The concept of branding can be a little daunting but we’ve put together a guide on the basics for you! Whether you’re preparing for your streaming debut or rebranding – we’re here to help!
Table of Contents
What is Branding as a Content Creator?
Think of content creator branding as two segments that make up how you are portraying yourself as a content creator. The first segment is generally what most people think of first as branding – name, logo, art/graphics & more. Then the second segment is more of the outline for your brand personality & content – mood/personality, overall theme(s), content genre & more. Having a solidified brand identity helps your potential audience & potential partnership opportunities connect to you as well as help you stay focused & concise on how you represent yourself.
What is a Brand Guide?
A brand guide is basically your bible for branding. It can be as in depth or as basic as you like and will cover things like your brand colors, fonts, and more! It’s handy for you to have as a point of reference to keep everything consistent but it’s also super useful to have when working with other creators or brands! Let’s dig into some of the elements that make up your brand as a content creator!
1st Segment of Branding
Name/Username
You want a name or username that is recognizable, unique, not complicated & available as a handle on your platforms of choice.
Your name could be related to your theme and/or content genre. Remember, this is going to be how you introduce yourself so try saying the username out loud a few times to make sure it sounds how you think it does in your head!
Logo
A logo is not 100% necessary to be a content creator, but it is nice to have as it helps with brand recognition. It may be something you invest in further down the line in content creation.
If you are not design savvy yourself you can check out sites like Fiverr or Etsy to look for an artist to create a logo for you. You can find a large range of pricing options to fit your needs.
Most logos will only have 1-3 colors in them, Keep it simple and you’ll have a much stronger brand identity than if you try to cram 7 ideas into one piece. Choose a primary and secondary color and keep it consistent across your branding.
2nd Segment of Branding
Art/Graphics
Virtually all content creation platforms have some sort of customization you can do to your channel to personalize it. On Twitch this looks like your panels below stream, your offline graphic, your profile picture & your channel banner. On YouTube you can change your channel banner & your profile picture. You should also echo these on your chosen social media platforms (generally a profile photo & a banner).
You want these personalized elements on your channel to match & be cohesive to your branding. They should match your logo (if you have one) & include the same colors you have chosen.
Mood/Personality
Are you trying to be a comedic content creator, a cozy content creator, an informational content creator, etc.?
Do you see an opportunity within the genre of content creation you are looking to get into? Like there aren’t many informational creators within x space yet.
You don’t need to pigeonhole yourself into only being funny or only being informational, but generally you want to stick to 1-3 “styles”.
Overall Theme
Maybe you are a crafter who is livestreaming their projects or an FPS gamer showcasing your high rank gameplay. It is recommended to keep your content type somewhat similar so your content is consistent. Most viewers are expecting to see a certain type of content on your channel & may tune out if you are doing something completely different than your usual content. The exception to this could be scheduled & announced variety streams or if your content theme is being a variety creator.
Content Genre
In a similar vein of your overall theme – you want to pick a consistent genre of content. If you are a gaming streamer who is not a variety streamer it may be best to pick one genre of games to stream or only adjacent genres to keep it consistent for your audience. If your audience is used to watching you play survival games, they may not be interested in watching you play FPS games.
“I stream mostly to engage with my audience. My schtick is average gameplay // above average banter or “just chatting while gaming stream”. Some content creators focus on high performance gameplay for their content.” – LazyFoxGirl, Lightstream Partner
In conclusion, creating & maintaining a definitive brand identity fosters deeper connections with your target audience and potential partners, while simultaneously providing clarity and focus in how you present yourself.
Lightstream Team 💚
