Whether you should set yourself up with a personal brand or a company brand is something of a major decision. It’s something that can’t be easily changed. Social media growth is something that takes time, investment and persistence, so making the wrong decision on personal vs company branding may be costly.
I’m not kidding…this is the hardest business decision I’ve wrestled with since I started as a social media marketer. I’ve read any blogs I could on this matter, and reached out to social media giants, marketing colleagues and anyone who will listen for an opinion. I usually get a bit of a fence-sitting response…”it depends on your business and what you’re hoping to achieve.” Wishy-washy fence-sitting. Albeit true.
So here’s the key influencers on my decision. I’ll try to keep it brief.
Personal branding Pros
- People trust people more than brands so more likely to engage
- Easier to connect to people in an honest and relatable way (really, really important for social media growth)
Personal branding Cons
- Can’t sell the business later on
- You’ve always got to have a strong connection to the business
Company branding Pros
- You can have a wider range of product possibilities, a more flexible direction
- When you’ve built your company into something fabulous, you can sell it to someone else to carry on
- You can get more people to weigh in on the social media voice
Company branding Cons
- It’s going to be harder to grow. It might only be one con, but it’s a big one.
When I first started as a social media marketer I really didn’t know what direction the business was likely to take. In fact, in the early days I was so unsure about what to do with my branding that I scraped together the bare minimum that represented a presence (a logo, a website, a crappy Facebook page) and let it sit while I got on with the core of the business i.e. looking after my customers and learning everything I could about how to grow their businesses.
Four years later I’m confident that my business model is correct. I’m on the right path. I’ve got happy customers because they’re getting results. I can find a consistent voice for my brand. Yet, I’m still not sure about whether to go for Personal or Company branding…but I think I’ve finally had my light bulb moment. I’m there.
After wading through lots of blogs on the matter…after watching closely the people that I think are doing it right…after listening to my gut feel…..I think BOTH!
Aaarggh! I hear you say. That’s too confusing. Yes, being confusing is a potential downfall.
So here’s how it’s going to work.
I’ve changed my business name from KentMcCormack Business Dynamics to Be My Marketer. Why? Particularly online, I think people need to know what you do instantly. You need a name that says what you do. I’ve think I’ve nailed that.
Then I’m going to use a combination of personal and company branding. So I’ll use my personal image in some profile pics and featured throughout a lot of my images. I’m using my personal name in my Twitter and LinkedIn accounts and I’ve got both a personal and company profile on Instagram. I’m only me on my Snapchat account. I’ve got the business name as my Facebook account and my face as the profile picture.
The reason I’ve done it differently on different platforms is because they each have a different nature and culture. So I’ve decided what I think will work best on each platform. However, what is consistent is that I’m referring to both my personal brand and company brand throughout the posts so that there’s no confusion.
It’s totally clear to me that people really want to connect with people they can identify with. This has to be supported by visual imagery of human faces and personal connection through video. It’s also important for people to know that the business isn’t just me. They need to know that I have support, so a company brand is equally important in this instance.
It’s important to remember that you might only get one view from a person. So if they want to learn more about you, they need to know where to go to do that.
Now that the set up is finally complete I can go about focusing my energy on the quality of the story-telling. The story you tell needs to be consistent across your platforms. If it resonates with people in a way that makes them want to follow and engage with you and your business then you’re on to a winner.
