Buffer App posted a fantastic article on their blog talking about what you share on social media and how you portray yourself.
The article is super important to read for photographers because so many are individual freelancers but also so many work as a team.
So the question becomes, do you portray yourself as a person or as a brand?
Who Are You On Social Media?
In my personal opinion I believe it depends on the business. If a wedding photography business has a Twitter account as @WeddingBiz and not @JohnDoe then the Twitter persona should be the brand always. That doesn’t mean that you can’t add a signature to tweets like (Scott). But it does mean that personal comments should be omitted. For example, politics should not be tweeted from the business Twitter account unless of course the photography business is oriented towards politics.
At the same time, although your social accounts might be a business, there is no reason to hide your employee’s personas in the social shares. For example, here at Photocrati how we Tweet might be different if I was tweeting veres Becky or Erick. But as long as we sign each Tweet with our names then it’s easier for followers to connect and relate to us.
Person or Brand
This is actually how we handle social media at Photocrati. We have business accounts under Photocrati, NextGEN Gallery, etc. Through these accounts we share business related content and post as the business. When needed we sign with our names of who is posting.
This allows us to be authentic as our business and also bring in the personalities of our employees.
At the same time, many of us at Photocrati have personal accounts, which we link to on the team page. From our personal accounts we show our authentic personas much more than we do in the business accounts.
How About You?
So who are you on social media? Are you your business or yourself as a person? Please comment and let us know as it’s a fascinating topic. Feel free to link to your social profiles so others can see how you handle them.
Nicky Jameson
22 Nov 2014I think it depends on your business. Many entrepreneurs are sole proprietors and don’t have a team but the question is still valid. In my case I am a bit of both. I sell my art photography and while my brand is important it is equally important that my personality comes through because clients are investing in the artist not just my art or brand. At the same time the sharing aspect of social media means that we all need to share things that are not just about us.
So on Twitter, as well as sharing my own posts I also share a few personal tweets and Industry related content that I am interested in. On Google Plus I also share personal opinions, for example about copyright, Photographers’ rights etc, in addition to my own posts. On my Facebook page it is more brand focused, all about photography, but with a few articles. And on my personal Facebook profile it is completely personal because there I interact with people I know very well. It’s also closed. I always avoid even commenting on religion, politics or other contention topics. They rarely reflect well on any brand. I know that it’s possible to have two accounts on Twitter but have never felt the need.