Self-marketing and self-promoting are two terms that people often mistake for one another. This results from the numerous similarities between the two practices and the fact that they are complementary and often work well together.
However, they are quite different, with varying significance in marketing and the business world. In this article, I will demonstrate the differences between self-marketing and self-promotion and show you how to be effective at both! Doing this will help you to avoid future misinterpretations and support your future marketing endeavors.
What is Self-Marketing?
Self-marketing, which is also referred to as personal branding, is the process of intentionally influencing the public view of yourself as an individual. This is done by making deliberate efforts toward improving your public image and reputation.
It often involves enhancing your reputation and making yourself stand out among other competitors to promote your career or brand successfully.
Ultimately, with self-marketing, you want to highlight your best qualities by showcasing your experience and uniqueness. Moreover, the practice involves creating and continuously working on a persona you want to be known for. However, the primary goal of self-marketing is to showcase a persona that can be monetized.
Self-marketing concentrates more on your inputs and abilities as an individual rather than the promising effects of your brand. Its advantages, among others, include:
- Making Your Persona an Asset: Self-branding helps you improve your persona, thereby presenting yourself as a potent force or an asset that many want to be associated with. This will afford you a wide range of recognition and opportunities, which will be essential to your brand marketing.
- Making You Stand Out: Presenting an impressive and talented image of yourself will make you and your brand noticeable in your chosen field.
- Creating a Lasting Impression: As soon as you have successfully established and portrayed yourself as a unique, reliable, and consistent individual to the public, it tends to stick. This impression, when maintained, is often long-lasting.
What is Self-Promoting?
On the other hand, self-promotion is defined as advertising and highlighting yourself as adequate and competent for particular tasks.
To expand, self-promotion tactics focus on convincing, rather than showing others that you are the best in what you do.
The key to a successful self-promotion process lies in your ability to logically persuade your audience that you are sufficiently reliable in your chosen field. Self-promotion is extremely useful when you are pitched against other competitors, and you want to get an edge by being seen as the best option. In situations like this, your ability to self-promote yourself effectively is vital.
How To Self-Promote
Many people who intend to self-promote end up doing too much of what is required. A failed attempt at self-promotion can be easily misconstrued and seen as bragging. Instead of supporting your experience and knowledge, this practice, if not done right, can make you lose valuable opportunities.
To avoid situations like this, here are some expert tips on how to successfully self-promote.
- Tactically guide your conversations to areas where you can comfortably mention your success and achievements
- Sustain conversations on topics that you are very familiar with
- Create opportunities for others to contribute
- Humbly accept compliments
At times, you can be easily carried away by the urge to self-promote that you neglect the actual goal of leaving a good impression. So, when expressing yourself as competent and capable to your audience, it is essential to also maintain a likable personality.
4 Top Advantages of Self-Promotion
- It gives you the extra edge required to convince your audience targets.
- It allows you to explain your accomplishments to the audience effectively.
- You attract attention to yourself and your brand.
- It helps your achievements become more pronounced.
The Difference Between Self-Marketing and Self-Promoting
No matter how similar self-marketing and self-promoting may sound, they are quite different. The most notable difference between these two concepts remains that self-marketing centers on how you showcase your skills and qualities through public platforms like social media, media outlets, and personal websites. In contrast, self-promotion depends on your ability to convince your target audience that you are credible and have the required skillsets for a task.
Bottom Line
Both self-marketing and self-promoting are individually significant to your success. However, you still need to merge the two practices to secure a productive outcome. Knowing their differences, as highlighted in this article, will help you immensely.