Brand identity
Never before has it been so easy to position yourself as an expert — and never before has it been so difficult to stand out. The platforms are overcrowded, the algorithms unfathomable and your audience's attention span shorter than ever. Yet there is a way through the noise: genuine connection instead of polished personal branding.
Personal branding was once the weapon of a select few. Now it's the standard. We live in an era in which everyone is their own publisher. Never before has it been so easy to position yourself, publish and present yourself as an expert. At the same time, it has never been so difficult to stand out. The platforms are overcrowded, the algorithms unfathomable and your audience's attention span shorter than ever.
In this digital age, personal branding is no longer a luxury or a trick for influencers, but an indispensable part of professional success. Because connection has become central, its meaning has changed at breakneck speed.
Where personal branding once revolved around consistency, control and mapping out a clear positioning, we now live in an age of hyperindividualism. Everyone is already a brand. Consciously or unconsciously. Authenticity is no longer a strategy, but a prerequisite.
We no longer choose our connections and collaborations solely on the basis of status or expertise, but on the basis of trust, recognition and shared values. According to researchers such as Jean Twenge, this extreme focus on the individual is a hallmark of our generation, amplified by technology, social media and the culture of constant self-expression.
In such a context, the term personal branding itself has become almost superfluous. What counts is connection and above all genuine connection. And that rarely happens in a perfectly styled post, but increasingly in an honest conversation, a live call or an unexpectedly spontaneous contact moment.
When I ran a series of workshops on 'becoming visible on LinkedIn' in early 2023, the standard question was: How often do I need to post to please the algorithm?. By now, this is an outdated reflex. Because where LinkedIn used to get away with tightly planned content calendars and obligatory like if you agree! calls-to-action, the platform has shifted in barely two years from loud stage to intimate professional table. The new game is less shouting loudly, more thinking aloud.
You see this in the small stories that suddenly go viral. Take Elvi Caperonis, an almost unknown HR consultant from Athens. She decided to share a mini case study every Thursday about a hiring mistake she had made herself. No sparing emojis, no link to a white paper. Just an honest mistake, the lesson and a question to fellow professionals. Within a quarter, that transparency brought her more commissions than three years of advertising. The algorithm certainly played a role in that, but more important was that fellow professionals recognised something that too often remains hidden behind glossy success stories: humanity with professional expertise.
The reverse is equally instructive. A growth hacker who called himself 24/7 Lead Machine daily bombarded hundreds of prospects with automated connect requests, supported by a like-pod full of clapping puppet friends. A few weeks later, his account was flagged: restriction due to 'fake engagement'.
Not because LinkedIn didn't like the man, but because the signals of genuine interactions, such as typed responses, reading time and saved posts, were absent. In a timeline that increasingly cleverly weighs what truly has value, tricks are quickly traced.
What do those two extremes mean for you? Simple: LinkedIn is no longer a digital billboard on which you shout in neon letters that you're available. It behaves like an ongoing professional journal in which experts question each other, challenge each other and, not unimportantly, also attract clients by showing how they think.
Those who dare to give away knowledge, ask questions to which they don't yet know the answer, and then move the conversation to a live call, build a reputation that cannot be replicated with any advertising budget.
And with that we come full circle to where this blog began. In an age of hyperindividualism and an abundance of digital noise, your brand is only credible if it invites conversation (not applause). LinkedIn is merely one arena for this. Those who understand the principle apply it just as easily in webinars, podcast interviews or a coffee conversation without a camera. Because whilst personal branding may be worn out as a term, the need for genuine connection is alive and well.
Personal branding is no longer a trick; it's the default setting of a society that has become increasingly individualistic. Some even say: configured in a hyper-individualistic way. Yet recent research shows that we, precisely because everyone is now broadcasting, yearn more for genuine reciprocity: 64% of professionals cite a (hybrid) video call as their favourite way to deepen new business relationships, ahead of email or chat. In other words: we want to see, hear and digitally shake hands with the face behind the brand.
At the same time, the bar for credibility is shifting. Transparency is not a clever pose, but a hard requirement. Brands (personal or corporate) that dare to be radically honest win trust more quickly. Forbes doesn't put tailored authenticity and expert guidance in micro-niches at the very top of the personal branding trend list for 2025 for nothing.
Embrace your micro-niche and own it. Don't speak to everyone who does anything with business, but to that one subgroup that genuinely needs your experience.
Show the rough edges. Made a mistake? Share the lesson. Client case with bumps? Show the process. Radical honesty is currency.
Move the connection from feed to face. End content with an invitation for a short video call or a live session; that's where the relationship is consolidated.
Build rhythm, not façade. Consistent, small proofs of expertise weigh more heavily than one polished brand video.
Not more visibility, but genuine connection. That's the core of personal branding in 2025. View my approach or read more about brand identity as a foundation.
Are you ready to make the entire journey from your why to a strong online identity a reality? On my page 'Turns your expertise into a brand identity' you can read further about how I help you with this, from strategy to design and content. Explore the possibilities and take the step today towards a brand that is not only visible, but also tangible.
Authenticity without interaction is merely décor. Interaction without expertise is noise. Combine both and you build a brand that cannot be copied.
Written by
Peter van der SteegePeter van der Steege is a brand strategist, designer and AI director. He builds brands for entrepreneurs and writes about what makes brands strong, from strategy to the role of AI and humanity. He lives and works in Groningen.
