We live in a social media age where people can turn themselves into a brand that’s based on their lives, the influencer age. They share everything on the one account from their latest brand collaborations to videos of their latest haircut.
Small business owners can’t really operate in the same way. Being the face of the business doesn’t necessarily mean you are the defining element of it. Generally, your business social accounts should be dedicated to your business, not you.
This doesn’t mean that you can’t weave in some more personal content on your business accounts, by sharing a minimal amount of personal content to your business account you can actually build a relatable brand.
How you choose to approach your social accounts is going to depend entirely on your audience, consider:
- How much your business is going to rely on your personal image and do you want your business to rely on your personal image?
- Do your personal and business brands have an overlapping audience at all?
- What does your audience look for on your business account and what do they look for on your personal account?
- What kind of value is your business going to see from personal updates on your social account.
Let’s dive in!
The Personal Brand Business
- How much your business is going to rely on your personal image and do you want your business to rely on your personal image? It relies heavily on your personal image, and you need to be ok with that.
- Do your personal and business brands have an overlapping audience at all? Yes, they do.
- What does your audience look for on your business account and what do they look for on your personal account? A similar audience for both.
- Is your business going to see value from personal updates on your social account? Yes, it will.
If these answers look like yours then its likely that you business is an extension of your personal brand. You might be a fitness guru with a boutique gym, or an online comedian who makes funny videos.
Your business and your personal brands will more than likely have a similar audience, and while its possible for these brands to look different on different accounts, you will be seen as the face of your business.
Having a consistent presence on your socials helps you to build up a trust and authenticity to your business, having this presence adds a human element your brand. We’re aren’t talking about just another business, you’re providing a product and service that has a real person with a real story behind it.
Even with a personal brand you’ll want your updates to mostly stick to that, you can share some things like trips or events relating to your brand, some behind the scenes content or even a pets in the office day.
The Standalone Business
- How much your business is going to rely on your personal image and do you want your business to rely on your personal image? I need them to be mostly seperate.
- Do your personal and business brands have an overlapping audience at all? Not really.
- What does your audience look for on your business account and what do they look for on your personal account? Both audiences are looking for different things.
- Is your business going to see value from personal updates on your social account? Not that I can think of.
This means that your business and your personal brand seperate from each other. Your audience doesn’t overlap very much, and you prefer to keep your personal brand as a more private entity away from your business brand.
Key in establishing your business seperate from you is to build a standalone brand, rather than blending it with your personal image and persona. Give your business a brand new identity and personality for your audience to interact with.
You can still have personal presence on these accounts, but you’re going to want the content to directly relate to the business’s work.
Examples of this type of content are:
- Story of the business/How it started.
- Product/Service demonstration.
- Product launch teasers.
All Businesses
It’s important to remember that those who follow your business account are there to stay up to date with your business. Take some time to really think about what your followers want from your account and business. Think about this through the personality of your brand, you’ll find it easier to decide what content from your personal account will be relevant to your business by doing so.
Ask yourself:
- Does this content relate to my business?
- Does my audience care or benefit from this?
- Is this content an authentic reflection of my business?
And don’t forget, your audience is the best indicator for what content works on your accounts. So keep an eye on what they like and what they don't like when moving forward.
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