How to Build a Personal Brand on Instagram

Throughout life, all of us have been building a personal brand without even realizing it. And that’s good because to know who you are and, therefore, have the ability to sell yourself is worth a lot at present. With the advent of social media and their development at crazy speed makes us think of how people perceive us not only in ordinary life but also online.

First and foremost, a personal brand is a driving force to build a career. There are so many opinion leaders and bloggers, especially on Instagram, who promoted their personalities, and now reaping the benefits in the form of fame and material compensation. Even though there are a lot of different social media now, Instagram remains the most suitable platform for promoting yourself.

Quite a tempting opportunity, isn’t it? If you are really interested, read on and find out how to build a personal brand on Instagram and become a celebrity of the new age.

What does it mean to build a personal brand on Instagram?

Each of us is unique in nature. We knew this even before the advent of social networks, but Instagram once again pointed at our differences and showed that there is a special charm in it. 1 billion people use Instagram every month, and most of them demand attention. The variety of accounts is so wide, and it lets everyone find a community he is interested in. At the same time, this also results in tough competition and the struggle for attention. If you are willing to contend for it, it’s necessary to build a strong personal brand to stand out from the crowd. If no, you can continue publishing photos for friends and relatives only with quiet in your mind.

A personal brand is what sets you apart from other users in the turbulent Insta world.

This image you create or maintain (if it is the same in both real and social media world) makes people remember you, and never confuse with anyone else. These are the associations, feelings, and emotions that you evoke in people. It makes them follow you, listen to your messages, and keep a close eye on your life.

Building a personal brand can be compared to the building of any other brand (read business). If you have already thought over this issue, it means that there is something you want to tell the audience, that you have a mission and specific goals.

What is more, it is some kind of public speaking in an informal setting, where you tell about your life, work, hobbies, preferences and other things that you want people to remember about you.

The most accurate definition of a personal brand belongs to Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon:

“Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room”.

If you want these other people to speak well of you, read further, and make sure that the topic is worthy of your close attention. It’s high time you made a statement!

10 tips to build a personal brand on Instagram

At the heart of each personal brand are three core things: professionalism, popularity, and reputation. The first comes with experience and depends on your personal contribution to your development. However, popularity and reputation are external resources that you can get if you carefully work out the strategy of promoting your personal brand and follow it. There are lots of people who became famous thanks to Instagram and their strong self-identification there. Here is the answer to the question “How to build my brand” as well as tips on how to nurture it on Instagram. The tips are taken from those who were already fortunate to create a strong personal brand.

Define your mission and values

First of all, you must clearly understand why you are doing this, what the purpose is. “I want to become popular, get 1M followers, make a lot of money, and then sit on the terrace of my villa in Spain and contemplate the sea!” We don’t want to upset you but it won’t work. There must be something bigger than just selfish intentions. Think about what you can give people, how you can be useful to them, and why only you can do it. When it comes to values, they are a kind of pointers on the path. If you are sure about yours, safely broadcast them to a wide audience. Formulate your “why” as it is recommended in the book by Simon Sinek, David Mead, and Peter Docker. It might look the following way:

To do _______(something)________ to ______(action)__________.

For example, I want to inspire people to create more than consume.

Those who have built a strong personal brand, know who they are, and it gives them the power to grow both on Instagram and far beyond.

Set a goal

Alongside your mission, there is a goal. Here you are allowed to become a little egoistic and think of your own desires. Explain to yourself why you need to build a personal brand, and what you want to achieve with it. The goal should be accurate and measurable. Once you determine it or them, it will be easier to come up with content, and reach your final destination whatever it is.

Identify areas which you are an expert in

Pulling your so-called visions out of thin air doesn’t work anymore. If you want to attract attention and encourage people to listen and hear you, it’s necessary to stick to the point. Choose the area in which you want to become the number one, and position yourself as an expert. In word and deed, of course. You don’t need to be a multi-skilled professional, become an expert in one topic. However, you must know it much more deeply than others.

