You spend hundreds or maybe thousands of dollars attending an event and meeting people of interest - partners, future customers, and more. You get introduced, briefly chat, and exchange contact information.
What did you do next? If the person was of interest and from your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP), I bet you later looked them up online —who they were, where they worked now or in the past, and if you know any mutual contacts. You followed their digital breadcrumbs. You made an opinion.
Now flip this scenario. Someone is doing the same for you and your company.
And now, the more profound question is: Would you prefer controlling your digital footprint based on What they find about you? Do you want to ensure you create the most impactful, favorable space for yourself?
Paper visiting cards are yesterday’s thing. Your email signature will not kick in until much later, so how do you ensure you make a great first impression digitally?
Whether you want to create a powerful personal brand or an efficient digital footprint for your offerings, what and how you share matters. At mTap, we analyzed thousands of profiles in our database and found some critical winning factors that help form an engaging and significant digital footprint to share with prospects.
1. Your Photo
Use a high-quality, precise, professional headshot with the company brand in the background.
Maintain a visually appealing and consistent design across all platforms. Use the company colors to trigger brand recall and ensure your image is the latest headshot, not something from two decades ago when you looked much different.
2. Get People to Know You Quickly
Write a concise bio in under 200 words describing who you are, your expertise, and what you offer. Try to use keywords centered around your industry as much as you can.
Detailed Bio/About Section: Clearly describe who you are, your expertise, and what you offer. It's your elevator pitch about yourself. Make it count! Just make sure what you write feels genuine and authentic.
3. Tell them What You Do and Where
Make your identity easy to recall: “Oh yes, Bruce Wayne, the CEO at Wayne Enterprises. Yes, I remember the guy!”
Your current job title, company name, and website should be written clearly.
It's excellent to humor your role on social media by writing that you’re the “chief janitor,” “Get Stuff done officer,” “ Problem solver in chief,” etc., but that never tells your future customer what EXACTLY you do!! Avoid humorous titles that don’t convey your role.
4. Make Yourself Super Easy to be Reached
If a prospect you’ve met has to reach you, they should be able to find you in 30 seconds or reverse engineer from there. Give them choices and options. A majority of people aren't into calls. Tech fatigue is real. So give your leads options.
- Your Calendar Link
- Your Phone Number
- Your LinkedIn Profile
- Your Email ID
If possible, go one step ahead and integrate your Digital profiles across platforms to present a cohesive online presence. For example, mTap users can integrate their mTap accounts with CRMs like Hubspot, and all information gets captured in the CRM seamlessly, which can later be analyzed.
Of course, ensure you control the privacy settings. For example, with mTap , you can control what information you would like to share and with whom. You may not want to share too much information on the very first go with a prospect with whom you do not have a strong rapport.
5. Share the Right Assets/ Collateral
Your collateral speaks volumes about your work. The way you showcase it speaks volumes about your company. Ensure that all multimedia—images, videos, infographics, PDFs, and PPTs—have a consistent brand and story. Maintain a consistent brand image and message across all social media and professional platforms. A well-maintained website or blog that showcases your portfolio, projects, and thought leadership is also a winning factor.
Initially, you may want to share the social media profiles with leads and prospects along with your active and professional social profiles - LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc.- reflecting your brand and industry presence.
6. Unique Selling Points
Highlight what makes you or your business unique. Include a one-page summary of your company that summarises what you do and the value you can create. It is important to highlight your Digital profile summary so that anyone who is out there looking at your profile gets the complete picture of you and your brand.
7. Include Testimonials or Recommendations
Social proof matters when building trust initially. Add a direct link to a video testimonial or case study for a recognized brand that can help a new prospect understand the depth of your work through third-party validation. Your profile and brand will look more impactful and genuine when there is a third party to validate your work.
Using a robust and scalable platform solution like mTap helps you create a seamless way to manage your digital footprint while ensuring your prospects see the correct information about you initially during the formative stages of the relationship.
By following these steps, you can build an impactful digital footprint that not only represents you and your company well but also facilitates meaningful connections and opportunities.