Let's Brand You!
In our previous blog, we gave you the run-down of which social media platform best suits your brand based on your activity and target market. Now that you’ve got your research down, it’s time to put your branding skills into action. In this blog, we’re offering morsels of best practices to maintain a consistent personal brand across all platforms.
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
It’s one thing to be famous on a single platform – we know about Instagram stars, but let’s be real, what are they to people who aren’t in the Instagram sphere? When you diversify your digital presence, you’re reaching into different audiences and reinforcing your existing community by engaging in more than one part of their lives. As well, you’re giving yourself legitimate value that’s not entirely reliant on the success of a single social media app. Think of conquering the ocean instead of a tiny well – you’re only going to find a small fraction of clients that you can actually get if you only concentrate on a single platform.
NAMES
Let’s brainstorm all the permanent things in life. Tattoos, red wine stains, and names. So if you only go by a single name in real life, why would you do anything different online?
Once you’ve found a brand name that you like, stick with it, and make sure all your platforms have the exact same headline. There’s nothing more frustrating than looking for your favourite Personality who uses different usernames for all their social media! By having a solid brand name (and if you want, a tagline too), you become more searchable and impressionable by streamlining your audience’s path to find you.
CROSS-REFERENCING
It’s totally natural to have an insane amount of followers on a specific platform and to only have a limited amount everywhere else. However, if the difference is massive, then it might not be the best look.
A little hack straight out of the typical Youtuber’s handbook is to subtly plug their other social media by continuing a storyline across different platforms. By this, we mean that many of them will begin a life update or fun story on a different app, and use their videos to drive traffic to their other social media channels. We’ve all familiar with it: “So if you follow me on Instagram, you’d know…” or “Snap saw it first.” This is an effortless way to drive your following to other apps, making you even more accessible! And the best part, it’s not a direct command so it’s much more approachable and makes them feel less pressured.
Oh, and at the very least, link your social media at every given opportunity and make your other platforms findable. This is what? Fundamental!
WATERMARK EVERYTHING
In this day and age, it’s so easy for ANYONE to steal your content. Do not let anyone profit off your own success. Unless what you’ve made is meant for public distribution, watermark whatever you make across all your platforms! It’s a complete win too – watermarks make you look more professional, enhances its exposure, and it prevents others from stealing your work without crediting. Yes, it takes more time to watermark an album of photos that you’re planning on sharing, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. Save yourself the legal fees by reducing the chances of piracy altogether with a dope watermark.
This is simply a tiny hill in a mountain of best practices for social media branding. If you found this helpful, stay tuned for more – our 3-part series on IGTV is going to help you land your first client! In the meantime, if you have any burning, feel free to drop a comment! We’re happy to hear from you.