23 Feb Mistake #9: Failing to Brand Your Social Media Channels – Top 10 Social Media Mistakes

Even if you think you don’t have a brand, you do. And since Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Pinterest (and whatever other social media profiles you have) are simply mini networks that make up your overall Internet presence, it’s important that they all be instantly recognizable as being yours.

The last thing you want to do is confuse people by having different profile pictures, images and messages on all your different social media platforms. Just as consistency is key when it comes to blogging, posting on social media, podcasting, etc it’s just as important when it comes to your brand.

You want to build your brand all across your network including the social media networks you’re utilizing. If possible, you should always use the same name/handle on each and every site. Similarly, you should also try to use the same image on every site. You can do this by setting up a profile and selecting one main image (that you’ll use as your profile image) on Gravatar.

If your brand has a tagline involved, make sure you’re carrying that over to all the social media sites as well. Basically, when it comes to using your brand on all social media channels it comes down to whatever your main website brand is you want that exact same thing on each and every micro network site (social media platforms) you’re using.

Another reason it’s important to use your brand on all sites is because it’s a way to build expertise and recognition. People will get used to seeing the same logo, profile picture, tagline, and message on all networks. This will not only help them begin to recognize you and your business but it will also help you become the go to (the expert) in your niche.

A social media platform that sometimes gets overlooked is YouTube. A lot of people shy away from it because they’re nervous to put themselves on video. Keep in mind that video doesn’t necessarily require you to film yourself. There are lots of great ways to do video without actually putting your face on camera. YouTube is another great platform to get your message across and just one more opportunity for you to get your brand out there. Video is extremely popular and on YouTube alone there are hundreds of millions of users. And not only is YouTube another way to brand yourself across all networks, it’s just one more opportunity for you to gain expert status.

These are just a few of the reasons why you should be using your brand on all social media sites but the main and most important reason is because you don’t want to confuse people by different messages, images, etc across the platforms.