Be Real: Use Real Names and Photos

When it comes to marketing your brand, the importance of using your real name and photo cannot be stressed. This is especially true when it comes to social media marketing. People want to know who you really are – if they want to see and know more about the company, then they'll look for the company page, not your profile.

But most of the time, people who meet you in person would want to look for you online. They want to connect with the real you, since you're the one that they met and enjoyed interacting with, and they'll only find you if your social media profiles have your full name and your real photo in place.

When it comes to social media, people enjoy interacting with real people, not brands. They will open up more to you when they recognize that you're a real person's name, not just a random, blank person behind a company.

This is the reason why more and more companies and businesses are encouraging their employees to utilize social networking sites to help their brand get out there.

This is because people nowadays don't want to interact with random, faceless strangers. They want to see the real face of the person they're talking to, which is why the emphasis is on using real identities and photos on social media sites today.

Even Google+ recently required people to use their real names or the names that they are known for when signing up for an account. Though some people protested about this because of privacy issues, many agreed with this edict since social media is really about personal, real-time interaction. It's about connecting with people you know and trust, and not just randomly following whoever's out there.

Now, if you're going to use your photo for your social media sites, it's a good idea to only use one photo for all of your accounts.

This helps solidify your brand. This photo will really represent you across all channels.

Don't use a group shot of you with other people, since this isn't going to help your brand. Since people are already taking the time to find you, you wouldn't want to make it harder for them, right?

Make sure that your photo is a head shot where you're looking at the camera. Though some people prefer putting up a more formal photo of them wearing business clothes and a small smile, others have found that a less formal and more casual photo of them smiling and in a candid pose is more effective in making people see them as a real, genuine person. It's really up to you which you prefer.

If you don't like most of the photos you have on your PC, then why not invest on a nice studio photo? Since you're going to be using it in your different accounts, then it's going to be worth the investment.

Social media is all about connecting with people you know and trust, not random people that you've never met before, which is why it's important to use real names and photos. When you're real and authentic, then this is when people will really want to get to know you and connect with you and your brand.