Social Media Marketing: How To Create A Strong Personal Brand

The personal brand of your company is one of the most crucial factors for its success. It is the culmination of your company’s identity, which is packaged and presented in a manner that’s attractive, pleasing, and familiar to your prospective clients.

Did you know, though, that companies and organizations aren’t the only ones in need of a solid branding?

Personal branding, the art of creating a unique brand for yourself, is also important.

Just like traditional brands, personal branding gives you a unique voice, a signature image, and a recognizable standard that your customers, readers, and fans can recognize easily.

In this article, we will provide you with all the information you need to know about personal branding on social media sites.

Personal branding is becoming very important because audiences tend to trust individuals more than companies and organizations nowadays.

People are used to seeing advertisements everywhere and they believe companies and organizations speak and take action with only sales in mind.

On the other hand, personal branding allows you to establish your identity and a reputation as you still maintain your personal level of interaction and trust by using social media sites.

In addition, people want to do business with other people, not with corporations. Establishing a strong personal brand on the frontline of your sales can significantly improve your conversion rates.

Whether you use your personal brand to freelance, consult, or get more trust and traffic on your website, it is vital to establish one to remain competitive.

An online personal brand isn’t just important for sharing the things you are passionate about, but also comes into play if you want to start your own business or get a great job.

Approximately 80 percent of great jobs are nowadays found in the job market through personal connections and networking.

The old days of making a perfect resume and sending it out to all job postings found online is rarely effective.

Employers still search for the formality of a resume out of tradition, but if you seek a creative job that is fun, then you should use the following techniques and strategies to build a well-established personal brand.

Top 10 Tips on How to Establish Your Personal Brand on Social Media

Before you develop or establish your expertise, you should determine what you need to be popular for. Personal branding has got many competing entrepreneurs. Therefore, it is not enough to prefer a general field, such as marketing or human resources.

Instead, it is a wise idea to develop your brand in a very unique and specific niche. Establishing a unique niche focus will provide you with more opportunities to prove that you understand what you are talking about. While your target audience might be slightly smaller, it will be much more relevant.

#2 — Start Writing Quality Content

After determining your area of focus, it is time to build your reputation, and the most effective method to do that is by showing off your expertise.

Content marketing is the most effective way to build your reputation and personal brand online.

When people search information online, they tend to go back to the sites that were helpful to them in the past.

If you can manage to make your website a trusted source of information online by creating quality evergreen content, then over time, you will be known as the expert in your specific field.

It is a great idea to start your own blog and update it regularly, but it is also best to start guest blogging on other blogs. What are you waiting for? Start writing and publish your content after determining your area of expertise!

#3 — Flesh out the Details of Your Social Media Profiles

Social media is the engine if great content is the fuel for your brand. Take enough time and flesh out all the details of your social media profiles, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, and ensure they are consistently in line with the standards of your personal brand.

You can post updates on a regular basis and never be afraid to re-post your older quality content for your new audience to see.

#4 — Develop Case Studies

If you want to win the trust of your personal brand followers, it is wise to speak at events and create a few case studies. Work together with your past or present coworkers and potential customers to develop and present a solid narrative.

Most people love real stories more than speculation and promises. Therefore, prove what you’ve done by giving them understandable case studies. In addition, you should also search for speaking events in your location to give you the opportunity to demonstrate your expertise as you connect with new audiences. Doing this will reap benefits.

#5 — Network As Much As You Can

In the real world and social media, the key to sustaining growth in your personal brand is networking extensively.

Make sure you engage with other people in your specific field, and connect with social influencers who have a lot of connections and any other person who may be valuable in assisting you market your expertise.

Never ignore someone — that person can be of great help to you in future. You can also attend professional networking events to connect with social influencers present in your region.

Engage in community discussions anytime you can. The more opportunities you have to connect and talk with people, the more your reputation and brand will be built.

#6 — Clean Up Your Accounts

Most business prospects and potential employers may want to check you out on your social media sites before doing any kind of business with you. Therefore, it is important you behave professionally online.

If your social media accounts consist of foul language and photographs of immoral activities, you may be forced to open new accounts or delete all your previous posts that can portray you in a negative way. If you want to keep your accounts for personal use, ensure you set your accounts to private and be selective about the people you connect with.

#7 — Find Platforms That Support Your Brand’s Image

According to Covert and Convince, about 22 percent of Americans use social media sites many times a day, making it the best medium on which you can build your personal brand and enjoy the benefits. There are so many social networks online, but most of them are not worth investing your energy and time on.

