They know the public face. So, they have an idea as to the nature of the person behind the pixels and the black text on white background. You’ll come across a lot of annoying platitudes about online branding. Honestly, ignore those, they’re dumb slogans.

Try to focus on the core issues facing the company or the brand, you can strategize from there. Here are some quotes from various sources defining online branding:

Madeline Jacobson at Leverage Marketing said, “Branding your business online will help you connect with your potential customers in the digital spaces where they spend time. A good branding strategy should give your audience a strong sense of what your company is all about and why they should choose you over a similar competitor.”

Chris Ducker said, “Building an online brand creates awareness of what we, as entrepreneurs and our business stand for. Building an online brand gives us instant opportunities to create likability and to foster the growth of a fan base. Building an online brand elevates our credibility, because we embrace being ‘out there’ for the world to find.”

Study.Com stated, “Do you follow businesses online? Take a moment to look at your favorite brands. What do they post about, share, and discuss? How a company represents itself online is all a part of internet branding. Internet branding is defined as a technique in brand management that uses the internet as a medium to position its brand in the marketplace. You may also see this referred to as online branding.”

Finally, Social Media Today explained, “Nowadays, people are moving towards pull marketing as opposed to push marketing. Push meaning you’re going to the consumer; pull meaning the consumer is coming to you. Naturally people see push methods as traditional ways of doing things, like using print. A lot of pull tactics are used online. More companies should now be focusing on pull branding, or online branding.”

In order, Jacobson (no relation) focuses on a strong impression. Something like a logo fits this description. Ducker emphasizes being present online. You’re the princess sitting in the tower. Study.Com makes an administrative comparison.

It’s about the “management” side of online branding, as the branding. Social Media Today truly wants a gravity well. Something to “pull” consumers into the market for the brand. I don’t any serious complaints with any of these.

In fact, they’re all valid, but they’re all invalid in their incompleteness. They don’t tell the whole story. And they don’t tell it equally well. But if you relate them, you get the broader picture. It’s a public image management to attract clientele.

How do you brand online?

This image creates an experience, a history, inside the mind of the clients. Over time, there can be brand trust. It will differ by demography, by geography, by length of association with the company. Is it a younger person or an older person? Are they in Atlanta, Tel Aviv, or Hamburg?

Have they associated with the company for 24 hours, 7 days, 4 weeks, or 12 months, or more? These all can help impact their experience with the company. All these interactions make the history of the person with the company, the brand.

Online branding is about technical, careful public image management. You do this over time. Especially refinement, it is something developed, made precise. It should embody your true self. Otherwise, it’s a lie.

Which creates false expectations for potential clientele, authenticity is your asset. You can utilize authentically presented online branding to your advantage. Because it sets a realistic expectation. It provides real information. Also, this will attract people truly interested in you.

It separates the wheat from the chaff. It will have to be done systematically, comprehensively. Without going down an inescapable rabbit hole, you have to plan it. JEMSS provides some simple steps. I will use these as guidelines.

How do you systematically brand online?

According to JEMSS, they give a list of five things to do in online branding:

1. Identify your brand audiences
2. Document your brand messages and values
3. Develop presence on the relevant networks
4. Launch capaigns [sic] to engage with your audiences on these relevant networks
5. Measure your engagement and earn from results

To 1., who are you? In reverse, who is the audience? What defines the brand audience for you? If you know who you are, then you should know your audience.

Take, for example, the product or service from you. Let’s say an individual service, you’re self-employed. You work for You Inc. What does You Inc. do? What does it not do? Obviously, you do some things and not others. Of those things you do well, you do some really well. Others, not so much.

In defining the brand of You Inc., you should be honest. Frank about everything regarding the product or service. It may seem insane. But it’s not an oversharing family member or friend levels of directness. The sort of Family Feud gaffe levels of embarrassment.

I don’t mean that at all because… ugh. I mean being as objective as possible about the product or service. The what you do, and do well and not-so well. You Inc. should define this clearly for the customer. Why you? Well, who else knows better than you?

Then either think about who would be interested in You Inc. and its service or product. Alternatively, or in conjunction, you may find survey data on them. Look at comparable companies, Other Person Inc., they might give an idea.

If they’re more established, they will have a better idea. Once you’ve targeted the brand audience of You Inc., you should cater to them. Communications is a conversation with the brand audience.

