What Are Hero Platforms and Why Do You Need Them as a Personal Brand?

In the digital marketing world, there’s a lot of pressure to be everywhere.

Make an IGTV. 

Create a Facebook group. 

Ensure that you’re posting on Insta Stories 50 times a day.

And don’t forget your mailing list and blog while you’re at it.

It can feel massively overwhelming. In fact, this pressure to be omnipresent online makes a lot of us freeze up. We know that we don’t have the time to create content for a million different platforms, so what’s the point in even creating for one? The overwhelming prospect of having to understand and be nailing marketing in so many places is enough to make anyone procrastinate.

Perhaps even worse, it can also mean that we don’t put our best work out. Instead of taking the time to write one blog post, send one email or do one Instagram Stories series that will really have an impact on a customer (and therefore on our business!), we bash out lower-quality posts for multiple places.

Trust us, trying to be everywhere isn’t helping you and it certainly isn’t helping your personal brand. That’s where hero platforms come in.

What is a hero platform?

A hero platform simply means the platform that is driving you forward the most and, therefore, that you put the most time, effort and money into growing. It also encompasses what you’re best at doing and therefore what you’re most likely to see the best return on.

Picking a few hero platforms means that you’re able to lessen creator overwhelm and put out truly amazing content that will push your business forward.

Do you really need to be blogging, have a newsletter, post on Instagram, be on TikTok AND record a podcast? Or could you choose 2-3 hero platforms to pour everything into? This doesn’t mean you can’t use the other channels, but that they are not your priority.

Examples of brilliant personal brands with hero platforms

Once you’ve learnt about what hero platforms are, you’ll start noticing that a lot of the best personal brands out there are utilising them. They’re not spreading themselves too thinly and their businesses are growing as a result.

Take Jordan of Systems Saved Me, who recently shared some of her productivity tips on The Grow & Glow podcast. Helping help overworked one-woman shows become streamlined solopreneurs, Jordan focuses on IGTV videos and her podcast

Marketing whizz Jenna Kutcher is only really active via email (which she nails!), her Goal Digger podcast and Instagram. But all of her email sequences are long and expertly crafted, her episodes are value-packed and her Instagram is perfect for her audience.

Marketing coach Alice Benham is known for her incredible Instagram Stories, where she creates a relationship with her ideal customer and gives insights into her business. Plus, her Starting the Conversation podcast is her second hero platform, appealing to business owners through her honest chat about being an entrepreneur. 

Happiness coach, Sophie Cliff shares her tips on finding the joy every day through her brilliant podcast, Practical Positivity and her Instagram. Both of them give actionable tips, which is just what her audience is after.

How to select your hero platforms

Cutting down your social media arsenal may feel scary, but we promise it’ll be worth it in the long run. There are three main questions that you need to ask yourself when trying to decide which platforms to keep and which to ditch. 

Where does my ideal audience hang out? Look at your ideal customer/audience and, thinking about their age, gender, interests, job and whatever other information you have about them, figure out where they’re likely to be online. You need them to see your brilliant content, after all!

What’s my favourite platform? You didn’t launch a personal brand to hate what you do. You did it to bring you freedom in your work life, so make sure you choose a platform that you LOVE.

Is there a platform that makes sense for my biz? For example, if you sell products with a visual element, a platform that is overly wordy may not be the right place for you. 

Here at Grow & Glow, we’re all about helping you to build a sustainable and intentional brand. That means really getting clear on where you want to be spending your time and energy, so having hero platforms can be a total game-changer on this mission!

For help with defining your ideal audience, which feeds into picking your hero platforms, make sure to check out our Grow Into Your Niche course where you’ll find a whole host of training and resources. If you want in, but you’re not a member yet, join today.