Personal Branding in 2025: How Professionals Can Stay Relevant Online

by Arif Akdogan

Skip the new wave of personal branding for 2025 and beyond, and the future skips you (or swipes left on you). Or worse, it deletes you from the friend list entirely and irreversibly.

In fact, 70% of employers claim that personal brands are even more significant than resumes/CVs in recruitment. On the other hand, building a strong personal brand is crucial for 67% of Gen Z and 94% of women leaders. Yet, the majority doesn’t have a clear branding vision.

So, no matter what demographic cohort you belong to and whether you’re an employee, entrepreneur, or a creative professional freelancing around, you might need to revamp your personal brand immediately before it’s not too late.

In this article, you’ll see examples of professionals who’ve already followed the key personal branding trends. After that, grab several hacks on how to maintain an outstanding personal brand this year and further on.

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What Are the Basic Elements of a Personal Brand?

When people google you or visit your LinkedIn profile (or any other social account), what do they find out about you?

They discover your personality or identity in the first place. And that’s when personal branding helps show it off. It demonstrates who you are and what makes you unique as a specialist.

Traditionally, personal brands include the following components:

  • Visual stylistics: a color, font, logo, or motto (if you prefer any)
  • Voice and tone: formal vs. informal, sarcastic vs. compassionate, etc.
  • Personal story: a lengthier biography on your website or a shorter social media bio (e.g., a bio on Twitter-now-X)
  • Core values (aka your ethical GPS): honesty, social justice, compassion, eco-friendliness, etc.
  • Major differentiators: This is your “Only I can/have___” statement reflecting your skill set and experience. It can likewise be a visual differentiator that makes you stand out.

For example:

Ryan Reynolds is well known for his sarcasm on social media. He’s also the person who can say boldly, “Only I can play Deadpool being so committed to the character.” And no one will deny it (or would you?).

Deadpool aside, look at this personal brand example from Jay Baer’s page on LinkedIn.

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If you’ve noticed an open-mouthed expression on both profile and background photos, that’s not accidental. It’s actually a deliberate differentiator to strengthen a personal brand: his energetic communication style and expertise as a keynote speaker.

Let’s review the most revolutionary trends in personal branding.

Social Media Centricity

No social media presence? Are you a ghost or just chronically offline?

In the era of socials blooming like wildflowers in spring, you should be social-first, or better, social-centric as never before, to make your personal brand more visible online.

Prioritize the most used social platforms like these:

  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • TikTok
  • Reddit
  • X (consider X Premium)
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Although less browsed than others, LinkedIn should be the utmost priority in personal branding for professionals. First, you should optimize your LinkedIn profile for higher visibility and relevance. Then, start actively engaging with the community on the platform.

For example:

Luke Choice, a digital artist working at Adobe and building a personal brand (Velvet Spectrum), keeps a consistent presence and spreads the word about his creations on LinkedIn.

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Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Listen, you are no longer a “lonely wolf.” You’ve got a virtual companion—AI, perhaps the most innovative trend in personal branding so far.

AI has already revolutionized work and continues to do so. The majority of employees expect generative AI to transform 30% or more workflows within two years.

Jacob Barnes, Founder of FlowSavvy, believes that no professional should miss out on AI’s potential. “The best experts in their fields know how to work smarter and faster, not harder, with AI. Time is your greatest asset. And AI tools can save tons of it, helping you build a successful personal brand. Just like you use AI to schedule and streamline your tasks or workflows, use it to put your personal brand on autopilot.”

Indeed, from crafting branded visuals to generating and scheduling social media posts, you may need helpful AI tools like these:

  • For copywriting → ChatGPT, Jasper.ai, Copy.ai
  • For images → Canva, Ideogram, Midjourney
  • For videos → Sora, Renderforest, Synthesia
  • For social media posts → Circleboom, SocialBee, Predis.ai

For example:

With Circleboom’s AI social media post generator, you can auto-generate anything (from texts to hashtags to emojis) literally and auto-post everywhere across your socials.

Besides, you can choose the post’s style (empathetic, humorous, etc.) to boost your personal brand.

Video

Yep, we’ve stepped into the era of video content for personal branding, especially amid the rise of TikTok videos, YouTube Shorts, Facebook/Instagram Reels, and so on.

In fact, 82% of all internet traffic is predicted to be video-based by the end of 2025. So, how about jumping on this trend to promote your personal brand online through videos?

Video can help you build your personal brand successfully for 2025 and years to come, but not necessarily on social platforms. Think about your newsletter and website (if any), too.

For example:

Take a glimpse of this video in the email newsletter from Bryan Collins, an editor and creativity guru behind Become a Writer Today.

Or, here’s a video by Ann Handley, a specialist in digital marketing and public speaking, embedded on her website for effective personal branding.

Besides, you can take it to the next level and create a more impactful marketing video in augmented/virtual reality (AR/VR). It’s worth a shot; why not?

