Three Tips on Branding Yourself

One thing that I've been learning this week has been about branding. A brand is a powerful symbol that defines who you are as an individual. A brand is in every single thing that you ever produce. As a Youtuber, most people stick with themselves as the brand and concept and thus it is critical that you "Brand yourself". As such it's important to be aware of your content, being the best that it can be with what you have, but also that you, as the brand, are able to connect with other people.

I've been struggling a lot with these two concepts, not so much my content but especially my branding and presentation. My content is alright, but there is definitely room for improvement.

But anyway I want to be talking about the branding yourself as I've been learning a lot about it and I'd like to share some tips. These tips I believe are crucial to growing a channel and are things that I'm learning through my mentor and I'll be applying as well.

Tip #1 - Aim for authenticity

This was something I talked briefly about in my daily journal today (you can check it out here) and that is to be genuine and authentic. 

Again the whole "be yourself" sort of schtick.

But I believe this is more fitting when it comes to branding because again, most Youtubers choose to brand themselves. So you need to be careful about what sort of vibes you are giving off in your trailer but also in your own content.

This is something I learned recently since I created a new trailer in order to rebrand myself. However the opening part of the trailer is rather forced and a little out of place with the rest of the video. People can be completely disconnected by that and leave without seeing the whole video. And I know for a fact that I only tend to do that in trailer videos rather than my usual content so it really doesn't make sense.

Be genuine

Either way my point is you want to be genuine in everything that you do. If you feel like you have to force something then don't do it. There is no harm in going back on something you said, as long as the reason is an actual good one. "I don't feel like it" doesn't count.

I took a break from posting content for a week this week, the reason being was I need to rebrand myself. I felt stuck and I needed some space to clear my head and get clarity. Yeah I know I say in my brand I post daily and it did bother me at first that I didn't post anything. But it's either I continue using a strategy that isn't getting me the results I want and once I do figure something out that change becomes very abrupt for both me and my viewers. Or I can take a break, figure things out and then get back up and present a plan. Yeah my viewers may be sad I'm not posting content but it's just as jarring if I'm posting completely different content from week to week.

Tip #2 - Be Consistent

When it comes to marketing, obviously your branding and theme will be what sticks out in your content. Who you are and how you present yourself is everything in your videos and on social media. It's incredibly vital that in every social media account you have related to your channel, that it's the same. You do not want your audience to be bouncing around to other social media sites to get the full picture of your content. If they followed you on one page it's a good indicator that they want to see content on this site specifically. They don't want to be bounced around. Unless they are genuinely interested in your content and you have some street cred so people know who you are.

My point is that regardless of the platform people are following you on, they should know who you are, and your brand. That means no different images on social media sites. Stick to one image and use it throughout.

The same goes for content. Even if you're channel has some variety to it's content the personality should be the same across each video. But also the videos within that series should be the same formula. If you decide to change it, announce it on social media or in the video itself. Provide some point of reference rather than change it suddenly.

Tip #3 - Be Patient

Gary Vaynerchuk talks a lot about patience and I believe it is incredibly important too. I've said it before that we live in a world where people want results very quickly. The truth is that it takes time to build yourself up and it also takes time to brand yourself I believe.

I've gone through several transitions with the channel that I have right now to the point that it's a complete mess. Yeah you can say it looks bad, but for me it explains a journey. I've seen channels that are posting consistent content from the day they started to right now. There is nothing out of place or unusual. But that's their journey, not mine.

My point is that when it comes to branding yourself you can decide what it is you want to be showing off to people. For me I see it as a progression. From the very first video I uploaded to right now there is a massive difference in the videos, again a constant work in process. I believe that branding yourself is very much like that. So don't be afraid to experiment and reposition yourself. But one thing I would suggest is give yourself a break if you are thinking of doing a switch. Allow yourself to breath but also figure out your direction and purpose.

Wrapping Up

Let's hear your thoughts down below! What do you think is an important part of a brand?

Until next time.

Eric S Burdon