Personal branding is important. Whether you are looking to sell a product online, get a job, or become recognized in an industry, your personal brand can help (or hinder) your ability to accomplish your goals. 

In this blog series, Personal Branding on Social Media, I am going to share a series of tips for developing your personal brand. Today I am starting with Instagram tips for beginners because of Instagram’s increasing importance for B2C marketing — that’s you selling a product or service directly to customers. 

Although Instagram can be overwhelming, there are three things that are essential for creating a personal brand that can help you achieve your goals: engagement, value, and planning ahead. 

Engage with your Community

Instagram is a social media platform. Social being the focus. To be successful on Instagram, you must develop a community that engages with you, and you have to engage back. This includes engaging with hashtags that are relevant to your niche and engaging with your followers. 

Create Content with Value

You need to create Instagram content that gives value to your followers. Content that is valuable is content that entertains, informs, or inspires. This blog post, for example, is a form of informative content intended to provide value for our target audience. 

Plan Ahead. 

Trying to create a personal brand on the fly will not work. You need to plan out your content in advance so you can insure you stay on brand. Additionally, planning ahead by using a content calendar reduces daily stress around sharing content and allows you to develop a visual identity. 

Digital PR and personal branding have become an essential part of successful public relations. Without a claimed and planned online presence, you can lose the ability to share your story the way you want as well as credibility and authority in your area of expertise. 

If you are interested in utilizing social media for your personal brand, stay tuned for the rest of this series.