Personal brand: a term that content Creators hear time and time again. Companies and brands spend more time than you’d think cultivating their online presence and refining it, and this process is an important consideration for your personal brand. But why does this matter for you? What do their social media strategies have to do with you? To put it simply: as a Creator, you are the product.
Jeff Bezos once said: “your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.”
A personal brand is how you present yourself online, and in return, how the world perceives you. In today’s digital age, anyone can take a decent snap and create an aesthetic grid, which is why your personal brand is much more than that. It's what sets you apart from other Creators and what creates an authentic connection with your followers. It is a public extension of your persona. Of course, you don’t have to put every single aspect of your life on the internet, but tying your brand to your genuine personality is the key to a successful brand. As you probably know, your followers are notoriously good at sniffing out inauthenticity.
Personal branding involves showcasing your unique skills, experience, and personality in an authentic and relatable way. Ultimately, the goal is to convey a message that can be monetised!
Psst! Creator Portfolios, TRIBE's biggest feature release yet is one that influencers are loving because it lets them unveil the person behind the pics. With Creator Portfolios, you can tell brands a bit about yourself, showcase your best work, and win them over — all while winning more campaigns!
Building your personal brand on Instagram
There are three main things that go into play when creating a personal brand on Instagram.
Establish your goal
Why are you trying to build a following on Instagram? Whether you’re trying to establish yourself as an expert, drive traffic to your website, sell a product, or just grow your audience, having a clear goal will help inform how you brand yourself on social media.
Find your niche
You can’t just send out a random mix of content and expect it to stick. The most popular influencers have found success by identifying their specific niche and leaning into it.
Think about what category you want your content to belong in; travel, beauty, mental health, fitness etc. From there, you can find an angle you’re passionate about. Don’t build a personal brand based on things that you don't genuinely care about; or you risk your content falling flat.
Create content
This one’s a no brainer. But it’s important that you stick to a consistent upload schedule and take the time to make relatable and inspiring content. Remind your audience why they’re following you. What value are you adding to their lives?
How to build your personal brand on TikTok
Right now, TikTok is the fastest-growing existing social network, with over a billion monthly users. As a Creator, you’d be mad to not try and build a following on there. To an extent, building your personal brand on TikTok is fairly similar to Instagram, but there are a few things to keep in mind.
Be as authentic as possible
While you should always aim to be real and relatable across all social platforms, TikTok is where you can really be yourself. Instagram tends to be more polished and filtered, but TikTok is often a showcase of the behind-the-scenes; the reality. While you do need to move past letting your guard down, this makes it easier to produce content because you don’t have to go above and beyond with scripting, editing, filtering, and captions – just pick up your phone and away you go.
Lean into your niche
Once you’ve got your niche sorted on Instagram, you can use TikTok to dig even deeper. The nature of the app’s algorithm means that your content will be funnelled directly to the right people, and the more specific you are, the better.
If your niche on Instagram is skincare, TikTok might allow you to specialise even further; for example, sustainable skincare made in Australia. But, of course, not every single person who follows you will need this exact kind of content, and not every video you make has to stick. However, the deeper you dive into your niche, the more chance you have of finding a loyal audience.
How to maximise your reach on Instagram and TikTok
While Instagram and TikTok are two very distinct social channels, using them together can really boost your reach. It’s not about posting the same content on both platforms, but about sharing content that plays into each. We know that Instagram is all aesthetics; this is where you want to share your polished photos, the content that takes a long time to create and that shows the best side of your personal brand. TikTok is more of a fast and loose medium, where you can jump on trends, share behind-the-scenes videos and inject more of your authentic personality.
The interplay of the two platforms is fascinating. It’s all about experimentation: throw some things at the wall and see what sticks. TikTok is especially good for testing the waters. The algorithm will instantly reward content that has good engagement, letting you judge your success quite instantly, and adjust your strategy accordingly.
One surefire way to build your brand and your following is by working with brands that align with your personal brand.
You could be familiar with the process of influencer marketing on Instagram, but might not have dabbled in TikTok too much.At TRIBE, we help Creators like you collaborate with brands that you already know and love. And with loads of TikTok campaigns dropping for you in 2022, the new year will see some major app updates that’ll make it even easier for our Creators to submit to TikTok campaigns – and more submissions means more chances to win!
Learn more about TRIBE or download the app and get paid to create content and build your brand.