To ensure you find the best platforms that support your personal brand image, take the following factors into consideration:

• Facebook has got a heterogeneous user base. Nearly three quarters of adults use this platform, making it a great medium for promoting virtually any brand. Why don’t you give it a try?
• If your personal brand relies on images, then Instagram is the best option for your personal brand. It is a platform that is best for brands, such as clothing companies and retailers. Moreover, it is specifically effective for reaching young adults.
• Google+ is the best platform for you if you are targeting men in the technology industry because two-thirds of its users are men who work in the engineering or other technical professions. On the other hand, Pinterest is an excellent platform to connect with women, especially for personal brands that are selling clothing or jewelry.

#8 — Keep Your Information Very Interesting

Reputable, consistent information will make your personal brand credible on all your social media profiles.

If you have fans throughout six or seven different networks, it is very important for your image to hold true across them all.

Ask yourself what you feel other people should know about your personal brand.

What kind of information you would wish to find on others’ social media accounts? And how can you express yourself to your new audience?

#9 — Be Persistent and Consistent

According to Yankelovich research, we’re exposed to about 5,000 ad messages daily. Just develop your branding message, and deliver it again and again in the same manner. Create a consistent brand style, colors, mission, tagline, and logo because consistency is the key.

Set the standard of your personal brand! You can try out different marketing strategies to see the ones that bring the best traffic and conversions to your website. Check where your competitors are spending their money and time, then decide if you want to do the same.

Note that what is effective for your competitors might not be suitable for you.

#10 — Engage With Your Community As Much As You Can

Whether it is a local community or an online community, go out there, socialize, and give back to your community. You can sponsor a local charity race or an athletic league. Make donations to your favorite non-profit companies, or volunteer to serve on boards.

The more your community gets to trust and know you better, the more likely people will recommend your products and services.

What Are The Benefits Of Establishing A Personal Brand On Social Media?

The best benefit is large market share. Social media sites contain the largest amount of connections, and they command the most attention from their user base.

Involving yourself in them is the best way to meet new audience and also get your brand openly viewed by other people. You can also notice that many people who use them are hooked into the mobile market.

Over the past 5 years, the number of people accessing social media sites, such as Twitter and Facebook from their personal mobile phones has risen significantly. It is great news that the users are energetic, passionate, and still young.

In fact, the benefits of personal branding on social media sites will change from person to person. The connections you can build by networking with people hold a lot of potential. The world has become smaller than it used to be 100 years ago, and we’re noticing tightening of this system with each passing month.

Secret Ingredients of Social Media Success

If you check on the colors of any popular brand, you will notice they use the same colors again and again in their text, images, and even logos. Select the colors that you will use on all your social media activities. This will help your potential customers become more familiar with your personal brand.

Understanding color psychology can also help you reflect the feelings you need to evoke from your audience. Ensure the colors you use reflect your brand’s personality, and never make the mistake of choosing colors that are not relevant to the personality of your brand.

⇒ Fonts That Match the Personality of Your Brand

Make sure that you select fonts that reflect the personality of your brand. Do you need to select a simpler font or a strong font? And should you select an elegant font?

Consider selecting three fonts: one for your title or heading, the second one for your subtitles, and the third one for your body text. If you select your colors wisely, your audience will be extremely impressed. Use your fonts consistently in all your materials. Your title should have the largest font size in your design.

⇒ Speed Things up by Using Templates

Do you have a template for all your social media activities? Is your logo designed the same every time you utilize it? Coming up with a style guide will assist you to ensure that all the elements of your personal brand perform in harmony.

The most effective and efficient way to create easy media layouts is by creating templates. Keep in mind that every social media platform has different ideal image dimensions. Therefore, ensure you cater your graphics to those dimensions, but maintain the placement of your fonts, logo, and colors consistently across your designs.

A personal brand is just like a garden. After you have laid out the groundwork and planted the seeds, you will eventually reap the benefits. Don’t forget, it still requires enough time and commitment to nurture and expand your personal brand.

As you continue to establish and develop your brand, be consistent with your efforts, be attentive to how your audiences react to your content, and build your brand until your focus is razor sharp. Dare to be different and liven up your online identities. Maintain tight connections with the persons you wish to, and keep in mind that technology is just a tool.

Social media sites provide only a means to an end. Note that if you develop a well-established personal brand, you will definitely reap the benefits.

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Originally published at www.bookmark.com on December 20, 2016.