Marketing Yourself as a Model

In today’s world, establishing yourself in the modeling industry requires much more than just a pretty face. As a model, you are a brand. You use your name and face to help create interest in products. Because of this, you need to treat yourself and your modeling career as a business and apply the same tactics that other brands would use to market yourself.

Photo by Cameron Story

For a model, personal branding means finding the right balance between your true self and your social figure. Keeping up your image on social media, networking, connecting with potential clients and peers and continuously working to build your personal brand are all things that can assist you in boosting your career. I have listed a few tips below on how to market yourself as a model and help get yourself out there in your industry.

Social Media Presence

Social media has become a huge tool for models over the last several years, so making sure you have a strong presence and are putting out the right content is so important. Using the different platforms that are available, you to have control over your image and how people perceive you. You want to make it clear what you’re all about, so for models, you want to showcase your work and use it almost as an extension of your portfolio. Be sure to tag your agency, brands, and others that you work with in your posts. Follow models, photographers and other fashion industry professionals and don’t be afraid to comment on and share their posts as well. Seeing your name and photos pop up in their notifications will help keep you top of mind for potential bookings.

While most of your posts will show you as a model, it’s also important to show your personality and glimpses of what your life is like outside of modeling. Clients like booking models who can connect with their brand and who can relate to their target audience. Are you an athlete? Do you love the outdoors? Do you have an adorable pet? Let the world see these things and that you’re more than just a pretty face!

Be Professional

Showing up on time to a job, being prepared with all the things you need for the booking, being polite and courteous to everyone on set and having a good, positive attitude are all ways to establish yourself as being someone clients want to work with again and again. Creating a good reputation for yourself while on the job is the best way to make a good impression and market yourself as a true professional.

Network

Not all marketing happens online. In fact, some of the most effective marketing you can do for yourself is in-person. Attending industry events is a great opportunity to get yourself out there and let people know who you are and what you’re about. Even if you didn’t get booked for a runway show, attending as an audience member is a great way to get in front of potential clients and meet other industry professionals.

Using your bookings as a networking opportunity is also key. While on the job you will have endless opportunities to make new friends and business contacts. Be kind and friendly to all new people you meet, and add them on social media to keep in contact with them.

Be Consistent

Making sure you’re putting out a clear message about who you are and what you do is important, and be sure you’re consistent about that message across all your different social media platforms. If your Instagram is all about modeling, don’t have your Facebook page be full of just images and posts about your dog, and your Twitter be just about your favorite foods and restaurants you like to visit. If a potential client comes across your Facebook page, they may think you aren’t that serious about modeling or miss the fact that you’re a model entirely since your content doesn’t reflect that. Sending mixed messages could result in lost opportunities!

Do Your Research

Researching your local industry is a step many models forget about or think is unnecessary, but one that could actually have a pretty big impact on your career. If you don’t know what is going on, how can you market yourself correctly? It’s crucial to know who the heavy hitters are in not only your area, but the fashion industry as a whole. Have knowledge about the client base in your area as well. It makes it hard to network if you don’t even know who you should be trying to connect with!

Also be aware of marketing trends so you can adjust what you’re doing accordingly. Maybe start incorporating more videos in your social media posts or jump onto a new platform so you can continue to stay relevant.

Be Mindful About Who You Work With

Collaboration is a crucial part of modeling, but not all collaboration is beneficial to you and how you want to market yourself. A big client with a huge following may want to work with you on a few projects, but maybe they promote controversial content or openly support (or don’t support) something that goes against your own morals and beliefs. By working with them anyway, you could be creating mixed messages about who you are and where you stand on certain things, which could have a negative impact on future bookings. Not all exposure is good exposure, so make sure you’re mindful about who you work with and make sure it aligns with who you are and what you stand for.

Be Authentic

Social media has made it possible for everyone to have a voice and for you to have full control over how the world sees you. While that can be a good thing, it also means that it’s incredibly easy to give off a fake persona.

In order to market yourself as someone who people want to work with, you need to make sure you’re not creating a character that is vastly different than who you are in real life. If you’re naturally quiet, you don’t want to give off the impression that you’re the life of the party because when people meet you in person, you may come off as stand-offish or rude if they were expecting the loud party-girl.

The same goes for your physical appearance. As a model, your business is based on how you look. If all the images you post are heavily edited or filtered, you’re giving off a false impression of what you look like. You don’t want to show up to a booking and not be the model that the client thought they were hiring. Let your natural beauty and personality shine!

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