USING SOCIAL MEDIA TO FURTHER MY BRAND

October 1, 2017 By: Deric Kennedy

Hey, welcome back to The SCEM VIEW, with Deric. As you know, I’m pursuing a master’s degree in Strategic Communication with Troy University and this show (blog) was created to explore and discuss various topics and content in my Strategic Communication & Emerging Media (SCEM) course. And I’m glad to have you back! Before we move on to this week’s show, here’s a quick mention of last week’s. During week six, my COM 6630 class explored Crowdsourcing, Politics and the Global Impact of Emerging Media. We spent the bulk of our time discussing crowdsourcing, using a particular CROWD (via the internet) as a SOURCE to obtain needed knowledge, goods or services. I presented an analysis of the concepts, a critique of the points synthesized from the readings and made it personal and shared my interpretation of it all.

Well folks, we are now at week seven and this week, COM 6630 is taking a look into the world of branding and online reputation. For the most part, we and this is a topic As expressed by Dr. Padgett, you don't have to look too far to find examples of reputations, both corporate and personal, being tried and convicted by the court of social media. And on the flip side, a good reputation and brand is likely to be both celebrated and bought into. But just what the whole branding thing all about and how can social media be useful? Today, we answering that question and I’m sharing how this week’s lesson has given me much needed insight on how to build my professional brand as an Actor as well! I trust that you’ll learn a little and enjoy a lot.

Before we move on to how social media can help move my brand as an actor, let’s first be clear on a few things. personal brand? According to a recent article I found entitled, The Fundamentals of Personal Branding, a personal brand is your reputation or image. But it isn’t a reputation or image that ACCIDENTALLY crops up about you. A personal brand is the reputation and image that you intentionally create, manage and communicate about, in a way that an audience finds engaging. I found this description to be quite helpful but I disagreed a little. I believe one’s personal brand could be intentionally or unintentionally created because let’s face it, everyone has a reputation and image regardless of profession or intention.  What you do, how you do it and everything in-between, is noticed by an audience and communicates a message that is without a doubt, your brand. But I digress. The article goes on to mention how big brands communicate how special they are – even when their product is pretty similar to the competition. “Starbucks, Target, Coke, Apple, BMW. These brands have personalities that are clear, consistent and compelling. Dimensions of YOUR personal brand include your skills, experience, expertise and the products or services you represent. Your travels, hobbies, classes you take, and projects might be important facets of your brand.” So what does this all mean? Well, plainly what you do and who you are is your brand- whether you intend it or not, you are responsible for the reputation you carry and the way your brand is being   

Fellow classmate and blogger, Amy Rader, shared a post recently that read “I’m sure many of you, like me, have been driving down the road and seen billboards with a company’s logo, slogan, and advertisement. You may have passed yard signs that have that same information on it about a particular company. All of these are ways that companies get their brand out there. And she’s right! These are indeed great examples of how companies get there brand out there. Approximately one month ago, while discussing my future plans with the now late Mike Hodge of SAG-AFTRA, the topic of branding came up and he shared with me man jewels that I will always appreciate. He gave me a site to visit and figured I would share it with you guys since this weeks all about branding and online reputation.

It’s an article is published on a popular is an entertainment-industry brand aimed at people working in film and the performing arts, with a special focus on casting, job opportunities, and career advice. The article by Casey Mink, “How to Build Your Digital Brand as an Actor,” supplies us with all the information and tools you need to create and maintain your digital existence from the ground up, which will, in turn, help you book auditions and jobs- brand promotion via social media.

https://www.backstage.com/backstage-guides/how-build-your-digital-brand-actor/

Here are the main points:

·       What is a brand? How do I find mine?

·       What tools do I need to build a digital brand?

·       Social media

·       Website

·       Blog

·       Podcast

·       Marketing toolkit

·       YouTube

·       How can digital branding help me get jobs?

·       Perils of digital branding?

·       Can social media cost me a job?

·       Can a brand be limiting?

·       How can I grow my online following?

Unfortunately, we don’t have today to go deep into each point but what I concluded was as an actor, you’re a product just like any other company, business, organization and so forth.  Products need to be branded so their audiences know what to expect when they decide to “purchase” it or cast you! This brought me back to a discuss we had this week about Troy University and branding. It is important for me or any other upcoming artist to define myself and understand my core values and attitudes. It’s also crucial that I consider the audiences I want to reach. Admittedly, I’m still figuring it all out. To tackle this, I found a recent article by the Business Insider entitled, The Fundamentals of Personal Branding. It lists some key questions that when answered, will help any actor/artist clearly define their special qualities in efforts to create a brand you agree with and stand behind.

Here is the list:

1. What one positive quality have you had since you were little, that pretty much every one notices after spending time with you?  

2. What one word would you use to describe the way you approach problems?

3. Why do people enjoy spending time with you?  and lastly, by using social media to promote my brand and connect with m y audience, I am indeed building my brand and furthering my career.

Although I’m still in the developmental stages of my career, both these articles have helped tremendously and have given me much needed insight and direction. I realize how important my reputation and image is and that is essentially what creates my personal brand. Once I have things better figured out, I’m going t make use of this information and prepare to use social media to build me digital brand as an actor.