Share your knowledge, experience, ideas. In a word, help people become better. This is what they are striving for.

Be distinct

Find your peculiarity and show it off. It can be anything, and it will help you not to get lost in a sea of other Instagram users. Do you have an exotic appearance? You can become recognizable for some specific details, you know. A hairstyle, brooch, bright costumes, socks – anything that makes the difference. Some people excel in creating their accounts in one colour or a noticeable style. However, it is not about appearance only. Let your fantasy go wild, and you’ll definitely make it with a twist.

Know your target audience

We have already mentioned that there are more than 1 billion users on Instagram. It’s impossible to reach everyone. What is more, you don’t need it. It’s useless to be everything to everyone. Define who is your ideal follower, literally visualize him, and think of what worries him, and what content he will be glued to. This understanding will make it easier to choose your tone of voice and find the ideas for posts.

Create a content plan

All your publications must be systematic and thought out well. Branding yourself is daily work. Content is the main tool for building a personal brand on Instagram. Think about the frequency of posting, topics, key ideas, etc. Your content should be updated regularly and be different so that subscribers do not get bored. If you are creating a personal brand to maintain your company’s brand, do not limit yourself to telling only about your products or services. Tell about your family, hobbies, interesting facts about your life, plans, and dreams. It always attracts people’s attention and provokes the desire to know more.

Be honest with your audience

It’s definitely not the story “fake it until you make it”. It is important to focus on those professional and personal characteristics that are important to your audience. But you can’t lie. The more honest you are, the higher the trust and, therefore, success is. Trust is the strongest competitive advantage on Instagram. Never create an image or a story that has nothing to do with reality. Do not gloss over your life. People will feel it a mile off!

Interact with your followers

Instagram is about entertainment all in all. There is no place for tedious stories and boredom. Most people open the app for social interaction as well as to distract. Ask your audience for advice, hold contests, write posts on topics of potential interest to them, always respond to comments, go live on Instagram Stories, etc. Get them engaged, and they will reward you with attention, loyalty, and trust.

Make your account aesthetically attractive

First and foremost, Instagram is about visuals. You can talk about vital things, be a super expert but publish tasteless photos of terrible quality. First, Instagram users see the picture and only after read your captions. Download apps for editing your pics, make your account in style, and the rest will follow. Attractive also means understandable. Profile photo and description in bio are the first things a potential follower will see. Turn your Instagram account into an Instagram brand page, and make it work for you.

Improve yourself every day

You have to be an example for the audience. Become the best version of yourself and inspire other people to do the same. You should not just tell about self-improvement but act within the framework of the stated concept: speak and show the results of your actions. Continuous development is necessary if you want to maintain happiness, motivation, and peace of mind, as well as it is necessary for creating an image. The one that people will love. It is worth making an effort.

Why is it important to develop a personal brand?

Thanks to social networks, our world has become more transparent. Today you can find information about everyone in just a couple of seconds. In addition, you can tell about yourself and your projects to a wide audience on Instagram without extra efforts. Therefore, building and managing a personal brand becomes extremely relevant. A good self-brand gives a person great prospects in terms of freedom of forming their own careers and a way of life itself.

Your personal brand can become a universal key for self-realization and help in any field. Having it strong, you can find a new job, make useful contacts, sell your product or service, or strengthen your company’s brand. If you are going to start your own business, then a personal brand will help you rebuild from competitors and attract loyal customers. In addition, today the personal brand no longer competes with the brand of the company – on the contrary, it supports it.

People are willing to overpay for expertise and experience. They want to buy confidence. To make people pay, a lot of work remains to be done to create a certain image of an expert in their heads.

If you are just starting your career and are ready to make yourself known to the world, a strong “Me brand” will come in handy. People like to keep an eye on newbies and participate in their development and formation.

To cut a long story short, an interesting and inspiring personality always attracts attention and causes curiosity both on social media and in real life. Someone who expresses his opinion about certain events encourages as well as knows his subject well and can share the experience is at a premium. The world should know his heroes by sight!

