BUILDING A PERSONAL BRAND

One of the keys to being successful in social media is building your own personal brand. This can not only help you grow as an individual, but it is a great way to show others who you are, and what sets you apart from the crowd. Whether you want to work for a large corporation, or have your own company, knowing how to build a personal brand can set you a level above the rest.

Below are some tips on how to turn what makes you unique into a brand.

We are so lucky that social media can now be considered more of a personal resume or portfolio. Here are some tips to take advantage of your own platform and let yourself shine!

HOPE MARTENS OF @THEPLEATEDSTREET

CONSISTENCY

Consistency is key, and this is true in so many ways of life, but especially for growing a following. Whether you set up a digital schedule, or just have a weekly posting goal, creating and publishing consistent content will help you interact with your audience. I know even I struggle with this, being a busy student, but making consistent content a priority is a sure-fire way to see growth on your platforms. Posting consistently can also show companies that you know how to work in a timely manner.

STAYING TRUE TO YOUR OWN PERSONAL STYLE

When drawing people to your page and building your brand, you want them to be interested in the real you. They want to get to know who you are and what makes you unique, not what makes you like everyone else. This is why staying true to your own style is crucial. Don’t be afraid to make looks your own, or share products that have helped you. Giving your content that personal touch can set you above the rest.

KEEP A THEME

What do you want your audience to see or feel when visiting your page? Create content that tells a story, and lets your audience, and potential followers, know who you are and what you stand for. This can be achieved by creating mood boards that have a common color scheme or aesthetic.

When it comes to building your own brand, there is so much more behind the scenes of a post. I feel that it’s super important to be true to yourself and be consistent. I have a few tips below that I personally do to keep my feed organized, current, and cohesive.

SKY MARTENS OF @THEPLEATEDSTREET

HAVING FEED PREVIEW APPS TO STAY CONSISTENT WITH BRANDING

SCHEDULE OUT DAYS TO MAKE CONTENT

STAYING ON TOP OF TRENDS AND HASHTAGS

MAKE MOOD BOARDS ON PINTEREST

At the end of it all, the best way to build your personal brand is being true to what you love and your passion will attract your people. The tips I have given are really just tools to get you to where you want to be as content creator. Remember to have fun with it!

This is one of the first things I did when I wanted to make my feed flow better. By getting a feed preview app, it allows you to see your posts together before you post them so you can make sure your feed speaks to you!

Being a busy college student with a job and an internship, making content on the fly isn’t always the best way to go. I have realized that taking a day, or a few hours, to do outfit and location changes always pays off more in the end. You will fill your camera roll with great content that you took time to make instead of rushing last minute because you just want something to post.

When Hope and I wanted to pay more attention to growing the reach on our Instagram, we wanted to use hashtags that would reach the audience we wanted. We started looking into similar creators, with larger platforms, and seeing what hashtags they used. With that we also wanted to post content that would attract like minded people as well, so when Instagram Reels were big we used those, or Instagram stories. It is really about thinking what audience you want to attract and how you would attract them.

A great thing I have done to keep the content ideas flowing is make inspiration boards on Pinterest. Pinterest is filled with great content of all kinds, by group some together that you gravitate towards and aspire to be helps so much with keeping your brand consistent. I love this point when I am busy and need fresh ideas quick!

@SOFIADEEB

NARROW YOUR NICHE TO TWO OR THREE CATEGORIES

When I first started out as a blogger, I thought that the key to success was to be well versed in anything and everything. From fashion and travel, to food and fitness, I truly felt that I had to do it all! Of course, it never hurts to be well-rounded, but the problem was that I wasn’t truly passionate about everything I was posting, which put me in a constant cycle of creating inauthentic content. The best piece of advice I received was to narrow my niche to just a couple categories that I was truly passionate about. For me, style and sustainability were the topics I was most eager to post about, so I decided to focus on those! Narrowing my niche helped me establish my own personal brand and create more genuine content!

HIGHLIGHT BRANDS AND PRODUCTS THAT ALIGN WITH YOUR VALUES

Once you’ve found your niche as a blogger, it's much easier to decide what brands and products you want to highlight on your page. In an effort to maintain authenticity, it’s important that the brands you collab with align with your personal values and the overall mission of your blog! For example, if body positivity is your thing, it’s best to avoid promoting non size-inclusive brands! While it can be difficult to pass up a brand deal when you’re just starting out, remember your audience follows you for a reason — let them get to know the real you!

LET YOUR AUDIENCE GET TO KNOW YOU!

I have to admit, coming up with captions is perhaps one of the biggest difficulties I face when creating content. When I first started blogging, more often than not, I opted for a cliche quote or even just an emoji as my caption! I later came to realize that captions were actually an opportunity to further establish my brand and allow my audience to get to know me better. Use your captions to introduce yourself to your followers often as your account grows! Share stories, fun facts and even jokes! The added effort to make your content more personal makes all the difference!

Creating a personal brand may sound easy at first, but it takes some time. You can create your personal brand through your industry experience, expertise, strengths, relatedness, unique storytelling, service and concise statements. As a high school student you can start creating a personal brand by drafting your personal brand statement.

Your personal brand statement consists of the who, what, why, and how. Here is a rundown of the three W’s:

WHO: YOUR INTRODUCTION WHAT: YOUR EXPERTISE, PASSIONS AND INVOLVEMENT WHY: WHAT MAKES YOU UNIQUE? HOW: HOW YOU CAN BENEFIT A COMPANY OR UNIVERSITY

This is just a brief rundown of what a personal brand statement consists of. By practicing and drafting personal brand statements in high school, by the time you are in college you will be a pro.

Ultimately, a personal brand helps you establish a sense of identity and helps others recognize you in the crowd. A well-defined personal brand is going to provide you with endless opportunities and will help you achieve all your goals for the future.

In just the last 7 months, I have established a personal brand that is unique in the oversaturated market of fashion bloggers. When I first created my blog, I made it a goal to make my page somewhere that other aspiring bloggers could come for inspiration. I also wanted to make it a page that people could come to for fashion advice, motivation, and confidence tips. Something I mainly focus on is fashion advice.

Many of my most viral videos on TikTok provide others with tips and tricks that will help them navigate through the world of fashion. For example, I often post TikToks about color combinations to wear or what colors to wear based on your skin tone, hair color, eye color, etc. These educational videos really make me stand out as a content creator.

On Instagram I try to post content with meaningful captions so that my followers can actually get information out of them. Although these captions might be lengthy, I believe many of my followers appreciate the time that I take to write them.

Although both of these behaviors have allowed me to excel as a content creator, they are not the only things that you can do to create your personal brand. Here are some other things you can do as a content creator:

POST CONSISTENTLY

Whether that be on TikTok, Instagram, or on your blog. This helps you maintain an audience and shows that you are dedicated.

DON’T CONFINE YOURSELF TO ONE AESTHETIC

Although we all want a feed that looks amazing, we should also use our platforms as a creative outlet to express ourselves. When you start restricting yourself, it becomes harder to get creative.

DEDICATE DAYS TO CREATE CONTENT FOR YOUR PLATFORMS

Take pictures, shoot videos, and write blog content in advance so that you do not have to spend hours out of every day. By doing these bulk content days, you save a lot of time.

NETWORK WITH OTHER CONTENT CREATORS

By networking you can become a part of a larger community of support. You can also learn from these creators and understand how they were able to establish their own personal brand.

TAKE COURSES CREATED BY MICRO INFLUENCERS

Oftentimes these courses are extremely valuable, especially if you are just starting out. By taking these courses you get the inside scoop on how to build your brand.