Chapter 3 - Selfbranding and social influencers

Vloggers ''have identified, defined and crafted their own identity and communicated it across the virtual world where they know their target audience will be'’

Self-branding is the act of creating a brand for yourself. Obviously, but what does it mean, what does it include? Self-branding is related to the way others perceive you as a person and how you sell yourself as your brand. The content posted by vloggers (or anyone, really) is already part of their self-branding, as it shows how they want to portray and expose themselves, what their image is and which values and reputation they want to be associated with. If this self-branding is successful the creator can develop into a self-made celebrity.

So if one wants to be taken seriously it is critical to take the self-branding serious as well. Let’s have a look at the visual self-branding of YouTubers. First of all, most YouTubers have created a specific name for their channel, which addresses their own name, or that what they address in their video’s. Then they create a profile image, logo and banners, which helps them sell themselves as a brand. Often they use images or icons which they can associate with or which is recognisable for the audience.

An example of a YouTuber who has established a brand is Mascha Feoktistova from the channel Beautygloss, which was the first channel she created. Then she continued to collaborate with others and set up a line of channels, varying names of her brand. First there is Vloggloss, on which she posts daily vlogs, second there is Foodgloss on which Frances makes recipe videos and Mascha makes the occasional appearance and lastly she set up Trendgloss with Claire.  

  

                                 Logos of Gloss Youtube channels, Images sourced from youtube 

Besides this she has a storage full of free products companies have send to her, two books she wrote, a theatre show, her own designed fake lashes and  planner. Not to mention all the press-trips she gets invited for. This shows how YouTubing and self-made fame  leads to a lot of opportunities. 

It is important for a vlogger to keep their brand consistent  across all the social media they have branched out to. They have to be present wherever they have an account since they have to be recognisable and associated properly. This shows how personal branding is time-consuming and how it can be a full-time job. This personal network across social media is clever as the creator will increase their presence in a viewer’s life. Often, the creator provides links to their social media in their bios and video descriptions, or they ask their viewers to follow their other pages. A clever way to do this is to expose specific information on one specific social medium, so the viewer is more or less forced to visit it if they want to find out what the specific information is. Also, it lets the creator take a break without completely disappearing from the web, as they can always be present on at least one platform. 

Another example there is Kelvin, who at one point consistently introduced red peppers in his videos, which then became his icon and logo. He incorporated it into his intro and merchandise, and if he doesn’t have a red pepper in one of his videos the comments ‘where is the red pepper?’.
Many vloggers have created merchandise for their brand. They sell items such as t-shirts, hoodies, water bottles and caps. Some of them have even published their own books with personal stories or content similar to their YouTube channels. These items have demand and sell because the creators have gathered audiences who feel connected to them and become fans, through the videos and content they pot online. This connection is similar to celebrities, the creator becomes a role-model to the audience, and the audience wants to express their connection to the creator through purchasing or wearing items from the creators. 

Other examples of the creators offering objects to their viewers it is meet-ups and special events. Veed and the Dutch YouTube gathering are events for which visitors can buy tickets to meet their favourite youtubers. Some vloggers have organised personal events, such as Storytime by Mascha or Furtjuh Live! by Rutger.  Also, such events create networks between the creators, which is also a community on its own. They collaborate and inspire each other. These collaborations also allow for viewers to cross to other creators.

Once vloggers are familiar and stable as a brand, other brands and corporations approach the vloggers to promote the brand or products of said corporation, that is because vloggers have the ‘power’ to influence their audiences. This is also known as social influencing. It is a way for the influencer to receive products or services, and, if they get paid to show or promote a product , generate an income. The more followers the influencer has, the more they can ask for a sponsored post. The warning here is that it is essential to check whether a post has been sponsored or not, because some social influencers do not mention when something was a gift or if they were paid to promote something. 

Teske shows Swatch watches, they were a gift, and Swatch also sponsored Teske's videoclip

Image sources from YouTube

Lesson:
If you want to establish yourself on social media, create a brand for yourself. Include a consistent style, a logo, colours, and make sure you have your values straight. Set boundaries for the content and details you want to share with your audience and always keep in mind that your actions may have consequences to your reputation. Depending on how many details of your days you’re going to share, always keep in mind that the whole world will be able to see it. Unless you edit out the bad parts.