Category: Brands

Katherine Butler, TriSight Contributor

By now we all know that the rise of social media has completely transformed the world of PR. There is no doubt a brand’s social media presence (or lack thereof) has the power to take a company to new heights. Strategically choosing the “right” influencers to partner with creates the potential to improve your brand’s reach and reputation. However, working with the “wrong” influencers can harm a brand’s credibility, create distrust, and ultimately waste time and money.

What steps are you taking to ensure you are working with influencers that will help your brand achieve its goals? Here are the top 5 factors to consider when searching for influencers to collaborate with your brand.

1. Identify your brand’s ideal influencer industry.
   There are countless influencer marketing niches, and your brand might fall into several categories depending on your goals. Think fashion, travel, sports, gaming, parenting, business or tech to name just a few. Once you establish your influencer industry, you can begin to research which social media accounts rule your sector.
2. Look for influencers who visually align with your brand.
   How appealing is an influencer’s profile feed? Especially on Instagram, make sure to choose influencers who have a cohesive Instagram aesthetic that aligns to your brand’s image.
3. Beware of fake followings.
   It is not uncommon for people to purchase followers and likes through Instagram bots and other unethical services. Be on the lookout for unusual “followers to likes ratio” and read the comments on posts to see if followers are genuinely engaging with the person. Tools like Social Blade can also detect sudden drastic increases in followers, another sign of purchased followers.
4. Monitor influencer’s post to make sure they are staying consistent with your brand’s values.
   Follow-up on the influencer – and not just the posts specific to your brand. Sometimes an influencer’s personal life impacts their image, online or offline. Do your research before and after partnering and continue to ask, “Is this a person my brand wants to be connected with?”
5. Consider an influencer’s authenticity.
   Nowadays, the most impactful influencers are those who are unfiltered, vulnerable, and who ultimately treat their audience like a close friend. Check out the influencer’s feed. Do they only post about collaborations? Do they feel too promotional? How much of their personal life do they share?

Hillary Thompson,TriSight Contributor

Social Media is now a rolling resume of your accomplishes and employers are looking to it for insights into your life that they won’t get from your traditional resume. Being aware that this is how you will market yourself, it’s important to brand yourself as successfully as possible. Here are a few tips:

1. Keep track of all your social media profiles. This will make you are aware of all of the different places people can (and will) find you. If there is a specific account that you are no longer using deactivate or delete it. Make sure that your information and profile photos are consistent across platforms because it makes it easier for people to be sure they have found the right person! And, update your information frequently so it’s always current.
2. You don’t need multiple accounts. People tend to think they should keep their business and personal pages separate so they create a secondary account for their personal information. In today’s social media driven world it makes better sense to compile them into one account because you are your brand and you want your personality associated with everything you do! Also, because social media is so readily available it is confusing if someone searches for you and comes across multiple profiles. If you are concerned about posting something that might offend someone it might be better to not post that particular item at all.
3. Pick 1 to 3 areas of expertise and go all in. When anyone (a friend, potential employer, or complete stranger) comes across your profile it should be very clear what you do that you are good at. This will help you in all sorts of ways. If a potential employer sees it they will know right away that these are your strengths. If a friend knows that you are good at specific things they’ll be more likely to remember you when they hear someone is looking for that specific characteristic. And if a complete stranger stumbles upon your instagram and sees that you are a SEO wizard they might just reach out and ask you to help them with their website.

These three tips should help you get started on building your own personal brand. You are your first and best advocate so get out there and blow everyone away!