2. talks about the brand messages. Your messages must come from You Inc. All companies convey a message. They represent values. Those values mean everything. Because they guide everything for the product or service.

If you do not consistently represent your values, why would a client trust you? They would have no reason. Imagine sitting down with a potential marriage partner, you find out. They have no values: None. What is the morality in amorality? Nothing, it’s a horrifying prospect in a life partner.

It’s similar for a long-term investment in a brand, in You Inc. Your messages should use the channels available. If the short and snappy ones, we’re thinking about the logo. The signifier of the company on all products.

If we’re thinking about the long game, then we’re envisioning the entire production chain and external relations. All of these short and long term messages will convey the values of You Inc. with the brand audience in mind.

Who wants this product or service? Focus on them, you can forget the rest.

3. is about making yourself known in networks. It’s taking those crafted messages containing values. Then it’s filtering them into the correct pipes to be sent off and seen by the right people. “Right people” meaning the intended audience, the brand audience.

Those networks can be Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, maybe TikTok if you’re creative about it. Also, if you have particular expertise, you can show this on Quora. People need expert-level answers. Quora is a great place to show it.

People will notice, then network. If you’re good enough, typically, an audience will begin to reach out to you. There are so many options. Use them for You Inc., your brand audience deserves the best product or service possible. Over time, you garner a reputation in the networks.

4. is taking things being active about it. You’re not doing a shotgun of delivery to everyone. In fact, you’re taking the reflection on the brand audience. You’re using the survey data if any. You’re looking at competitors to You Inc. All this data is helpful for this part.

You can target the crafted values-laden messages. These can target the relevant demographics. Your reputation built over time and solidify trust in the online brand of You Inc. It’s about consistency. It’s about integrity.

Some of the previously mentioned platforms have systemic software to advertise. You can pay, for example, for ads on Facebook. Those ads target particular demographics. This can make the job far easier for You Inc.

Having an integrated plan for bringing all these together, you’ll amplify the effects on the networks even further. So, it’s about networks, targets in the networks, and having a unified plan to grow the online brand.

5. is about measurement. What is being done in 1. through 4? You’re providing outreach. You’re doing a variety of external relations. It’s, literally, providing the system for You Inc. The last stage is giving a valuation as to the success or failure of them.

Is it arbitrary success or failure? Of course not, it’s about building the online brand over time. One with substance. One with trust. One with known integrity. It lives up to its values. It provides the service or product and is completely transparent about it, objective.

Those are the ideals. The lessons follow from the last step for improving the next iterations of the first four steps. Because it says, “This doesn’t work. That worked. And those, certainly, worked better than the other three networks and messages.”

How does this more precisely look like from the view of an engineer?

Engineers, e.g. software engineers, will have particular needs. Those needs will be fewer in some areas and more in others. It depends on the specifics of the job of engineering. But, in any case, the general rules above are universal.

They are not, however, universally powerful. Does that make sense? It’s the different between “the apple” and “Applebee’s.” One is a fruit. The other is a restaurant. Yet, both contain “apple.” “Apple” here is like the universal principles. “Applebee’s” is the engineers’ needs.

In the writings, you should notice the consistent facet of writing about online branding, marketing, etc. Human dynamics are too ambiguous. They’re too complex. They’re barely understood in precise terms.

So, we’re left with principles. Or those rules of thumb. Nothing is set in stone. Nothing is divinely mandated in a chosen holy scripture. Universal does not mean equally applicable in all circumstances.

In a similar way, it doesn’t mean engineers need what business administrators need. They’re different. So, the rules of thumb will give differing results. But they’ll valid in either case. It’s about the degree.

Caissa Recruitment in “Personal Branding for Software Engineers: How to Build Your Brand“ talked about personal brands for engineers. They noted some of the specific social media tools the software engineers, as an example, might want.

They said, “Software Engineers that are interested in building their own personal brand have a wide range of social media tools in their arsenal. Tools like: LinkedIn, Github, Twitter, Blogs or Q&A sites such as StackOverflow and Quora are great places to start transforming your online identity into your own unique personal brand.”

So, from the point of view of an engineer, you’re taking these questions’ answers above: What is online branding in general terms? How do you brand online? How do you systematically brand online? Then you’re applying as an engineer needs.

What skills are relevant? What job references are relevant? What certifications and degrees are important to emphasize? What networks and channels will effectively use resources? What are the valuable things, the values, relevant for an engineer to convey in them?

