Q&A With Xavier Martin: What Does it Take to Build and Sustain a Personal Brand?
In the words of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos: “your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.” A personal brand communicates your authentic personality and who you are in a way that showcases your expertise and credibility. For influencers, building and sustaining a personal brand is of the utmost importance; it is how they develop a reputation for themselves that gives them credibility within a niche. Marketing themselves as a brand allows content creators to define who they are in a way that is authentic, relatable, and unique.
We’ve asked one of our top influencer talents, Xavier Martin, to share his professional insight on what it takes to build and maintain a personal brand and the importance that this has within the competitive influencer landscape. Xavier Martin is a social media star and content creator who is best recognized for his popularity on TikTok. Xavier launched his TikTok account in October 2019 and has since become one of the most recognized figures on the platform, boasting over 2M followers. His comedic videos and relatable content have allowed the young star to make a name for himself in the digital space, creating a personal brand that is true to him and authentically demonstrates his youthful energy and spunky personality. His responses demonstrate the importance of staying true to your brand while also differentiating yourself to avoid being lost in a sea of creators all aspiring to find their niche.
Question: Why does building and sustaining a personal brand matter to you?
Xavier: It matters to me because I want people to know what I’m all about! The brand is what my audience is going to know about me.
Question: What are some of the challenges that you think new influencers face in building a personal brand?
Xavier: How to keep up with your brand while trying to incorporate different things in there. I have trouble with this as well! You want to make sure you do it in a good way, and not in a dramatic way that your audience is confused by. It’s definitely hard though.
Question: How did you discover your personal brand, and what do you think it says about you?
Xavier: I discovered my personal brand just by being myself and watching other influencers! I consider my niche to be more of a funny and comedic value, as well as being fashionable on my Instagram and being funny! I think my brand says that I am a lighthearted, fun, and bubbly person–which I am!
Question: How has social media allowed you to showcase this brand image? What platform do you feel conveys your brand the strongest?
Xavier: I think it has allowed me to showcase it by presenting myself to my audience. My audience and true fans and followers support what I have done. I would love to say TikTok conveys my brand the strongest, but it would honestly be Instagram/YouTube! TikTok is too short to show most of my real side; it’s is only 15–60 second videos. Also, half the time I’m playing someone else in my TikTok videos!
Question: How have you sustained your brand image?
Xavier: Still incorporating what I love to do every day on my platforms! As well as letting my fans and followers know that I have more to me than just playing teachers or doing comedic videos. I’m a fashionable, a content editor, a singer, and wanna-be dancer! There’s more to people and sometimes they just don’t know about it!
Overall, Xavier demonstrates that building a personal brand is an ongoing process that requires influencers to take an active role in marketing themselves. He says that the foundation for building a strong personal brand is simply being yourself, and remembering that there is more to you than people may realize. Remaining authentic and staying true to who they are allows influencers to build a personal brand that showcases credibility and expertise in a genuine, relatable way.
