BLOGGER TIP: Keep Your Social Media Consistent

The other day I was speaking at a conference & someone asked me about the importance of keeping all social media platforms consistent.

For some reason I immediately felt compelled to write a blog post about this specific topic.

BECAUSE MAN THIS IS OVERLOOKED.

Think of it like this: YOU ARE A HOUSE. Or a building- whatever you prefer here. Each room should be cohesive with the other rooms. I mean unless you are Disneyland where there’s a new brand behind every door, keep your shit consistent. No one wants a modern house with a Western guest room, cartoon bedroom, bright pink bathroom, rainbow themed kids room, & antique kitchen.

I mean maybe some people do? But personally I like the story to flow. I like a good brand.

Let me explain further.

Say you’re a blogger.

On your blog all your photos are super dark & kind of mysterious, let’s say even fashion-y…loving it. Your writing is kind of guarded too. So then I head over to your Instagram to follow you because I’m loving it & all your photos are light, bright, airy, feminine & your captions are super open with a bunch of food pictures. Ok. Hmmm. AND then I decide to check out your Snapchat & it’s all about makeup. Instead of doing the font in your typical black & white, your fonts are yellow & red. Lastly, I go to Pinterest & it’s all Pins of the Kardashians.

Do you see where I’m going with this?

It’s all over the fucking place.

If you’re going to go for the dark, mysterious, fashion-y feel have it reflect on all mediums.

To create a brand, a platform, a community, a strong foundation- the brand needs to shine through on each medium.

And this is why it is so IMPORTANT on social media to do you. Not do anyone else but you. Because here’s the thing, if you’re doing someone else- it comes across as confusing. It’s almost like an awkward identity crisis.

Ok so now I’m going to speak from my experience here. And just because this is my experience doesn’t mean it’s yours. Everyone is different.

I built The Skinny Confidential carefully.

Before I launched the blog 6 years ago I literally took a huge-ass poster board from Rite-Aid and wrote 6 million words of how I wanted the site to “feel.” Feel meaning how I wanted you, the reader, to feel when they left the site. Like what was YOUR EXPERIENCE.

I picked a FEW ( a FEW guys out of 6 million ) of these to represent the brand of TSC.

Words like: inspirational, feminine, FUNNY, casual, easy-going, & even a phrase: “leave feeling like they can live life on their own terms by being the best version of themselves” or “beat to the tune of your own drum.”

I mean I certainly didn’t want you guys to leave the site feeling shitty or bad about yourself. In fact, I wanted the opposite. For you to feel empowered & inspired. For you to feel like you YOU WANT TO GO DO YOU in every way. FOR YOU TO LIVE ENTIRELY ON YOUR TERMS. To not listen to your parents, your friends, your live-in BF ( who may or may not be a loser? ), or even to me.

I wanted you to leave the site feeling like you- yes you, can be the best damn version of yourself. And you can start today…Or maybe tomorrow- because you might need a glass of wine first?

So everything I do with each medium needs to portray that very TSC message.

Simply sharing my outfit & my lunch with you day after day is not enough. It’s just not.

For the record: beautiful fashion & lunch shots work for a lot of people’s blog & brand. It didn’t for mine. Know your audience. Know your brand.

I wanted you guys to leave with tips, tricks, hacks, any kind of value that revs your engine.

Ok so that was kind of a tangent but you get the drift.

The point is every medium, whether it’s the podcast, Snapchat, Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, or the blog needs to reflect my message.

To take it a step further it also needs to represent my brand.

My pictures are bright, white, light, with a pop of color. I want them crisp & clear always. Also it’s important that they’re cool, I hate a warm tones. SO every single platform has the same airy feel.

The goal is when you see a TSC picture anywhere, you will recognize it.

As for something like Snapchat, I’m not going to start using colors like red & blue because it’s just not the brand’s colors. You know? This may sound stupid. You may think “who cares it’s Snapchat?” But no. Snapchat is a huge extension of the brand.

Little, small steps everyday create success.

Fonts & colors are little but they matter.

Another extension? Captions. I want my Instagram captions to feel like you’re talking to me. If you meet me in person & I’m different from this exact voice on my blog & my Instagram, then I haven’t done my job properly. Because the way I write is the way I talk.

Overall my job is keep the brand going in the most cohesive way.

Ok wait though, let’s talk about the podcast. The podcast needed to GO WITH THE FLOW OF TSC. Of course I was bringing on masculine energy when Michael decided to be my co-host. That was thought out though. It wasn’t some random decision I made in the shower while dry-brushing. The decision to bring masculine energy into the brand was meticulous. There’s something Michael brings to the table that I can’t bring. I think it gives the brand a dynamic.

And if you know me, you know I LIVE for a good dynamic.

Make sure when you pick your branding elements that you’re also evolving the elements simultaneously on all platforms. For instance you don’t want your Instagram to have professional, bright photos & your blog to have iPhone bright photos because you’re too lazy to take professional photos for the blog. Keep evolving while the brand grows while keeping the feel, experience, colors, shapes the same.

A smart woman told me a while ago: ALWAYS GROW. ALWAYS EVOLVE. ALWAYS GET BETTER.

My hope is that in 5 years from now I look back on this post, even on my Instagram with where it’s at now, & I have evolved. Evolved in a way that is cohesive to the overall brand.

If you guys like posts like this PLEASE let me know because subjects like this get me going. I’m happy to answer any & all questions too.

On that note I am eating alone ( sushi & egg fried rice ) at a restaurant & I feel like they’re about to play Semisonic’s song CLOSING TIME. Like I gotta go. HA.

See ya tomorrow, lauryn x

+ be sure to listen to the latest episode of the podcast because IT’S OUR YEAR ANNIVERSARY & we did call-ins.

+ how to start a blog | blogging tips.

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