The multitude of personal brands on TikTok showcase an incredible variety of interests and themes. For those crafting their own personal brand, finding a niche can feel overwhelming considering the sheer number of other personal brands you are up against.
The competition is real, but so are you. We talked with Chloe Hurst, a graphic designer and personal brand expert, to learn more about what helped her create not one, but three successful personal brands on TikTok and Instagram.
Business brands versus personal brands
Most, if not all of us, have heard of branding. However, this is usually within the scope of the business world. Branding helps businesses present themselves in a unique way to their customers, keeping them front of mind for purchase options.
Some aspects of personal brands are similar but many are different. Personal brands first and foremost focus on the person. They are centered on the individual who is choosing to share their story, lifestyle, thoughts, experiences, and other details that define them, giving their audience someone real to connect to.
For those looking to earn an income from social media, some personal brands can be leveraged to create business partnerships and affiliations to promote products and services (but we’ll get to that later).
Each brand is as different and unique as the person who created them. What you do with yours is up to you. Our goal with this blog is to help you determine how to make your personal brand unique and authentic to you, and how to use it to its full power if you decide to monetize.
Chloe Hurst’s branding journey
Chloe Hurst knows what she likes and she knows how to share it. She is a Senior Graphic Designer who loves what she does, and that’s just one side of her personal brand. Along with her work (contempomint), she shares her love of fashion and gothic lifestyle (itschloehurst), and gothic gardening (theg0thgarden) on her social platforms. This trio of brand accounts allowed her to connect with her own niche audience that love her brand for exactly what it is.
Chloe knew she was drawn to the spooky and macabre even as a child. As she grew she knew that if she liked these types of things then there were others out there that did too. So she started posting.
“It initially started when I opened my freelance design business (Contempo Mint) in 2013,” Chloe told us. “I knew I didn’t want to create generic designs, so I started targeting like-minded people who had similar interests or styles as myself. Back then at least, there weren’t many alternative brands out there like there are today, let alone design options that best suited their brand personality. I saw this as an opportunity to shine.”
Personal branding seemed to come naturally as she combined her own interests with her impressive design skillset. “The gothic and alternative lifestyle is so ingrained in me that even my damn q-tips are black,” Chloe said. “And, of course, when my captive and I bought our home in 2018, a whole new world of design and creativity opened up with the feeling of “Holy crap, NOW I can really do anything!
“For a while I only shared my gardening and home updates within my close circle, but eventually they got bored of my talk about flowers or black paint so that’s when I decided to open up new social media accounts for each of my interests. And now, I’m here – chatting with fellow badass creatives!”
While this is just scratching the surface, it does give a good idea of just how Chloe developed her three personal brands. She let herself be personal! Her genuine interests and love for her work speak for themselves and draw thousands of people right to her profiles.
4 tips for finding an audience on TikTok
A rock band wants to draw in the audience looking for their genre of music and a personal brand needs to focus on reaching the right audience that is interested in what they have to offer, niche or not! This can be easier said than done. Thankfully, Chloe knows exactly how to find the right viewers for niche interests. Keep these tips in mind as you develop and grow your brand:
1. Understand your branding: Trying to be something for everyone can end up getting you into a bind. Don’t be afraid to stand out and focus on what you want to. As Chloe puts it, “finding a niche and what [you] truly want to be happy doing on social media. For my personal experience, I knew I wanted my overall feed to be in the theme of gothic lifestyles or spooky and weird content. Whether we like to admit it or not, we are creatures of habit and enjoy seeing content that makes us feel a certain way.”
2. Create quality visuals: We should all be aware of this by now, but subpar video or poor photos won’t do any good in helping draw people in. Investing in learning how to get the quality of video that you need or working with a good video editor will help connect with your audience and keep them coming back. “My video and editing skills have come in handy,” Chloe shared. ‘I always say “if you think you got the shot, then no you didn’t.’ Having a huge library of different angles or close ups has assisted the video editing process to be interesting and unique every time.
3. Set a pace that you can actually manage: Posting every day is plausible for some and may not be for others. Chloe gives an example of her own content creation schedule: “I bulk create everything in one day,” she explained. “Depending on what I want out there, it will take me 3-4 hours to get myself organized with fresh content and then spread it out throughout 1-2 weeks.”
With this said, there is wiggle-room allowed. “Life happens sometimes,” Chloe stated. “Work gets crazy or maybe I’m simply just not feeling it and I’ll go a bit without posting. You should never overwhelm yourself or feel guilt because you didn’t post one day.”
4. Set up your profiles correctly: TikTok is still a social media platform with an algorithm. That means getting your profile in order is only going to benefit you. Addressing those less-than-fun details like a good bio, the right account type, and even choosing the right keywords for your captions, will go a long way in helping you connect with your audience. It will also make it easier to focus on creating truly personal content that reflects your brand rather than leading you to create content that is made to try to fit what the algorithm wants every time.
Consistency is a huge aspect of growing on social media. If a video doesn’t do well initially, keep posting! The algorithm is brutal sometimes, but when it picks something up, it PICKS IT UP.
– CHLOE HURST
The reality of making a living with a personal brand
It is possible to make money from your personal brand. However, the opportunities available to you may vary based on the app you use and where you are located.
In the United States, creators can choose to monetize in a variety of ways whether that is through ads or tools like TikTok Shop.
Where Chloe lives, though, the options available are different. “Since I live in Canada, monetization or shopping tools aren’t available on TikTok (yet),” she explained.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t other options though! “Because creators don’t get paid in Canada, brands will often send items in exchange for a video or post.”
For those looking to partner with a brand to get products or pay, making it easy for businesses to contact you is a must.
“An easier way to get brands to contact you is to have an email readily available in your bio or links,” said Chloe.”Alongside with an email, I also created a link page on my website for people or brands to click through to find other ways to contact me or to simply browse through items or subjects I want marketed.”
With a little research and elbow grease, the posts that you make could start helping you make a living!
Personal brands on TikTok or any other platform can be tricky to grow and manage. The RM Creative Services team is the partner that knows how to get the spotlight on your brand. From shooting top-quality video content to working with you to draft your content calendar, the services we offer with always Amplify Your Brand.
Contact RM Creative Services by sending a message to rachael@rmcsofficial.com or visiting our Contact page.
Written by Brianna Fries, a California-based writer, editor, bookworm, and mother of two. You can contact her at brianna@rmcsofficial.com and discover more of her work at brigibbsis.wordpress.com.
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