When starting to build your brand's presence on social media, you have two main options to consider - establishing a personal brand or a dedicated company brand. While both approaches have their own sets of pros and cons, developing a strong personal brand tends to provide significant advantages for solo founders, entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small business owners looking to organically grow their online presence.
What is Personal Branding on Social Media?
With personal branding, you put yourself front and center as the human face and authentic voice behind your business. This allows you to form deeper connections with your audience by openly sharing your own origin story, experiences, insights, and personality behind your work. Followers get to know the real you on a more personal level, not just your business name or brand logo. This helps build higher levels of trust, rapport, and loyalty with your target audience.
Additionally, personal branding provides more flexibility should you decide to expand or pivot your offerings over time. Since your brand is built around you as an individual expert or thought leader versus being tied to a specific business name or product, you have the freedom to organically evolve your content and direction based on your own growth and interests.
Building a reputation as an authority in your field through personal branding can also open doors to speaking opportunities, media features, high-level collaborations, and other visibility boosting activities that extend far beyond just selling to your audience. The increased brand exposure and authority that comes from these types of personal branding efforts gives your business or startup a major boost in credibility and reach.
For B2B companies like those in mining, construction, and heavy industry, leveraging employee personal branding can be a highly effective way to help humanize and authenticate your broader business brand on social media. Encourage workers to share behind-the-scenes photos, videos, and stories showcasing their day-to-day work. This gives followers an inside look at the people behind your brand. Employees can also post about their areas of expertise, community involvement, and unique personalities to resonate on a more human level.
So, what about my Business Branding?
Now once your company starts to scale and grow significantly, establishing a dedicated and more corporate business brand can start to make strategic sense at some point down the line. This ultimately provides a more polished, professional image as you expand your team and offerings. However, the key is ensuring your business branding fully aligns with and complements the personal brand you've built your authority on.
Which do I choose?
No matter which branding direction you choose, having a thoughtful social media marketing strategy is absolutely essential. You need to precisely define your niche, ideal target audience, content plan, social media mix, and metrics for success in order to optimize your approach. Consistently track performance data and listener feedback to inform how you develop your brand voice over time.
It's also important to learn over time what types of content fit best on your corporate social channels versus your own personal branding profiles. For instance, insightful industry thought leadership articles may make more sense to post from your individual account. While new equipment launches, safety milestones, and community event updates likely belong on the company pages. Testing different content and messaging approaches is key to finding that optimal balance.
Above all, remember that authenticity trumps all when building your brand on social platforms. Don't just focus on selling to your followers. Provide value, share your insights and experiences, foster engaging discussions, and highlight your unique personality. Social media is about human connection and community, not just commodities.
Want to take your personal brand or company brand presence to the next level on social? The experts at MineLife Media can help with customized social media consulting, management, and growth solutions tailored to your specific brand needs and goals. Reach out for a free strategy session today to get started!
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