Social Media Branding

• // This week's post is a little bit different, but I am excited to share the things I have been learning about social media marketing and branding. I have just recently been incorporating these new skills and have already started seeing an increased satisfaction with my overall content and reach.

• // First things first, YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA TELLS A STORY. Whether you are a blogger, business owner, brand strategist, or "regular" person, what you post tells a story about who you are and what your vision/mission is, in turn, impacting your relationships and connections. You have the opportunity to partner and collaborate with so many people, simply by the use of your Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. My year as a Miss America titleholder has taught me so much about this, from building my social impact initiative to developing sponsorships. Tell a story of vulnerable honesty about your values. How?

1. Form your theme. A lot of successful "Instagrammers" and entrepreneurs, have fully tapped into another audience of people through social media by making content that is attractive. Let's be honest, we all have that friend who posts pictures that we just kind of scroll past because we cannot connect, nor is the picture visually appealing. I want to begin by telling you something so simple to change your viewings and following: take clear pictures, find good lighting, angle the focus of the picture in a pleasant positioning. There are tons of videos on Youtube about posing and picture taking, take one week to watch these videos, it makes such an easy fix of your pictures. Notice the pictures underneath this paragraph from the beginning of my year as Miss City of Yuma, before I really learned about social media branding.

• // Sure, you might say these are not terrible pictures; however, nothing about them is really eye catching or interesting. The first picture has a bland background with dull colors and the second picture, although has a potentially interesting background, is too empty to really catch anyone's attention for longer than a scroll past. Now, let's look at the pictures below, towards the beginning of my learning that social media has a process. 

• // These pictures pop on a timeline. Your eye is caught on them, and you stare maybe for a little longer than most other pictures. Here's the key: you do not need bold colors like these for your social media to be noticed, you do however, need a brand that you stick with for the long-term. Perhaps, you keep a black and white theme, or you do choose brighter colors like mine. You can use the colors of your company or organization to theme your social media, or focus on neutral, modern tones like grays and blacks. I think you might be catching on to what I am saying about a theme, it trademarks your mission. This concept is the same as creating a logo for an organization, something to be remembered by and noticed for. Oh, and declutter your pictures, I beg you. Most people fill their pictures with a good focus, but the background is ugly and there are too many distractions. You do not want random water bottles or other peoples random "things" in the background. Make it easy for the audience to focus on the center of the picture.

2. Decide on your content. Do not post about random things just for the sake of having a picture. For instance, a beauty company does not post about hot sauce. In the same way, your mission and only your mission, should be the focus of your social media. Discover your wheelhouse. For my Miss City page, I had to realize what I could post pictures about. Because of the variety within that title, I had a lot of social media freedom, but I still maintained the theme of being a titleholder. For those social media accounts, I had posted content based around Miss Arizona prep, appearances, anything involving the four points of the crown (service, style, success, scholarship), social impact initiative events/planning, introductions of who I am representing the city, and other things of the like. Whatever your social media plan is, you need to hone in on the type of content that you can post from, which will eliminate irrelevant and uninteresting posts for your viewers.

3. LEARN TO EDIT! No, editing does not make you fake, it makes you aware of using your resources. Do not get me wrong, you should not use an editing app to make yourself and your brand unrecognizable outside of social media, but you can enhance the good qualities that already exist within a picture. Editing really can do a lot to make your pictures more appealing. Yes, bring up the contrast in your pictures, use highlights, raise exposure if its too dark, decide on the kind of filters you want to use for your brand and stick to it. In case you have never really experimented with editing, download an editing app and practice bringing up the quality of pictures that you already have; download VSCO, Preview, or Facetune, there are so many apps that exist, find the one that you like the most and keep using it!

4. Be consistent. If you plan on really transforming your social media game, you HAVE to be consistent so that your followers know what they are following. Otherwise, you will lose their interest and compromise your contents' reach. If you have been posting randomly, decide on a schedule and follow it. This could mean posting every other day, 3 times a week, or once every other week. Just decide so that your followers know what to expect. Believe me, I honestly think this is the hardest part and I have been trying to build consistency in social media posts. It takes practice!

5. Last point. Make your social media interactive. I have also been working on this. Allow people the opportunity to connect with you via social media. Ask questions for people to answer. Post polls in your stories. Pull people for their opinions and get your followers invested in what you are doing. Some of the best social media branders are celebrities that have simply opened up their social media to make the audience truly feel like they are along for the Hollywood ride with them, even though they have never actually seen them a day in their life. Again, this is hard. It takes a deeper level of commitment to ask the right questions and put up applicable and interesting information.

• // Do not beat yourself up for not being where you want to be. Like I said, this is a process; I am still learning and am just now applying a lot of these principles. You can do this if you are willing to work at this. Keep researching, keep watching videos and reading books. Follow people on social media that have branded themselves well and learn from them. However, I think social media is such a beautiful tool we have been given to reach even more people. Our ability to communicate and grow has expanded astronomically. Take advantage. You can do it. Do not be afraid to change as you realize what works for you, and when you realize that something you are doing, is not really you. It's cliche, but be true to you and you will attract the audience you are looking for.