Furthermore, this study can serve as a contribution to managers for a deeper understanding of not only personal branding but also personal brand professionals. This research can also provide a contribution to marketers, as it can bring to their awareness the potential of partnering with successful self-branded individuals. As this study will further explore, personal branded individuals are not to be underestimated as the reach and following of some even surpasses that of major corporate brands. Therefore, managers should be aware of the potential of social media in their careers. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay There are various reasons why this topic deserves further research and study. Despite the growing digital dominance in society, specific empirical studies and findings on personal branding and social media are still lacking (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010; Hsu and Tsou, 2011). There is a gap in the literature to investigate the effects of social media on self-marketing variables (Laroche, Habibi, & Richard, 2012). Most studies conducted so far on social media do not cover the phenomenon of personal branding. The scope of most research conducted on this topic focuses primarily on branding and marketing in general and does not take individuals into consideration. Branding is no longer just about products or celebrities. People from all walks of life take charge of their personal and professional image using social media. Therefore, research and study on this topic is long overdue and very relevant in the present day (Karaduman, 2013). In order to study and conduct a critical literature review, an in-depth systematic analysis of literature related to social media, marketing and branding will be explored. Furthermore, this literature will be critically evaluated to assess the strengths and weaknesses of key literature, its scope and limitations. Current literary sources will be included in a complete form. Several key themes will be analyzed in the following literature review. Important and relevant journal articles will be evaluated to evaluate how social media helps people from different walks of life build their personal brand and how cost-effective it can be. The correlation between social media strategies and personal branding and marketing will be examined in depth. Contextually, this research will also explore whether people have derived personal and professional benefits from using social media strategies. This will also fulfill the objectives of this research by investigating whether or not social media users have been able to successfully establish their personal brands without incurring additional expenses. For years, marketing and branding have been instrumental in building loyalty-based relationships with consumers that lead to long-term business success (Tuskej, Golop, & Podnar, 2013). Since the late 1990s, self-marketing and personal branding have become prevalent topics of self-help books and websites (Shepherd, 2005; Lair, Sullivan & Cheney, 2005; Chen, 2013). Peters (1997) was one of the pioneers of the topic of personal branding, citing it in his article entitled “The Brand Called You”. Self-marketing can clearly lean towards self-commodification and requires in-depth analysis (Lair, Sullivan, & Cheney, 2012). Labrecque, Markos, and Milne (2011) observed how individuals delve into self-marketing in a Web 2.0 environment. According to research by Brandfog (2013), this is thebest time for new-age leadership reinvention and revolution. Young professionals are evolving to become more visible, connected and accessible than ever. The competitive nature of the world has now evolved similarly, leading customers and stakeholders to expect a connection with brand professionals. As a result, young professionals are turning to social media to market their talents, their personalities and what makes them unique. All young professionals bring their own knowledge, skills and leadership styles to the workplace. As stated by Bates (2011), most of them possess unique qualities and capabilities. This indicates that each person can be considered as a brand. However, having a good personal brand is not enough to guarantee professional success. To ensure the success of personal branding, good self-marketing is necessary. Self-marketing using traditional methods can vary depending on the results you require. As the CreativeBloq team (2015) suggests, “raising the cost ladder” allows for the execution of more creative strategies. As a result, costs can run into the hundreds for “out of the ordinary” ideas. For example, the team estimates £150 for making posters, £365 to hire a cyclist from alternative-advertising.co.uk, £350 to hire an airship for a day or two and £150 for two helium tanks. More ambitious efforts could cost even more. Successful self-marketing also requires strategic planning for successful execution. Social media has been the subject of many research projects, but only recently has personal branding begun to spark the interest of researchers (Barware & Meehan, 2010; Holt, 2016; Gensler et al. 2013; Even so, research conducted so far and the existing literature are not thorough and raise some concerns that need to be addressed. Experts state that personal branding is a three-step process which has been abbreviated by Arruda (2005, cited in Shepherd, 2005, p. 590) as. “extract, express and exude”. This involves a) exploring a person's unique value or what differentiates an individual from others; b) develop a strategy to communicate the unique value; and c) implement a strategy to ensure that the personal brand reaches the intended audience (Arruda, 2005; Roffler, 2002, cited in Shepherd, 2005). Furthermore, according to Arruda (2009) and traditional branding theories, communication is the key element which implies that brand communication is crucial to creating brand awareness. Brand communication is often considered the main ingredient for lasting brand loyalty and essential to stay in people's minds. As Ellwood (2000, p. 11) clarifies, brand communication can be equated to a flag, in the sense that it is implemented by “waving consumers, creating awareness of the product and differentiating it from other competitors”. King (1984) reiterates, “[i]rand are successful because they offer consumers added values ​​that are communicated through advertising” (cited in de Chernatony, 1998, p. 123). Therefore, the collective consensus on branding in general or personal is that communication is key. In conclusion, as an individual, the best way to create communication paths with the greatest number of people is through the means of social media. Building a personal brand is usually a broad and ongoing process and involves the process of highlighting your positive qualities, skills, and achievements. With more and more people around the world networking, social media has inevitably become a vital hub of vast personal data and an ingenious tool for image building (Okanovic).Creating and maintaining a personal image online is a very effective way of personal presentation for any target group. Career-focused social networking