Recently Suger Social took over the social media and digital marketing for a brand I have known and loved for a hundred million years. In the time prior to the takeover, IMO the spunk and personality and had gone. The guts of who they were. They’d become generic.
That, my friends, is a social media death sentence.
Not having a brand personality is mistake number one when you’re running a business, blog or brand account. I know, I’ve been there on more than one occasion myself. Not just personally either. I’ve worked for clients that don’t want to participate in a personal or direct way in their social, but the results never come like they should. A brand needs personality.
Personality matters more than content, more than product, more than anything on social media. If anyone ever told you to be ‘professional’ or formalise your language, they were wrong. Been given the advice that you need to take it seriously, act professionally or hide the struggles?
Well, they were wrong.
This new school of consumer don’t appreciate the glossed over version. They use social media to consume content and content is best told with story-telling. No story, no sale. I see your faces behind that screen, I just gave you the secret sauce, did you catch that? So how are YOU telling your story?
What’s your unique point of view?
Story-telling whether through your words or images is by necessity personal. It comes from you. It belongs to you and you are welcoming people to share in it. To experience it {that part is important, experience it}. Don’t get caught up in presenting an image and doing it perfectly; it will always land flat. Let the unique voice {sourced from the unique selling position} of your brand speak.
Oh team, I’ve fallen into this trap more times than I can count. There are times that I want my feed and content to LOOK a certain way. Ahhh so good-looking. But that can take away from the story or from saying something that actually matters. Try to remember that, I will too. Consider what it is that your customer or client VALUES from you. That is what you should be delivering in your own unique way.
If you’re a little bit nervous right now, if you’re wondering what the heck you’re going to say, I’ve got you. All you need to do is consider your brand to be a person. If it lives and breathes as an entity, then speaking for it is something you can learn to do. Consider what it is that you {your brand} has to offer, what makes YOU the only person to be able to deliver that.
It seems hard, but one day it will just click.
Because once you know what it is for you to say, there’s no way to do that badly. When you share it will be from a place of delivering on the message you are setting out to deliver. Sharing will be TO SHARE. Offerings will be to provide a solution. Trust me, you’ll never have to ‘sell’ again or run out of things to say, it’ll be part of your brand and therefore just be a way of being in communication with your community.
And doesn’t that sound amazing?
Photos by Benjamin Voros + Nik MacMillan + Ian Espinosa on Unsplash
Hi! I’m Melissa Walker Horn. Around here, they call me Suger. I’m the Chief Blogger and doer of all the things here at Suger Coat It. Blogging since 1901; I love a casual ootd, taking photos, and writing about things that irk or inspire me. I love wine and cheese, long days at the beach and spending time with my family. I make stuff for the internet over at Chalkboard Digital. You know, living the sweet life.
This is great advice when it comes to my children’s book series and my children’s magazine. Thanks Melissa! #teamlovinlife
Thank you, Leanne. I hope it helps!
I’m not sure as a blogger for fun I need a brand but I will be taking some of these ideas with me as I set up my own business, thanks.
This is true if you blog casually, as a record for yourself, friends and family, that’s exactly what it is. Pin it for later, it’ll be a great start for your business {if I do say so myself}.
I felt like I over-generic’d myself when I was underemployed a few years ago and constantly job hunting. It was bad! Probably didn’t help me get jobs, either.
That’s a great example of it happening elsewhere, lady. Fitting in just doesn’t work when you’re trying to ‘sell’ something {even if that is you as an employee or your latest blog post}.
It’s too hard to be generic, IMO. I can’t be anyone but me!
I always felt that way too! But you’d be surprised how many business accounts I see trying to be just like everyone else. Weird.
Great post. One thing I learned when I tried to have three blogs and be “all things to all people” was that I am but one person and to give my own voice to what I do. This is why I love how I write now. I write for me but I also know that the parents like the posts about education and schooling, older readers like my posts about ‘life as it is and has been’ and everyone seems to find my health, creative and photo-based posts something to like. It is very comfortable and whilst I get tempted (a few times) to ask a brand if I can wear their clothes or accessories, I go back to the time of writing sponsored posts and they never really sounded like me.! Every blogger needs to read this post! Thanks too for your comments and love over at my place! Denyse x
Thank you, Denyse. I appreciate that. Tell them all. Haha. As a blogger there is really no more personal brand. You have to trust in that and go about delivering it. I like your blog as it is now, it suits you.
That’s exactly why I closed down bloggers and bacon and I’m republishing it all into NormalNess. It wasn’t writing or being or whatever-ing any differently.
I like to think I’ve found my voice – in terms of tone etc if that makes sense – for my blog and brand as such. Although really it’s just me… which is fine for my current purposes.
I worried a little more when I wanted to try freelancing realised people could find me through my blog as that wasn’t necessarily the voice / brand I wanted to portray to businesses who may be looking for a freelance writer. Although I must admit I probably worried more about the content (oversharing) on there than my voice itself!
#teamlovinlife
It absolutely makes sense for a personal blog. And I assure you it will work just as well for your freelance work. People like to know the people they are working with. If you can give them a taste of that before they hire you that’s the goal. 😉
I love this Melissa. I worry a lot that I don’t have a proper brand or personality with my blog – that it’s not styled or perfect enough etc – but then perfection is something I’ve tried to let go of as perfectionism ruled my life for a long time. Instead I guess I try for some consistency, sustainability, and just let it unfold organically and hope that a personality or brand kinda results. Not sure if that theory works but I’ll hold on to that for now. Definitely needs more thought! #TeamLovinLife
No such thing as a proper blog or a perfect one. I’ve tried to have them both too and failed. Haha. But Min, I love your ‘aims’. Aiming for consistency is something I tell people no matter what their brand or business or blog is. Not only for you and the practice it can offer to honing your vision, but for your customer/reader and their experience with you.
Excellent advice, Melissa! Been on my mind too.
SSG xxx
Thank you, SSG. I was the same, I get to the point where I have to write it out.
Fabulous post. And something I’ve been thinking a lot about lately…so thank you…
You’re welcome, I hope it helps. 🙂