So we’ve spoken a bit about personal branding. Today I want to dig into some simple tweaks you can make on your social profiles to establish a stronger personal brand.

If you haven’t read my previous post about the importance of personal branding. I recommend reading that first right here then come back to this post.

This post was actually inspired by a post I saw in a Facebook networking group I’m in. A girl in there was asking for advice as to why she wasn’t getting clients for her web design business. And after a quick glance at her Facebook profile I noticed a few things she was doing that was damaging her personal brand. As a result this was deterring potential clients.

So I thought I’d write a post to help others from making the same mistakes.

**This post may contain affiliate links. The services I share are the services I personally use and honestly recommend to anyone. No extra costs are incurred for you; the referral commission simply contributes to bringing you valuable content. 

I think the easiest way to talk about this would be to break things down by different social media platforms. And what you can do on each of these to establish a stronger personal brand.

I’m still working on building my new social profiles. So I’m going to be referring to my Aussie Adventuress brand as well for examples in this post.

How to Establish a Stronger Personal Brand on Facebook

Firstly think about the various places you can be on Facebook. You have the opportunity to showcase your brand on your profile, a fan page, or even in a private group.

So what are some ways to establish a stronger personal brand on each of these?

Facebook Profile

When it comes to your personal profile. Even if you’re not openly wanting to share your business all the time, there’s some subtle ways you can build your personal brand.

Profile Image

Make sure your profile image is a picture of you. Make sure it is clear and easy to tell it’s you. And make sure the picture is aligned with the type of brand you want to portray. You’d be surprised how many people don’t even have a photo of themselves on their profile.

You’ll notice my profile image at the moment is quite adventurous and outdoorsy because my brand has always been based around travel. However, as I transition into my new branding and styling business you’ll probably notice the look of my profile will start to change so that it is aligned with my new direction.

Links to other social media/fan pages/websites

Use your intro to link your profile to any fan pages or groups you manage, showcase featured images that relate to your brand, and share any other website links that are relevant to your personal brand (other social profiles, website etc). You could even use your featured image section to have one standout image directing people to your group or some other form of lead magnet.

Cover Image

If you want to be more open about your business on your profile then your cover image is also a great place to showcase who you are and invite people to connect with you elsewhere.

This is an example of a cover image I used in the past. However you’ll notice I’ve moved away from this to keep my profile more personal again. As I believe Facebook marketing should be more about using a fan page or group.

Consistency

Finally, remember even if you’re not openly marketing your business on your profile, people will still want to know who you are. So if they decide to come to your profile to find out more about you, you need to ensure the content they will find is relevant to your brand and message.

Settings

I would also recommend changing your settings to ensure you have to approve what other people tag you in. One of the first things I noticed on the girl’s profile I was using as an example is that she was tagged in about 10 lives from some other person who was promoting Doterra. This does absolutely nothing to help establish herself as an authority in web design.

Facebook Fan Page

Many people think a fan page is only useful if you’re wanting to run ads. While this is a very good reason to build up a fan page, it is also a great way to establish more credibility and authority in your niche.

People look to social media to learn more about the people they may be working with. And Facebook is the biggest social media platform going, so if you have a business and you don’t have a fan page you’re doing yourself a disservice.

Because fan pages are designed for business owners you have a lot more options to establish a stronger brand here.

Images

You can start with a profile picture and cover photo (or video) that showcase what your brand is about. I’m still working on my new page for my branding biz so I’ll use my Aussie Adventuress page as the example here.

Buttons

Add buttons that link directly to a sales funnel or booking page which increases your potential to attract clients.

Pinned Post

Pin a post to the top of your page which shares more of your story and also links to a sales page, booking page, funnel etc. And you can even add your story to it’s own story section of the page.

Reviews

Ask clients for reviews so you can establish your authority and showcase your abilities to future potential clients. They can do this straight on your fan page, or you could ask them to send them to you and you can add them to an album which people will find on your page.

Plus so many more customisable options depending on what type of business you select you are and what your aims are for your page. So as you can see, there is so much potential to establish a stronger personal brand if you set up a Facebook fan page.

Facebook Group

This is your opportunity to build a community of raving fans and really take your personal brand up a level by showing up and providing great value. Especially if you’re someone who doesn’t want to openly share too much about your business experiences on your profile.

Create a closed group and you can share as much as you like and only people you approve to join the group will see it.

Just some of the things you can do inside a group is:

• Create announcements (multiple pinned posts) with videos, links to funnels, lead magnets etc.
• Lots of live videos so your audience gets to know, like and trust you better.
• Upload files and training
• Share links to anything you want (something you have to be a little more careful about on your profile or fan page)
• Create training
• Buddy/mentor system

I’m not really actively managing this group now as I’m planning to start a brand new one for my new direction. But when it was at it’s peak this was my biggest source of clients.

