With the rise of social media influence, personal branding has become an integral part of being online.
Now, if you have a large following, it is no longer enough to just exist in a bubble. You need to present yourself in such a way that companies and major brands will want to work with you. And you need to do all these while remaining authentic to who you are.
So, what are the ways you can improve your personal brand heading into 2022?
Have a cause
Now, it is no longer just about having a particular interest, you also need to have a cause.
Many young millennials and Gen Z, who make up a large portion of most internet users, are very conscious about social issues. Thus, to maintain relatability, you also need to show that you care about making the world a better place and actually strive to make it better.
Pay attention to changing conversations
For a long time, the internet was a place where people just came to have fun, make fun of others and retreat back to their lives. This is no longer the case.
Facebook is launching audio rooms, Twitter now has Twitter Spaces, and podcasts have been rising in numbers with each passing day. All these formats provide a chance for people to have deeper and more thoughtful conversations on a variety of issues.
To improve your personal branding, don’t be left behind. Join and create spaces where your audience can have meaningful conversations and feel heard.
Be relatable
Many people often want to be ‘inspirational’ so bad that they forego who they are and try to become an idealized version of who they think they are, in a bid to be inspirational.
However, with the shift moving more towards authenticity, you are more likely to inspire by being relatable to your audience. You can speak of your challenges, your fears, and your failures. Invite your audience to the ‘behind the scenes of your online persona. That way, you bring your community much closer to you and thus, become more influential among them.
Choose your strongest platform
We all want to be great on each social media platform, but the truth is that we are often much more comfortable in one, maybe two, most of the time.
Rather than trying to fit into all platforms, make it a point to put more effort into the platform that works to your strengths. If you are a very witty writer, you can put most of your focus on Facebook or Twitter. If you enjoy making videos, you can focus more on TikTok and Instagram. If you are much more into photos, you can focus more on Instagram and so on.
Work to your strengths and your community in your preferred platform will love you for it. This is because succeeding on social media is harder than often portrayed.
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