Why Branding for your Blog and Social Media is Extremely Important

Over the last couple of years, becoming a blogger and content creator has become a full-time job for many. Branding for your blog and social media presence has never been more important.

Being an Influencer still gets a lot of bad press. Why do people want to be Influencers? Is it fame? Money? Attention or to inflate your ego? Perhaps.

There’s nothing like inflating your ego by straddling a washing machine and trying to look cool. Lol.

I always lose a lot of followers when I appear on my feed. I have no idea why?!?!? Haha.

But for me and probably the majority of people on Instagram who have slowly made it a steady income, we get to turn our passion into our living.

Eventually, some of us will become our own bosses and turn our back on the rat race (although I say that tentatively, there is definitely an internal rat race on Instagram! 😊)

Branding - why it is important for your blog and social media pinterest pin

Influencer marketing is big business. Many companies have turned their backs on traditional methods of advertising and we’re all scrambling to get a slice of that pie.

But I often find myself questioning where is it all going? Where will I be in a few years time and will this Instagram bubble last?

I have already seen a down turn in the amount of brands that want to work with me and events I’ve been invited to. This is mainly because social media is now extremely saturated with everyone trying to get an exclusive brand deal.

This is why I think it is so important to become a brand in your own right and not put all your eggs in an Instagram shaped basket.

You may be thinking, I am an individual with nothing to sell, why do I need branding for social media?

The thing is, it isn’t just about having a logo or a product to sell, you ARE the brand.

Your style, opinions, personality and storytelling are how you interact with your audience. It is important to keep this consistency on your social media channels, Pinterest and blog.

One of the first things I did when I started Be Social With Media was to create a blog branding sheet

Where to start with branding for your blog?

Before anything, you need to know what you are going to talk about. This will show you how to create a brand for your blog…

Niche niche niche (bless you)

I know I probably keep banging on about Niche, but you really don’t have a viable online business unless you know what your niche is.

How are you going to create branding for your blog if you don’t have a specific topic to talk about?

canva graphic of the top 5 niches predicted for 2022 - restaurant and food, travel & tourism, art and culture, animals and real estate

Having a niche is the most important thing when it comes to blogging and creating a brand.

Why? Well, you want your audience to come back time and time again and not all of your audience will be interested in the things you personally love.

If I started consistently posting pictures of my kids on my feed, or started talking about my love of ornamental ducks (don’t ask), I would probably put off my already engaged followers. They do not follow my social media accounts to see duck pictures.

If you stick to a topic, it is highly likely that your followers and readers will be interested in all your other content too.

Another important thing to consider is to make sure it is a niche that you love! Can you still see yourself writing and taking pictures of your niche in 5 or 10 years time?

If it is something you are passionate about, you will continue to evolve, learn and slowly become an authority or an expert in your field and this will help your brand.

For example; Be Social With Media concentrates on social media and blogging.

However, that in itself is a HUGE subject. By creating content pillars (I wrote about content pillars here), you can concentrate on just a few subjects within your niche and become the expert in that field.

content pillars flow chart Instagram post

It’s all in the name.

If you want to be in this for the long haul, your name is extremely important. Personally, I don’t think you can go wrong with using your actual name, because that will always be totally unique to you!

You also need to think about what your niche is and tailor your name around your intended audience.

If you’re all about interiors, try to include the word interiors, home, design or house. This will help people understand what your content is about from the beginning. It is also really important for SEO!

Above all, keep it simple so people will remember it when they go to look for you and that it is easily distinguishable from other brands. How many accounts have we seen called “the house at *insert number here*”. What happens when you move?

Build a “voice” and stay true to yourself

Your online voice is a bit like your online name and should be unique to you. It is important to keep your voice and tone consistent when you are communicating on your social media channels and stay true to yourself and who you are.

It is very difficult to keep up the pretence of being someone you are not and by being authentic and using your personality, you will gain your readers trust.

When I first started out on Instagram, I found it very difficult to find my voice and style. I absolutely love interior design, whether that be modern rustic, Scandinavian or maximalism and my home was consistently changing to suit what the current trends were.

Two-tone colour block wall in white and pink with blue velvet chair. — I loved this colour palette but it didn’t sit well in my home

I did it all; wrapping cotton ball lights around everything, flowers in the sink and even fruit in the bath. You name it, I was there for the Instagram cliché!

However, since moving house, I have really found my style in Biophilic Design, plants and natural colours.

I have stayed true to this style over the last few months and my social media channels and blog have really taken off, with a huge increase in engagement and a steady rise in followers.

In turn, this helps my branding for social media as my content becomes instantly recognisable.

My very poor attempt at fruit in the bath

So, what works on social media? I think it is best to be open and genuine on internet platforms, you’ll make it easier for people to relate to your brand.

A mixture of both a professional voice and a friendly voice works.

Being professional and inspiring about your niche will initially help bring in followers. A friendly voice in captions and behind the scenes will help those followers stay as they get to know you and relate to your stories.

Again, it took me a while to realise this and to begin with, I talked about nothing other than my cushion situation. I was always a little apprehensive about putting the “real” me on Instagram because I occasionally swear, my kids sometimes get on my nerves and I am anxious about life at times.

But my main problem was how people would perceive me, and that included my Mum! It amused me greatly when my Mum said when she started reading my captions, it didn’t “sound” like me, but my captions are absolutely what is going on inside my head.