Does everyone need to create a personal brand?

We would advise everyone to create it. At present, it can really help in various areas of life, especially in the professional one. A powerful personal brand helps achieve desired goals, and, therefore, feel content with life. To get to the top, you need to become recognizable.

However, not everyone really needs to create a personal brand. If you still don’t know what to say to the world, how you can be useful – wait until you find yourself and form your message. There is nothing worse than trying to initiate communications that do not have a clear purpose and content. Such a development of a personal brand will generate only negative in the information field.

A strong personal brand is something that allows you to feel confident in any circumstances. Ultimately, the core is to influence people, their decisions and destinies, and inspire them to actions and changes.

This is a big responsibility that you can assume only if you are confident in your deeds and will not do any harm to anyone. This applies not only to actions but also to words.

When it comes to businesses, it is not advised for owners to be engaged in promoting a personal brand if they have some unpleasant biography facts. What is more, if you are not sure of the good quality of the product, or it has high risks.

5 Instagrammers who successfully developed a personal brand

Instagram is a powerful networking platform, a suitable place to introduce yourself to the world. Still, have doubts? Here are 5 famous people who managed to successfully develop a personal brand thanks to social media, especially to Instagram.

@Amrezy

https://www.instagram.com/p/B_DmImPpR19/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
She was a simple girl from Brooklyn, working for MAC, and having a beauty blog on Instagram. Every single day she showed her makeup, told about beauty products, and gladdened the eyes of followers with her attractive appearance. Later she moved to LA and was famed for her professionalism in the area. At the moment, she has got almost 6M Instagram followers, her own eyeshadow palette, and a line of lipsticks.

@mattadlard

https://www.instagram.com/p/B6YsZcNlkxW/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Have you ever heard about a topless baker? Here he is. Matt Adlard is not just eye candy for the female audience but for everyone who is crazy about sweets. This man is a self-taught baker who shares recipes and ideas of desserts with his audience as well as his fails. He actively uses Instagram Stories to show the process of making his delicious masterpieces but does not conceal collapses too. This charming guy and his mouth-watering creations have got 641k followers on Instagram. Matt has launched his online baking school and all this is a strong personal brand.

@sonyaesman

https://www.instagram.com/p/B_vy2A3pXP5/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Actually, this girl became famous mostly thanks to YouTube. However, Instagram also played an important role in the creation of Sonya’s personal brand. Lady Esman was born in Russia but her family moved to Canada when she was five. Living in Toronto, she was shooting vlogs in Russian, telling about everything that was going on in her life with a funny accent. In the end, she moved to the USA, where became a model and collaborated with world-known brands. Her Instagram profile counts 1.6M followers.

@enjoyphoenix

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-2YYHiHPNs/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Maria Lopez, known for her nickname EnjoyPhoenix, is an illustrative example of a successful personal brand. This girl from Lyon is very famous on YouTube (3.6 M subscribers) as well as on Instagram (almost 5M followers). She started her blogger’s life in 2011, and at the moment she has already a lot of collaborations with famous brands, press tours, and her own business – an online boutique Leaves and Clouds.

@kayla_itsines

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-xnfP8nOfy/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
There are lots of fitness trainers and advocates for a healthy lifestyle. However, people prefer Kayla to any other representatives of the area. She became popular mainly thanks to Instagram: videos of trainings, pieces of advice, success stories of how her clients lose weight, etc. This woman from Australia motivates people to go in for sports, and, therefore, become better every day. She has got a strong personal brand and 12.5M followers on Instagram.

Conclusion

There is no magic spell that will allow you to build a successful personal brand with at one stroke of a magic wand. It all depends on how you interact with other people, and what values and way of life you have. The more people your personality can influence and inspire, the faster your personal brand will grow. Work on yourself, be audacious and strive to have only good things talk about you when you leave the room.