When it comes to social networks, everyone has their favorites. MySpace was a huge hit back in the day simply because it was one of the first social networks, but mainly because of the many different ways you could customize your profile pages and make them look however you like. Facebook came along and quickly out grew MySpace, but it wasn’t til recently that Facebook allowed you to give your profile a new look and feel with the introduction of their Timeline setup. In the end, it’s all about online relationships and leaving a lasting impression for the people who visit your profile pages.
Let’s take a look at a few different ways social networks are allowing people to not only personalize their profile pages, but also brand their blogs, web sites, and businesses as well.
It’s no secret that Facebook is one of the most active and legitimate places for individuals to create a powerhouse of connections and branding about themselves and their sites. In addition to creating your own personal profile page, you should also be creating Fan Pages for each and every one of your sites and blogs. With the Facebook Timeline now in play you can create your profile and fan pages to match the look and feel of your blog or identity.
You can see my Facebook screenshot below, which showcases the ZacJohnson.com name and toon which I have been branding over the past several years. Many other famous bloggers and online marketers are using Timeline for personal images and branding, check out how they are using it.
As popular as Facebook is, Twitter is still extremely strong on the entertainment and television end. Celebrities are always talking about Twitter and how others can follow them, but they aren’t talking as much about Facebook. This is mainly because Facebook has a limit on personal friends that you are allowed to follow, which has greatly helped Twitter engage with users who have thousands or even millions of fans.
With that said, it would be ridiculous for anyone with a massive amount of followers to not be using Twitter backgrounds and profile images to their advantage. My Facebook Timeline image is actually a smaller version of my Twitter background that I had designed a couple years ago. Once again…branding is key, and showing your face, logo or identity over and over again will help with your establishment and authority in any niche.
Staree
As powerful as Twitter and Facebook are, there are hundreds if not thousands of smaller social networks and media sites out there. One of the most recent sites to launch lately is Staree.com, which is a mixture of blogging, Instagram and social networking. Through Staree you can create a custom profile page which allows you to upload your own updates and photo/video posts. Your Facebook and Twitter pages are also posted on your Staree page, which makes it one easy url for you to give to someone, which they can then use to find your other major social pages.
Once again, you will see the customization and branding in play with my Staree profile page below.
How to Benefit from Branding on Social Networks
Just think about how many people are browsing through social networks, blogs, and profiles every day. The majority of these people will visit a page once and never come back. In the end, you want to make a lasting impression and if you only have a couple seconds to do this, a custom logo design or something catchy is a great way to do this. Many people are going to visit my Twitter, Facebook and Staree pages and probably not come back again…but I did my best to make a lasting impression by using my cartoon logo and name on each. This might not seem like a lot right now, but over the course of a month or year, how many thousands or millions of people will have seen my logo and potentially remembered my brand, site, and name?
What you do with your branding and social network pages is key. Focus on long term growth, bringing in new followers and creating content for your blogs and web site that provide value to your followers. In the end, your brand identity is one of the most important things you have, and you will want to keep growing it and spreading it around as much as you can.
What can you do to your social networking pages to make them more brandable and work for you 24/7?
Hi Zac,
Thanks for the fresh insight. I especially appreciate the link to how other marketers are using the Facebook timeline. I was struggling with the cover photo and now I have some ideas I can experiment with.
Cheers…