If you’re an entrepreneur or a content creator, chances are that you already have heard of the term ‘Personal Branding’ before and wondered what it actually is.
Well, you have come to the right place.
I’ll break down personal branding right here, right now. Buckle up.
In the simplest words, personal branding is about how you present yourself and how you want people to perceive you.
There can be a difference in how you want people to see you and how they actually see you.
And you can bridge that gap by first taking time to sit down and analyze how you want to be perceived, what does your personal branding consists of, what are your content pillars, etc.
A strong personal brand helps you build credibility, reputation, authority and lets people see you as an expert in your niche. As a result of this, you can become a successful influencer.
You need to have consistent branding across all the platforms you’re active on and your website, if you have one. If you don’t, get it ASAP. It’s kind of an essential thing to have now.
It is all about being your authentic self and building an online presence that people can connect to. Personal branding is a term commonly used interchangeably with self-branding.
For instance, let’s assume that you are a creator on Instagram.
You need to improve your personal branding in order for people to take you seriously. There are billions of people on Instagram and hundreds and thousands of them might be doing the same thing that you are.
So, what is going to make you stand out?
Any guesses?
How strong your personal brand is.
Strong person brand > More loyal following > Sell more/Get more collabs, etc. > Make a living out of it
Table Of Contents
Personal Branding 101: How to build a strong personal brand on social media
How to recognize if someone has a strong personal brand?
@weekendcreative is a photo agency by Ella and Arabela. As you can see in the above screenshot, their theme looks cohesive.
Once you follow and engage with their content, you will recognize it anywhere on Instagram. Because the color scheme, branding, fonts, are constant.
The same goes for @hustlerani. Unfiltered posts and reels that are both educational and entertaining. That’s a mix you need in your content on social media.
If you can teach someone something and not make it boring, that’s the best! Her personal brand is fun, colorful, and informational.
Think about the following things when you’re in the process of recognizing what your personal brand is,
- Who is your target audience?
- What value/info do you wish to convey to this audience?
- What should make someone follow you when they see your content?
- You want to be seen as an expert in which niche?
- What of network and partnerships do you want to build?
Also Read: Social media trends in 2022, what’s going to work?
Step 1: Understand what are brand archetypes and which one/ones do you belong to
Here are the basic human desires that each match with a specific archetype (Source);
- LIBERATION > THE OUTLAW
- POWER > THE MAGICIAN
- MASTERY > THE HERO
- INTIMACY > THE LOVER
- ENJOYMENT > THE JESTER
- BELONGING > THE EVERYMAN
- SERVICE > THE CAREGIVER
- CONTROL > THE RULER
- INNOVATION > THE CREATOR
- SAFETY > THE INNOCENT
- UNDERSTANDING > THE SAGE
- FREEDOM > THE EXPLORER
By learning about these archetypes, you can know which one you belong to and it will make the rest of the process of self-branding much easier.
When you see which archetype you belong to, the next step is to find out where your network is.
Are the people or the clients you want to attract most active on Instagram or LinkedIn?
When you’re just starting out, it’s best to stick to one platform at first. And then gradually expand and move to others.
Step 2: Identify your competitors
You can’t grow on social media and build a successful brand by being inactive.
Explore and find out more creators that are talking about the niche same as yours. This will help you get a broader perspective and understand what you should do and what you shouldn’t.
Step 3: Write down your content pillars & values
Content pillars are the topics that your personal brand is based around. It’s a collection of major categories with smaller sub-topics in it.
My content pillars are Photography, Instagram, and Life. In Photography, my sub-topics are Product Photography, flatlays, Photoshop, styling props, gears, etc.
They are also called buckets using which you can come up with numerous content ideas.
It is important that your content pillars are in line with your brand voice, aesthetic, and values.
My values are Simplification, Next-door neighbor, and Creativity.
I want to share content on my online platforms that are broken down in the simplest way. I don’t prefer using big jargon words.
I write assuming that the person reading my content is a 10-year old and I have to explain everything in the easiest way possible.
The content pillars that you choose should encompass and be consistent with your brand’s purpose, values, tone of voice, positioning, and general aesthetic look and feel on social media.
Also Read: Do this when you’re out of ideas for your next shoot
Step 4: Listen to your audience and track the engagement you receive
Do you want to excel as an influencer and consistently post content that your audience loves?
*Consistently means different for different people. Don’t compare yourself with someone who shares 3 posts a day. You will make yourself feel demotivated for no reason. You don’t need to hustle hard to be the best. Be consistent in your own way without building pressure for yourself.
It’s simple.
Just listen to what they’re saying even when they are not saying it directly.
DMs are a great way of listening to your audience. See what people are asking you in the messages and what kind of reactions they’ve to different Instagram stories that you post on a daily basis.
The kind of stories that get the most replies, are the ones you should look out for. It’s a sign of what your audience can relate to.
Try to build content around that. It helps strengthen your personal branding because when a piece of content is actually helpful to someone, they will remember where they saw it.
Are people commenting on your posts, or posts of top creators in your niche, asking for help in doing something? Perhaps maybe a hack or a simple how-to.
Note it down. That’s what they want to see and that’s what you should give them.
Step 5: Keep the branding consistent
Building a strong personal brand is not an overnight job. It takes time, you need to be patient.
Close down on a color palette, brand voice, tone of the language, fonts, and all that comes along with designing creatives.
Follow them religiously no matter which content you’re making for which platform.
So after doing all this how do you know if you have been successful in building a personal brand? A few valuable KPIs include:
- When a sale converts through your blog
- When you are asked to speak at an event or on a podcast
- When someone refers you to a potential client
- When a publication reaches out to invite you to guest blog
- When people start mentioning you online, on social media, their blog or other important media
