How to Choose Your Avatar

No, we are not talking about picking a movie time here, but if you saw the movie, then you know that an Avatar is a representation of yourself.

Wiki says, “An avatar is a computer user's representation of himself/herself or alter ego, whether in the form of a three-dimensional model used in computer games, a two-dimensional icon (picture) or a one-dimensional username used on Internet forums and other communities... It is an object representing the user.”

Now that we have that straight… Choosing the right avatar to represent your personal brand is just as important as selecting a logo for your company. Perhaps more important in the world of social media because that is what people see every time they correspond with you on Twitter, Facebook, etc.

As a branding agency, we know the importance of being selective in choosing the right avatar for our various social media communication. Here are some of our top criteria in the selection of an avatar.

1. Don’t use a default avatar. Nothing screams newbie like selecting one of the default images as your avatar – make it personal.
2. Pick one avatar for all communication. No, you aren’t stuck with this avatar for life, but you should be consistent. Twitter, Facebook, your blog, forums – they should all get the same avatar. (Hello, this is your online branding strategy.)
3. KISS - Keep it Simple Stupid. Remember, your avatar will often appear smaller than a half inch. If you have a busy background, it is hard to see what’s going on.
4. Make it interesting. Don’t go crazy and break tip #3, but your avatar should be attractive, interesting and/or fun. Make people want to hear from you.
5. Logo or Photo. Depends. Personal branding – photo. Company branding – logo.

Alright, so those are our tips. Wanna see what we do? For our branding agency, we each have our own avatars to represent our voice. Look for us online.