​Personal Branding has been a fascinating topic over the past few years.

During our most recent New York Fashion Week, Women’s Wear Daily partnered with Samsung for a two-day star-studded seminar WWD Style Dimension at Samsung837’s stunning location in the Meatpacking District. During this particular seminar, fashion advocates and entrepreneurs from all over the city gathered to hear the ins and outs of Personal Branding from fashion’s sought-after experts.

The speakers included Shopbop Fashion Director, Caroline Maguire and Alice + Olivia’s EVP of Brand Marketing & Communications, Aliza Licht.

Below, you’ll discover a few of our favorite personal branding takeaways from the insightful panel.

1. COMMITTING TO YOUR NICHE

What do you want to be known for? According to Aliza Licht, this is the core question you must ask yourself. “Before social media took a hit, your personal brand was just what people told others about you, also known as your reputation. Now you can use social media to spread the message we want people to receive about us. Figure out what you want to be known for and put the message out there on your social media accounts, all the time. By using repetition, your message will become your personal brand. No one thinks about you on a daily basis, so make them think about you by posting frequently and by networking with the right people. You have to feed your message to each person, so talk about it all the time”, an essential piece of advice Aliza Licht dropped on the audience.

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2. AUTHENTICITY IS KEY

Authenticity was a big key in Caroline Maguire’s insight. “You have to be 100% yourself or you’re not doing personal branding the right way. Be true to yourself, post a lot in the moment and show people a glimpse of your real personal life.” Caroline’s Insta Stories and posts on Instagram are always snaps of the moment and she shares the mix of her everyday mom-life with being an entrepreneur. “Pretending to be a whole other person on social media must be so exhausting”, she laughs. “Don’t do that because it will get you nowhere.”

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3. CREATE A BRAND FILTER

Creating a brand filter is a must to grow a stronger personal brand. Ideally, every new project or idea has to go through a mental process to find out if the idea is a match with the brand. Aliza Licht put it this way: “Before you post something, make sure that it fits your brand filter. Is this something that’s in line with the message you’re putting out there? For example, if you want to comment on something that’s happening in the news, make sure your opinion fits your brand filter. To make sure that your social media accounts represent your personal brand all the time, you have to do a spring cleaning now and then. Look back on your old posts and see if they still fit your brand filter. If not, just delete them”, is her magic tip.

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4. CONSISTENCY ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Consistency may be a familiar concept regarding social media, but it’s a golden one. Aliza Licht swears by posting multiple times a day, preferably three times every day. “There are thousands of Instagram accounts and daily posts, so you’re just a small fish. If you want people to see your posts, you have to post all the time. Even if you don’t post on your feed, make sure you use Insta Stories every day. Be active, and take the time to personally answer all comments on your posts. The Instagram algorithm will reward you for that.” Aliza then revealed that her favorite app for creating beautiful Instagram content is Canva, which we also absolutely love to use!

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5. THE 'NEW YORK TIMES' TEST

A golden rule that Aliza mentioned multiple times was the “New York Times Test.”

“If you don’t want a full page of the picture or opinion that you posted in the New York Times, then just don’t post it. It’s the best way to figure out what to post and what to keep to yourself. If you’re re-marketing your brand or doing a spring cleaning, you need to apply this test in addition to seeing if it fits your brand filter.”

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During the seminar Aliza and Caroline both agreed that Instagram is the most powerful tool at the moment for personal branding. With these five takeaways you’ll definitely see results for all your hard efforts, hours, and strategies for social media.