Those channel the relevant messages out into the public sphere. When they’re taken ordinarily, they’ll be for a regular You Inc. person. When specified for an engineer, they’ll be for an engineer. It will come into a culmination too.

What are the skills necessary to bring this view into an integrated focus?

As Anne Shaw states, “…bring everything together by building a personal website. Obviously, this is a great way to show off your technical skills, but it also lets you own your brand messaging through your layout and features, your bio, and a portfolio of your work and results.”

In one word, engineers will need this: A website. You Inc. for an engineer ins individual. You’re one person. You’re a skilled and talented person. You work from first principles and understand something micro, but profound, about the world.

You studied. You earned credentials. You developed skills. But it has to be shown off. There’s no other way around it. LinkedIn is a great resource. So is Twitter, a professional, public-facing Facebook page doesn’t hurt.

It has to be done together, though. It can’t be done disjunct. It can’t be a mess. Make it sing! Your job is to bring your best authentic self to You Inc. A website, or a web domain rather, devoted to it will sing.

You can show the values. You can implement the network effect steps. Then you can use the website metrics to get an idea of the content more precisely. Engineers, in essence, can build online resumes.

Complex, digital, and integrated multimedia resumes in one go. It’s great. There are so many opportunities to bring out the best presentation of the engineer’s self. Their skills and attributes. Those personal aspects of online branding making them, the engineer, an asset to a company rather than not.

And why even write a long article with the long title “Experience Online Branding Through the Eyes of an Engineer”?

The purpose in such extensive articles is to get you to see what I see. The vast, though finite, possibilities for growth in all areas of life. One of those areas is marketing. I write in a vast array of subject matter.

Marketing, public relations, and so on, are important. Because they are so key in the Computer Age. Our ideas about the nature of who we are and what we do changes with the changes in computers.

The proper framing of online branding is all a part of that. If you take your real, live self, then you can quantify some aspects of it. Those can then be catalogued and used for the benefit of all. Especially you, in fact, it’s providing a window into the you.

When you’re an engineer, or any other technical discipline, this is a way to reach out to prospective employers. It is a way to show off skills. It’s a way to self-pimp. Even though, it ain’t easy.

But it is easy to make a Family Feud gaffe. The social faux pas collections that become comedy reels on the show’s retrospectives. In professional life, not so funny, it’s a job prospect killer. You do not want that. Unless, you’re a masochist or something like this.

You, ideally, have a health self-respect and want to put forward your authentic self. The best version of that. It’ll make a strong impression on prospective employers on the website. Because that’s the one thing that can’t be faked, sincerity.

If you’re building a rich professional legacy, then this is one way to do it. You leave a substantial and integrated online presence. Something worth remembering. Someone worth hiring. Because you’re made your mark. You’ve made your digital presence known.

The idea behind a long-form article narrowed down to the subject matter of an engineer in online branding. It’s to give an idea of the ways rules of thumbs can be specifically applied. Marketing is a general field.

Online branding is one skill set in it. It’s a big tool kit, though. Make no mistake, it’ll take time to hone the presentation of the authentic self online. One, it’s hard to make an accurate representation in a low-fidelity environment. Which is to say, it’s online.

Two, it’s not just learning the individual skills. It’s bringing all of them together at once. That’s the hard part. Three, once you’ve done so, you have to apply this to You Inc. For instance, you as an engineer.

You’re taking these skills, integrating them, and conveying a real self to the world. For most engineers, this may be to show off new things. It could to display new interests or writings. It could be to emphasize skills and work history to potential employees.

It’s knowing the audience who you want to connect to you. Then the rest is more straightforward. You’ll become better over time. You will know the terminology, the steps for outreach, and then the ways to evaluate success and failure.

All this requires repetition because it’s the same lesson from different angles. Memorization incorporates repetition. Learning about the various angles of relationships between the skills is key. Over time, these skills will become as automatic as writing and sending emails.

In Paleolithic times, this was a hard skill. Now, it’s common place. It’s everywhere. Because emails are entirely indispensable for the functioning of relationships, of companies. Heck, they’re completely essential for societies.

Yet, it’s relatively new. And it’s a simple process to learn, now. People, old and young alike, make no fuss about it. To think about these skills in the same way as email, that’s the idea. Similarly, when you think about signing off with “regards” or not, it’s a choice.

Using skills in some ways and not others, these will enhance online authentic self-presentation. That’s what I see.

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In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work at www.in-sightpublishing.com.

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