Professional and Beginner Voice Actors Share Their Insights on Personal Branding and Promotion
Just how do you know when you’ve gone ‘pro?’ Is it by a certain number of years of experience, or the size of your client roster? Or maybe, could it come down to how you rate your professional brand – and how hard you promote it?
How are professional voice actors different from those who are starting out?
We wanted to know the answers, too.
That’s why we surveyed voice actors from around the world to learn more about how they classify their level of experience, and how each group (beginners versus pros) approach their business.
Here are the findings that the survey revealed in relation to personal branding and promotion.
About the Respondents
The respondents of the survey came from across the globe, including from countries like Australia, Brazil, The United Kingdom, Israel, Canada, and the United States.
As part of the survey, the respondents were asked to identify themselves as either a Professional or Beginner level voice actor.
Of those who responded, 48% identified as a Beginner, while 51% identified as Professional – an almost even split.
Here are some of the interesting insights they shared.
Personal Branding is Important, No Matter Whether You’re Beginning or a Pro
Whether you’re a voice actor who is just starting out or you’ve been in the game for a while, chances are, you see your personal brand as key to your success.
Almost 85% of Professional respondents and more than 75% of Beginner respondents stated that building a professional brand was very important to them.
So What’s in a Voice Actor’s Personal Brand?
While both groups agreed that personal branding is important, how they defined that brand actually varied quite a bit.
When asked to rank a variety of activities and branding tools, the respondents reacted very differently, depending on how they identified as a professional.
For instance:
- Creating a website was more important to pros (75%) than beginners (19%).
- Those who identified as professionals were more likely to talk up their past client work (60%) than beginners (41%).
- Professional respondents were also more apt to offer audio production services (71%) than their beginner counterparts (50%).
Personal Branding Strategies That Pros and Beginners Both Love
However, for all their differences, there are some key areas where both groups were in tune with one another.
Namely, respondents overwhelmingly agreed that these personal branding tools are ‘must have’ staples of the industry:
- Having professional head shots done
- Sharing testimonials and references from previous clients
Both groups were also close to agreement when it came to the importance of having an online social presence.
Learn more about Online Personal Branding for Voice Actors.
Professionals Versus Beginners on What Tools They Use to Promote Themselves
When it comes to the online channels that voice actors use to promote themselves, professional voice actors behave quite differently than beginners.
Professional Website
Professional voice actors said that they use their own professional website to promote themselves 78% of the time, whereas beginners said they’re only using a professional website about 45% of the time.
Similarly, professional voice actors said they use Facebook about 75% of the time for their self-promotion, and beginners are using Facebook only about 48% of the time.
LinkedIn is another channel that stands out amongst professional and beginner voice actor self-promotion behavior. Professionals use LinkedIn 71% of the time, and beginners use it only 36% of the time.
Industry Conferences and Networking
The activity beginner voice actors considered to be of a high priority was attending voice over conferences where they could develop their network organically.
Is Personal Branding and Promotion the Key to ‘Going Pro’?
Beyond personal branding and promotion, there are many factors that feed into whether or not a voice actor rates himself or herself as a ‘professional,’ or a beginner.
However, it is certainly interesting to note how differently each group approaches the task of getting their name out.
Even though 75% of beginner voice actors from the pool of global respondents said that developing their personal brand was “very important to them,” they’re not yet diving into the channels to gain success like their professional counterparts.
And all of this begs the question – should beginners adopt some of the pros’ behaviors as a way of leveling up their career?
We’d love to hear your thoughts and comments!
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