Building a teacher brand is as essential as Upskilling. To convey what you do, how you do it, your passion for it and what value you add to your work is why you probably need to work on your teacher brand.
Digital space is the way to go in the future. Creating an online presence and a brand of yourself in the digital space can yield profitable personal and professional growth returns. To sustain in the field for long, one needs to upskill and showcase their practices and learnings in their online presence where people can learn about you and what you do. Also, having a personal brand can help you reflect and improve along the way as required.
Here are a few tips for teachers that'd help you in building your teacher brand.
Maintain a Blog
Blogging is the classic way to express and create your own personal brand. With new tech and tools coming out every day, blogs can be interactive and more engaging than before, and teachers can optimise the power of blogging to showcase their experience and create a brand for themselves. The first key component to your blog is the title and the URL. Now, these two are the first important things that'll have an impact on your audience. Your blog title and URL must be unique, something that resonates with you, and the first look into your brand. Your URL and title could reflect the subject you teach, the content you'll focus on in your blog or anything that will fit what you do.
Content is the second and most crucial aspect of a blog. Before you jump into writing, plan what you want to put out and what you want to save for direct interactions. Your content could be on lesson plans, projects, teaching practices, technology in your subject, learning goals, what you've learned from your failures and more. You can also explore creating Podcasts or vLogs and mix things to make your blog engaging and versatile.
Optimise Social Media
The use of social media has to be one of the most debated topics ever. If used sensibly, social media offers the power to communicate, engage and build your personal learning community, adding a lot of value to the growth of your personal brand. Social media platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram can help you create your online presence and build a community of like-minded people with similar interests. Also, there are teacher dedicated platforms like edmodo, teachquest, betterlesson where you can engage with other people from your community, learn new things, grow in your work and build your brand alongside. Engaging with people with similar interests and from your community increases your reach and visibility and helps in a better brand value. Always share your content on your social media profiles, create healthy dialogues around the areas of your interest, build your network and learning community and alongside, you'll see all this traction on your brand page.
Connect with EdTech Brands
Building your teacher brand involves sharing your success story, but it is also about learning from the success of others. EdTech companies are developing innovative tools every day to make teaching and learning processes effective and efficient. These edtech companies also help in community building by introducing you to teachers and like-minded users of their solutions and helping you learn from their experiences as well. You can always create a dialogue around teaching and learning practices, bring success stories of other teachers to people through your brand. Many companies offer communities and learning opportunities for teachers who want to explore the role of technology in education, like Google certified Educators, Apple distinguished Educators, PBS Learning Media Digital Innovators, and more. These networks allow you to learn with people from your community who share the same passion and vision.
Market Your Own Brand
Investing in brand-building without marketing it will go in vain. Marketing your digital identity and brand will help you sustain in the long run and create value for your brand on a larger level. As much time and resources you spend on brand building, consider investing the same amount and effort in marketing it. Aim your efforts towards your target market. It could be teachers, EdTech companies, parents or any other education stakeholders. If you are targeting learners, there are multiple factors that you could consider, i.e., age, region, area of interest, and so. Using social media platforms to increase awareness about your brand can benefit in expanding your reach and recognition. Be consistent with your online activity on social media and simplify your work by using various tools like Buffer and more.
The following important part is measuring and analysing your brand's social footprint and your consumers' reaction to it. Learn your consumers' engagement on your content and analyse their reactions and interests. Deliver what they like while maintaining the balance with what you want to bring forward. Evaluate and alter your online strategy accordingly.
Another great way to build your teacher brand is by participating in educational seminars, webinars, and conferences. Participating in education events that resonate with you and your community will help you build a brand, PLN, and explore the industry on a different level. Come forward and engage with people through these events, attend, speak and join the community to stay relevant and get a grip on the latest movements in the field.