I then realised that perhaps I was also putting on a persona in real life too and by writing short stories in my captions, I actually found a lot out about myself!!

Sorry, this has turned a bit confessional hasn’t it? Haha…. You get my drift though yes?

Your audience

Without an audience, you don’t have a brand! You need to figure out what your ideal audience is and what they want to get from your online presence. You can then tailor your social media branding to them.

I know full well that most of my audience come to me to see pictures of my home and maybe a funny family story or two thrown in.

This is why it is so important to have a strong social media branding that can communicate with your audience and let them know what to expect.

scrabble spelling audience, relevant, target and context — Who is your ideal audience?

People are also trying to find solutions to answers they have, whether that be how to wallpaper, what colour to use in a north facing room or what to feed their fussy kids. Provide solutions for your audience and you’re halfway there.

I think one of the most important things with having an online presence is to engage and communicate and I have said this often. I always try to answer every single comment and keep up with my DMs and I think Instagram rewards me for that.

But just remember, you can’t please all of your audience all of the time and they will either move on or find you less relevant to their lives.

Finally, if you ever get the niggling feeling that a post, photo or caption doesn’t feel right to you or your audience, don’t do it!

A tag line or motto

Creating a tag line is not only beneficial for your readers, it can also be beneficial for yourself as it will help highlight what you are about and what you are trying to achieve.

My tagline is “Being Social Starts Here”

It needs to be straight to the point, prominent and appear directly next to your logo or brand name.

It also helps to use the same language throughout your blog branding.

If you’re a straight-talking kind of person and that runs through your blog, make your tag line assertive and straight to the point. If you have a lot of humour, make the tag line funny. You get the picture!

Images

Are the images and videos on your Instagram feed and blog a good representation of your style? As they say, image is everything.

We live in an increasingly visual world where we are all competing as amateur photographers and videographers. In this age where we are all wrangling for our own space on the internet, it has never been more important to create branding for social media.

Images play an important role in this and can help customers automatically recognise your brand and blog.

When I started my Instagram and blogging journey, I was always obsessed with photos that did well with likes and comments on Instagram and I would try to emulate this but it never sat well with me.

Did I really want the Scandinavian style in my home? Was I suppressing my urge to experiment with colour? A bit like being your own voice, you have to stay true to what you love and your brand image will evolve from this.

Melanie Jade Design living room with plant wallpaper, green velvet sofa, HM light and coffee table — I have definitely found my style in Biophilic design

This is something that takes practise and develops over time, my first pictures on Instagram were absolutely awful!

I thought I was the next David Bailey with my close-up shots of flowers and coffee on a tray or photos taken from above, but in all honesty, my 8-year-old daughter could have taken better photos.

It took me around 4 years to really understand what my social media branding was. I love green and pink, plants, jewel colours, pattern and floral designs and I try to keep to that theme.

Your images become the “face” of your business and they need to complement the aesthetics of your Instagram feed and blog.

This is true for all niches. In the last 2 years I have seen a huge rise in the number of accounts that are solely graphic lead (like my @besocialwithmedia Instagram account).

Using a design tool like Canva is instrumental in helping you be consistent with your brand image and I will talk about Canva in a future blog post. It is by far the best design tool and app I use!

Consistency

It’s that word again! Consistency.

I think this has to be one of the most important factors when it comes down to branding for your blog and social media and can be the make or break to being a success.

In order for people to trust you, they have to feel like they know you. To get to know you, they have to be aware you exist, recognise and remember you. And to do this, you have to be consistent.

People automatically connect with accounts they feel familiar with. I find I am much more likely to read a blog post from someone I regularly connect with and follow on their social media channels.

Instagram loves consistent posters as it’s a signal to the algorithm that your account is worth a follow. You don’t have to post every day, just find a balance that works for you and you can stick to religiously.

When I first started out, I was posting twice a day! Twice!! Not only did I find that stressful, I must have been extremely boring to my followers because I was totally boring myself!

I now stick to a schedule of posting and have taken the pressure off.

I post around 3 times a week and I’ve found that not only am I enjoying it more, my follower count has started to grow again.

This also goes for blogging. Be realistic about how many times you can publish a high-quality blog post and stick to a routine, the internet search engines will thank you for it.

Consistency is also about your name, image and voice. If you follow all of the above, this should be easy to implement.

I make sure I use my name across all social media platforms and that my style stays constant throughout.

If I’m following a person because I love their interior style and then they start talking constantly about their passion for bird watching, I would be confused as to what message they were trying to get across and maybe weren’t for me anymore.

I try to use the same 4 colours throughout all my blog and social media posts on Be Social With Media

Don’t get me wrong, I think we all need to mix our feeds and blogs up a little from time to time, but from my insights and engagement alone, if I post a picture with myself featuring, people recoil in horror!! 😊

Last, but not least, if your goal is to work with brands, consistency is key!

Think of all the bloggers and Instagrammers out there… It’s a minefield for brands and PR’s to find individuals to work with so they will want to see exactly what you stand for and whether you’ll be a good fit for their product.

If brands land on your feed or blog page, will they automatically know what your message is?

Melanie Jade Design front room with green and pink sofas and pink tulips

I hope you now feel a bit more confident on how to create a brand for your blog and social media.

From sticking to a certain niche and colour palette, using Canva to create all your templates with the same fonts and colour schemes and using your own voice throughout social media and your blog.