In the creator economy, your personal brand is everything. For content creators, influencers, and other types of creatives, you are your brand. With this comes the responsibility of establishing that brand- who are you, what do you stand for, what do you want people to associate with you, etc.? Think of popular influencers like Charli D’Amelio. When you hear her name, you probably think of her viral TikTok dances, campaign ads with Dunkin Donuts, or her reality show. Like many creators, Charli has built and capitalized on a personal brand. If you want to succeed as a content creator, nailing your brand is essential. If you struggle to get it right, here are a few tips to help you perfect your personal brand.
1. Tell Your Story
The reason content creators and influencers have such an impact on their audience is not purely the content they produce. Instead, popular creators tell a story of who they are, putting their personality into their work. If you want to create a stellar personal brand, you must be willing to put your story out there. People won’t follow you just because you made one piece of viral content; if they do, they won’t stay. You need to engage your audience by showing them you are a person like them. It boils down to being relatable because people love when they can relate to a creator on more than a surface level. Don’t be afraid to be authentic, sharing your true personality, thoughts, and daily life with your audience. This could be as simple as short vlogs, behind-the-scenes content, or something much deeper that resonates with your followers. Whatever the method, you must make yourself relatable and likable to your target audience if you want to grow.
2. Keep Up Engagements
When you first start out as a content creator, you might find it easy to keep up with comments, replies, and other forms of audience engagement. As you succeed, making the time for these interactions may become more difficult. However, it’s important that you don’t neglect this completely. Obviously, mega-celebrity content creators could never respond to every comment. Though it’s not possible to give each follower an individual reply, do your best to keep engaging with your audience frequently and directly. Responding to feedback will help build your personal brand positively and also show you what content your audience wants to see more or less of.
3. Find Your Niche
The creator economy is booming, and there’s no shortage of people making content across all major platforms. Just like with marketing, you need to find your niche. All successful content creators found their voice and translated that to a large and loyal following. In simplest terms, you should be original. Nobody wants to watch the same TikTok copied and pasted by 10,000 different creators. Of course, trends can help grow your following, but don’t make hopping on trends the sole focus of your personal brand. You need to establish your voice in the creator economy and find your footing with content that feels authentic to you. Plus, if you’re making content you enjoy, that enthusiasm will translate to your audience, who are more likely to enjoy it too.
4. Be Intentional with Your Content
Putting out scattered, disconnected, and erratic content is a critical misstep in building a personal brand. The goal is not to mass-produce content as quickly as possible, hoping something sticks. Your goal should be to put out consistent, cohesive, and high-quality content. Building a personal brand is impossible if you post about 50 different topics. In the beginning, start small. Once you have a solid following, you can expand and diversify your content. With everything you create, be intentional, especially when you’re building your brand.
5. Focus on Your Target Audience
Just like any branding strategy, a solid first step is audience consideration. Think about the type of content you want to create or the influencer you wish to be. From there, consider what your ideal audience would look like. How old are they? What do they like to do? When do they usually consume content? Analytics can be a powerful tool to help you research further. The closer and more familiar you are with your target audience, the more effective you’ll be in building your personal brand. Keep your ideal audience in mind from the start, as your personal brand needs to appeal to them most of all.
6. Sync Your Presence
Most creators are not only on one platform; if your TikTok and Instagram are wildly different, it will disrupt a cohesive brand image. As much as possible, synchronize your presence across all social media platforms. Your image on one platform should match all other platforms, or your personal brand will be incoherent. Focus first on your primary platform, and then work to make your other social media accounts match. Take popular TikTok star Anna Sitar as an excellent example. Anna’s TikTok and Instagram feeds are so well-coupled that you could place them side-by-side and see a perfectly cohesive story. You should strive for this as a content creator because it upholds and uplifts your personal brand image.
Creating a personal brand doesn’t have to be stressful.
Branding is a common pain point for newer content creators, but it doesn’t have to be. You should enjoy building a personal brand, as it allows you to present your authentic self to your audience. However, we recognize it isn’t easy to work out the details. Don’t be afraid to get it wrong. If what you do initially doesn’t resonate, adjust your strategy and try again. These tips should help you lay a solid foundation for a personal brand and capitalize on said brand for future success.
