One of the most overlooked yet basic tenets of marketing is consumers, who do not form personal connections with companies. Instead, what people respond to are other personalities. Take the case of Apple. The tech giant pushed Steve Jobs as the face and driving force of the company. Consumers connected to Jobs and continue to associate his design principles and work ethic with Apple. The presence of the human factor can largely determine a business’ success on social media apps.

What are Personal Social Media Apps?

This leads to the natural assumption that a strong personal brand is more valuable than most other marketing strategies. Many studies have shown how para-social relationships between online personalities and their audience can be used to boost sales, increase conversions, and, more importantly, build stronger personal branding. There is a reason why many businesses chalk up a significant portion of their marketing budget towards influencer marketing. Influencers from different social platforms have a unique connection with their audience, one that is based on trust and empathy.
A slightly newer trend in creating a strong personal brand is creating dedicated personal social media apps. The Kardashians, Mariah Carey, Tom Hanks, and Taylor Swift have used this strategy to reach out to more fans, while several online influencers like Logan Paul, Dude Perfect, and A Beautiful Mess have also dabbled in creating their own social media apps. These apps allow fans to access unique content and allow them to connect with other fans.

Why should you care about a Personal Social Media App?

A personal social media app should be a part of an overall marketing strategy to build a reputation for being a thought leader in your niche. Whether you are already a well-known personality or you are looking to build a loyal audience, a personal social media app can deliver content and engagement in a way that other platforms cannot.
To establish yourself as a thought leader, you must be able to put forth, well, your thoughts. The ability to influence potential customers and an audience is the key factor in being a leader in your niche. Personal branding is a powerful tool to influence not just consumer decisions but also attitudes and ideas. If you are your business’s head, you may find that people automatically listen to what you have to say. A social media app can harness that instinct while also giving you the freedom to curate your message to your audience.
Another key element of social media apps is feedback. No message from a business can be deemed effective without feedback from the audience. Social media apps are designed to be exactly that – social. These platforms encourage discussions by any individual with access to the app, which, in turn, strengthens the bond between the personality and the audience. It is also an excellent tool for getting real-time feedback on services or products that would otherwise take you days or weeks to collect.

What are the basics of a Personal Social Media App?

Social media app development is not as easy as many ‘professionals’ make it out to be. To be fair, anyone with the right knowledge can build a personal app. However, there is a vast gap between a successful social media app and one that checks off all the ‘required’ features.
Clearly, it is crucial that you have a clear understanding of what you can offer and what your audience wants from you. The CEO of a makeup company sharing their Spotify playlist is not going to get the same traction as an online lifestyle influencer sharing the same. On the other hand, insider information on ingredients used in the production of makeup, the process, or the application will garner tremendous interest from the target audience.
In short, going to a social media app development company should be the last thing on your checklist. Instead, focus on your core audience and your area of expertise and establish the kind of content you are willing to provide on your personal app. Ask yourself open-ended questions like “What problem do I solve? What have I researched? What do I have results in? If my podcast had a million-strong audience, what would I say?” The content derived from these questions should be unique to the platform and must not be available elsewhere.

What about existing social media apps?

To reiterate, a personal social media app should be a part of your strategy to build a strong personal brand. No one can release a personal app and expect people to use the same if they do not know who you are or what you have to offer.
This is where other social media apps and platforms come into play. Popular apps like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, and TikTok have in-built audiences that can be tapped into using some basic targeting campaigns. These apps have strong algorithms that can be finessed into building a large following. Once you have an audience’s ear, you can create your content to be visible, engage with people to build familiarity, and establish yourself as a thought leader.
Here are some steps you can take to build your personal brand on social media apps.

  • Identify your area of expertise
  • Post regularly with insightful content
  • Vary the type of content to include blog posts, images, videos, and even questions
  • Keep your message positive
  • Keep your content, voice, tone and image consistent

Once you build up an audience on these platforms, it is time to think about your own personal social media app. Not only does it allow you to curate unique content to your liking, but it also connects you with a loyal audience.

Examples of Personal Social Media Apps

Most personal media apps, or at least successful ones, share content or create a communication channel with their audience that is unique to the app. The following apps of celebrities and influencers showcase how they have leveraged their personality to develop stronger relationships with their audience.
1. Kim Kardashian Hollywood
One of the most popular personal apps, Kim Kardashian Hollywood, encourages its users to move up a pretend social ladder based in Hollywood. What makes this unique is the Kim avatar that helps each user make the right decisions to reach fame.
2. Shatoetry
A remarkable app, Shatoetry allows users to upload their poetry which will then be read aloud in the famous voice of William Shatner. Fans of the movie star get a kick out of listening to their own words in the voice of their idol, while the simple app helps build a stronger connection between Shatner fans.
3. Mariah Carey-oke LyrIQ
So, do you think you can sing as well as Mariah Carey? This app lets you challenge the singing diva to a sing-along. You can put your singing skills against Mariah’s and see if you can match her vocal range. It also has a feature where you can test your knowledge about the singing sensation.
4. Hanx Writer
This app is different from the others in that it does not directly involve the creator, Tom Hanks. Instead, it capitalizes on the nostalgic factor most fans have associated with the actor and takes it to a wholly different place. The app provides the look, feel, and sound of an old-fashioned typewriter based on the actor’s personal collection of typewriters. Along with authentic typewriter sounds unique to each machine, animated carriage return, keypress, and type hammers, users can also print, share, and manage multiple documents.

How to Create A Personal Social Media App?

Many free and paid services allow you to create your own social media app. A social media app development company is your best bet since they will help you manage the back-end while you can concentrate on creating engaging content.
When designing the content for your personal app, there are certain things you must consider. These are:
1. Define your Niche
You do not want to create an app that does everything, which then becomes just another social media app. Like in the examples given, you should focus on one or two areas of your expertise and develop content for the same.
2. Don’t be afraid to Showcase your Personality
Personal branding only works if the audience can see the personality. Another bland person with generic values is not enticing enough for users. Bring your humour, your morals, and what keeps your passion high to the forefront.
3. Promote your Brand by Cross-Pollinating
Use all other online mediums to cross-post your content. Links from your social media accounts, Medium, guest posts, and YouTube should connect to your personal app. This allows you to draw in audiences from other platforms.

Conclusion

A personal social media app is an effective tool for building your own personal brand. Consumers and audiences resonate more with individuals rather than companies which makes personal branding crucial to your success.
Supersourcing can help you find a great social media app development company that can help you build and manage your personal app.