sites like LinkedIn come to mind when building a personal brand online for professional purposes. However, Leder (Leder) states that personal image can be developed through LinkedIn and other social networking sites in addition to Facebook. Studies on the effects of social media for students in Serbia have indicated the importance of having a personal brand on Facebook (Miller, 2017). A study by Kostic, Stankovic and Damnjanovic highlights the multiple reasons for using social networking platforms in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina for educational and professional benefits. Employees at large chains like Delta Air Lines have learned that their online behavior that doesn't align with their company's values ​​could cost them their jobs (David, 2018). Online activity on any social media platform and not just typically professional ones is considered an extension of your personal brand. The findings of this review can be considered to have made a notable contribution to the existing literature relating to social media, self-marketing and personal branding. Since the study on the above-mentioned topics is relatively new and ongoing, this review makes a cumulative deduction. The literature review leaves no doubt about the benefits of using social media for careers. This study reveals the potential of using social media as a platform to present and build a personal image that could broaden a young professional's career reach. The findings of this study demonstrate the prodigious self-promotion options and opportunities afforded by social media that could benefit young professionals in almost any career path. The study found a strong correlation between social media, personal image and self-promotion costs. A positive correlation has been found between social media strategies and self-marketing. Likewise, the possibility of reducing self-marketing costs with the use of online marketing tools compared to more traditional marketing methods has been found. A social media presence supported by well-planned and well-executed strategies can help create value and even result in monetary gain for professionals. The research is based on the research question: “Can social media improve personal branding while reducing self-marketing costs for young professionals?” To successfully answer this question, the existing literature on social media, the self-marketing and personal branding. Subsequently, relevant data will be collected in order to discover new information on the effects of social media on online image among young professionals. By implementing these methods, this thesis can be classified as an exploratory study that proposes a open and inquisitive approach to the problem. research (Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill, 2009). Furthermore, the theories outlined in the second part of this study aim to constitute the foundation for understanding the phenomenon; this research. In lieu of research objectives and exploratory purpose, this study seeks to reveal aspects of personal branding that can be considered key elements of success. Furthermore, based on these understandings, a new theoretical framework will be created. Consequently, an inductive approach will be adopted (Bryman & Bell, 2007). A clear direction of the research approach is particularly significant since the main criterion of the study is to understand the extent of the effect that social media has on the process ofconstruction of one's self-image, especially in the professional sphere. (Easterby-Smith et al., 2008, cited in Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill, 2009). A qualitative strategy is considered an applicable course of action for this research as it fulfills the goal of discerning the phenomenon comprehensively and consequently constructing an appropriate abstract framework. delineate through data collection and analysis (Bryman & Bell, 2007). As has been conferred previously, literature and research on the correlation between social media and self-promotion is rare, primarily in the study of personally branded content. For this purpose, a qualitative strategy is considered suitable as it offers a wider range in terms of data collection and analysis for a theory to shine through (Bryman & Bell, 2015). Furthermore, a qualitative strategy includes words and therefore requires abundant descriptions (Bryman & Bell, 2007). Finally, the content analysis process is chosen as it is usually considered a suitable method for examining “social groups that are difficult to access” (Bryman & Bell, 2015, p. 313). Prominent YouTubers are an example of this as many of them who have achieved celebrity status are not easily accessible. Furthermore, since academics are concerned with obtaining an honest representation of how successful social media personalities have built their brands through their creativity and content, the content analysis method seems appropriate. This is partly because this method is assumed to be a non-reactive method (Bryman & Bell, 2015). This implies that adopting a non-reactive approach assumes that study subjects are less likely to behave differently because they are aware of being studied. Before the main study, with preliminary research, 15 young professionals will be selected, aged between 21 and 40, who are already participants in any social media platform. These participants will form a random mixed group of gender, nationality, age, profession and so on. The selection process of the 15 young professionals will be done by visiting various social media platforms. After the candidates have been chosen, the people who are in contact with them through their presence on social media will also be reported. 10 connections will be randomly selected per candidate. Therefore, a total of 150 people will be identified for the first phase of the research. Another phase of the study will focus on YouTube as the main social media platform. For this study, generic purposive sampling as defined by Bryman and Bell (2015) will be applied for the selection and analysis process. “The research question should provide an indication of which units should be sampled” (Bryman & Bell, 2015, p. 433). By taking into account the previous statement and research question, candidates for this study will be “successful” by online and professional standards. Focusing on the generic purposive sampling approach and conditions set, the YouTubers selected for this research are: Shane Dawson, Lilly Singh and Zoella. The choice to study three YouTubers is in line with the idea that three or fewer YouTubers would make it difficult to compete for the accuracy of the findings discovered. Below is a brief description of each of the sampled YouTubers: For the first phase of the study, to have a good indication of the candidates' real online behavior, the 15 plus 150 social accounts will be examined individually. They will then be divided into four categories (Karaduman, 2013). The first category will contain "casual members" who have social media accounts but are not active and only go online occasionally to read the latest updates and do not share much of their,, 66(1), 53-59.