How to Establish a Stronger Personal Brand on Instagram

Ok now that we’ve got Facebook well and truly covered, let’s talk about how to establish a stronger personal brand on Instagram.

Bio

First, ensure your bio specifies exactly what you do so people know what to expect. You have more chance of attracting your ideal client if they can see what you offer. You have a place for a link, use it!

As you can see, both my profiles very clearly tell you what I do. So there’s no questions and you know straight away if you’ll be interested in my content without even scrolling too far.

Featured Stories

The next thing you want to do is create featured story icons that represent your brand and use your stories to share all aspects of your life. Giving a behind the scenes look into who you are makes people trust in you more. It gives them an insight into you as a human being and makes you more real to them, which makes them more likely to want to work with you.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, it’s these pretty colourful icons you see on lots of people’s accounts now. You can easily create these in Canva.

Consistent Filters

Use the same kind of filters and editing for your images and plan your content ahead. If you share quotes etc. create your own branded graphics rather than just sharing other people’s.

Canva is great for creating graphics as well. And if you want to make sure your feed has a consistent feel there’s lots of great planning apps that help you do this. My favourites are Tailwind and Planoly because these are both on Instagram/Facebook’s approved third party app list.

*I’ll go into much more detail about how these apps work in another post.

Captions

Finally, make sure you put some thought into your captions and actually share stories about yourself. Again this shows followers you are a real person and helps create more trust and engagement.

Extra Tools

You also now have IGTV and more story features which you can play with as video is definitely becoming more and more popular with consumers. We’ll talk more on each of these individually in later posts.

How to Establish a Stronger Personal Brand on Pinterest

Ok, now let’s talk about how to establish a stronger personal brand on Pinterest.

Start with your bio

Ensure it clearly states what you do. Remember Pinterest is all about keywords so think of some main keywords that describe you and your business and ensure they stand out. Add your website link so people can easily be directed there to learn even more about you. And provide a short and specific description using more keywords.

Cover images

Unlike most social media platforms you don’t create one cover photo for Pinterest. Your cover is a compilation of pins saved on your profile. Most people just have it automatically set to the default. So this shows the most recent pins they’ve posted. And it ends up being a random mix of their own and other people’s pins. If you truly want to establish your brand, create a board solely for your pins (something like “The Best Of…” and set that as the board that gets pinned in your cover. This way when someone comes across your profile they instantly see all your content and get a feel for your brand and what you can offer them.

At the moment my cover is showcasing pins copied over from my Instagram account. Because my Best Of board is still a little empty. But as soon as I have enough pins in there I’ll be switching to that being my cover board.

Create branded thumbnails for your primary albums so your account stays on brand and looks visually appealing. The more you keep on brand across platforms, the more people will start to associate certain things with you. That will increase your exposure and help you to get more touchpoints covered. Canva is a great platform for doing this as well.

How to Establish a Stronger Personal Brand on YouTube

And for the final platform, let’s talk about how to establish a stronger personal brand on YouTube.

Channel Art

Like all other platforms, ensure you have a cover that reflects your brand (or referred to as channel art). You can also customise that section to add links to your website and social media profiles.

Featured Video

Create a featured video – this could be a personal story video, lifestyle video or something along those lines. A way for people to get to know you as soon as they land on your channel.

Playlists

Sort your videos into playlists that are relevant to your brand. And set them up in the best order to showcase who you are and what you do.

Thumbnails

Instead of just using the thumbnails YouTube selects directly from your videos. Create your own custom thumbnails for each video so they can stay on brand and match your other social platforms.

If you really want to get good and stand out amongst your competitors have a custom intro and outro. And even use the same opening lines in all your videos. This way people will start to associate you with particular phrases etc. and get to know you better. A great example of someone who does this is Marie Forleo. Check out her channel here: https://www.youtube.com/user/marieforleo

And there you have it. Some simple tweaks you can make across your social media profiles to help you establish a stronger personal brand.

Now of course there’s other big social media platforms I haven’t mentioned – like Twitter & LinkedIn. I don’t personally use either of these. I don’t believe it’s necessary to be on EVERY single platform when you’re just starting out. The key to success with social media is to keep it simple. Master a few platforms at a time. Then when you’re ready to expand you can learn about the others, or hire people to help you grow.

Final tips for establishing a stronger personal brand on social media

• Use the same images as your profile images across all platforms. This helps people to recognise you and start to visualise you a certain way.
• Use the same style for your graphics. This is why establishing your fonts and colours (as mentioned in my previous post) is so important.
• Use Canva to create all your graphics. You can save your colours and fonts and all your templates so this way everything stays branded. And saves you starting from scratch every time.

Have fun going out and making your brand stronger than ever. I’d love to know how you go…

Jade xo

I hope you got lots of value out of this article. As usual, if you like what you’ve read feel free to like, comment, or share. Your time reading my posts is greatly appreciated.