Active Micro-Influence and Thought Leadership

Today, it’s not enough for you, as a professional, to follow influencers in your industry. You must become one. Keep up with one of the most impactful personal branding trends these days and grow as a micro-influencer and thought leader.

When it comes to social media, each platform has its vibe and rules, so here’s how you can play by them to show your expertness and influence others with relevant content:

  • One-line insights or threaded mini-lessons (micro-blogging) on X
  • “Day-in-the-life” posts or reels with bite-sized expert tips on Instagram
  • Industry opinion posts or “X Lessons Learned” carousel posts on LinkedIn
  • Videos with hilarious professional moments or memes on TikTok
  • Super-niche discussions or AMAs related to your area of proficiency on Reddit

For example:

On Reddit, in particular, the r/AMA/ subreddit is highly popular among professionals. They run ask-me-anything, aka AMA, sessions to share their knowledge with others and build stronger personal brands.

Some illustrative examples are: “I’m a creative writer and newcomer webtoon artist, AMA,” or “I am a therapist who specializes in gifted adults, AMA.”

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“Anti-trend” and “Anti-expert” Authenticity

What do those “anti-things” actually mean?

Fineas Tatar, Co-CEO at Viva, says, “Effective personal branding often comes down simply to authenticity. No matter how the algorithms shift and evolve, history has shown that audiences gravitate toward professionals with genuine experiences and expertise. Focus on being yourself and building trust with your audience, as this type of authentic and unique connection is what will drive long-term value. Originality and consistency will take you a long way.”

Being authentic as an “anti-expert” doesn’t mean you should discard your professionalism. Rather than boasting your qualifications with “I never fail” posts, honestly speak about your flops (along with victories).

For example:

See how Melissa Gaglione, a B2B sales coach, acknowledged her mistake on LinkedIn: “We all make mistakes… but can it be a teachable moment?  I recently bombed a call. Like bad.”

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That’s what they call a “genuine voice” and an “authentic personal brand.”

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Best Strategies for Boosting Your Personal Brand as a Professional in 2025

Brand your micro-content

What’s that, and how can you brand it?

Micro-content is any tiny, super-brief piece of text, audio, or visual information people consume online.

Consider these types of micro-content to improve your personal brand:

  • Taglines/slogans
  • Email sign-offs or signatures
  • Hashtags
  • Sound effects
  • Emojis
  • GIFs
  • Stickers, etc.

For example:

Here’s one of the best personal branding examples. See how Gary Vaynerchuk (@garyvee) uses branded hashtags, #DailyVee and #AskGaryVee, on YouTube.

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Or—

Let’s assume you’re a freelance copywriter with the surname Stone (no offense to the Stones). You may create a branded emoji with words carved in the rock/stone as one of the best social media design practices with micro-content. And here’s an idea of a branded tagline: “Copies That Hit Like a Stone.”

Launch a Branded Podcast

Haven’t you noticed it yet?

Nearly every professional is podcasting!

Actually, this tendency is gaining steam so fast that it has already reached 3M podcasts with hundreds of millions of listeners worldwide. So, “audio branding” seems a lucrative field to promote your personal brand in 2025.

Like The Mel Robbins Podcast or The Tim Ferriss Show, you can title your podcast using your [Name] and [Surname] for better personal branding.

Alternatively, pick a niche-focused podcast title, such as The Stone Copywriter Club or Weekly [Industry] Insights from [Name], or use a descriptor + your [Name] like “Chat with [Name].”

For example:

Kim Kaupe, a teacher, entrepreneur, and keynote speaker, launched the Coffee with Kim podcast for personal branding.

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Release Your Branded Merchandise

All right, suppose you’ve built a personal brand and become a micro-influencer in your niche with a loyal community of followers. Why not let them sip their morning coffee (or tea) from a mug with your logo/slogan or even your unique emoji?

It’s high time to drop that branded merch to enhance your personal brand’s visibility:

  • Caps/beanies
  • Hoodies
  • T-shirts
  • Coffee mugs/tumblers
  • Pinnable badges
  • Stationery (pens, notebooks)
  • Tote bags, etc.

For example:

Amanda Hoffman, a swag expert, got as branded as she could with her merchandise for a trade show to “make an impression on hundreds of people.” Her custom T-shirt, hoodie, tote bag, cosmetics case, and waffle beanie were branded with “Merch Mentor,” “Swag Boss,” and other phrases to enhance her personal brand.

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Give Your Personal Brand a Boost for Years Ahead

As we’ve moved closer to the very end of the article, here’s the bold truth. It’s never too early (or too late) for personal branding in any professional realm. The most important thing is to do it right in the epoch of social media, advanced tech (tip your virtual hat to AI), video, micro-influence, and authenticity.

Speaking about AI, you already know what you should do now, right?

Try Circleboom Publish, a social media management tool for your personal brand, and be today’s authentic voice, not yesterday’s faint (and fake) echo.