✺ SOCIAL MEDIA ✺
Having chosen a brand name and experimented with illustration, I was then able to start creating my social media channels. The two forms of social media I intend to use for this project is Instagram and TikTok.
Instagram will be the main output for me to share the work I have created during this project as it will provide me with the most professional form of social media portfolio, but I will also experiment with using TikTok to compare each platform.
This page will provide an overview of the different social media tools and tactics I implemented during this project.
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Content I will post to Instagram includes:
Finished artworks
Instagram Stories- sharing behind the scenes, personable content and artworks
Short videos called 'Reels' mixing video clips with illustrations/process
Gain audience feedback by asking questions or putting Polls in my Instagram Stories
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Content I will post to TikTok includes:
Short videos mixing video clips with illustrations/process
✺ INSTAGRAM STRATEGY ✺
DAILY POST
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When I first set up my Instagram account, I posted a new image or reel every day for 12 days. This was only possible because I delayed starting my social media accounts so I would have time to create the content in advance. Continuing to post daily isn’t sustainable long term, as it is an incredibly time-consuming process to both create an artwork and then find the time to share it to social media at the right time to reach your audience. I also noticed a lot of my favourite illustration accounts only once or twice a week, supported by my survey findings, which will be much more manageable in the future. Posting daily however was an important step in the beginning, as it allowed me to fill my profile with a sample of work and begin to gain audience feedback and exposure as quickly as possible.
The Instagram algorithm prefers you to post only once, posting more than this puts you at risk of being considered spam, and your posts being hidden from potential audiences.
HASHTAGS
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In addition to more general, descriptive hashtags, I used the hashtags of a few brands such as magazines that work with themes of mindfulness and nature to try and be seen by these brands who may ultimately share my work to their own audience. One example of this is Bloom magazine who I tag with their hashtag #bloomxmag, who as a result have been liking my posts and have also started following me.
REELS
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Reels are a relatively new feature to Instagram and increasing in popularity, thanks to the success of TikTok. Reels are Instagram’s take on TikTok videos, allowing you to shoot, trim and edit a short 30 second video and share it to your profile. You can also overlay the video with music.
I aimed to create a Reel to go with every artwork I created, and the video consisted of clips of flowers, the drawing process and the finished result. I carefully selected music to accompany the clip, often opting for relaxing, well known piano music to reflect the serene quality of my illustrations, music from the 60s-70s to reflect the vintage influence in my work and my characters clothing, or current popular artists that suit my brand’s aesthetic, such as Celeste and Harry Styles.
My first reel was very successful, receiving over 3000 views. However the subsequent reels didn’t hit those same numbers and this may have been due to me posting too frequently, or simply just not being shown due to Instagram’s algorithm.
Stories
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Instagram Stories often get more attention than posts on Instagram, so I would try to post to Instagram Stories on a daily basis. Instagram Stories allow for much more informal content, that will only be seen for 24 hours, unlike posting to your profile grid which requires more carefully curated content.
On my stories I would share new works, behind the scenes processes of my drawings, and some informal personal content that was in keeping with the brand, for example, walks in nature with my dog, or sharing some footage of my time working at the florist on weekends.
Interacting with other users
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I tried to like and comment on other people’s posts on a daily basis, particularly of brands and other illustrators I like. In many cases, I would get a reply to my comment and in some instances I would receive new followers as a result of commenting and making myself known to others. Small businesses and artists benefit from supporting others within their community, and it’s important I make the effort to engage in the community and build my network while I am still a small creator at the beginning of my creative journey.
Using Questions & Poll stickers
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Instagram Stories allows for you to apply 'Stickers' to your story, for example a Poll- where you can ask a question and give people two options to choose from, or a Question box- allowing you to ask a question and people can write their answer. This is a good way of creating a more interactive element to your stories and makes your account more inclusive to your audience. It also allowed me to get instant feedback from my audience in a less formal, easier way than for example, asking someone to go to my profile and click a link and complete a survey.
I successfully used the Sticker feature on a couple of occasions:
1. Gaining feedback from my first series ‘Flowers From My Garden’: Finding out which artworks were most popular, and asking for future suggestions on what flower/characters people might like to see in the future
2. Creating an interactive ‘This or That’ game with my Ginkgo fashion series: Audience chooses their favourite two piece, dress and accessory from the series
I also used these features to help me to gain feedback to help me with my final reflection phase of this project: understanding what content people liked best, how my work is viewed by others, what they would like to see more of, and if they would be interested in buying printed versions of my work in the future.
Findings can be seen in the 'Feedback & Reflection' tab.
Promoted Posts (Facebook Ads)
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The best way to gain exposure and new followers on Instagram currently is to use their paid ad feature. The feature works by setting a budget for how much you would like to spend per day promoting a post- the more days you choose and higher your budget, the more people you reach. While being promoted, your post will appear on the feeds of people who don’t yet follow you and in people’s Stories. At this stage, I am not wanting to spend large amounts of money to promote my work, however I did promote 4 of my posts (spending a total of £22 on ads) and the estimate given by Instagram is that I would reach up to 1800 people per post with this budget and timeframe.
I did see results from promoting my posts- the 3 posts I paid to promote have had significantly more likes than my other posts, and I received more followers during the promotional periods.
✺ TARGET AUDIENCE ANALYSIS ✺
Using Instagram's Social Analytics Tool allows me to gain insight into my audience.
Insights reveal that the majority of my followers are my target demographic of women (90%), Millennials (57.8%) and my secondary audience of Gen-Z (25.7%).
Insights also allow me to track which times of day my audience is most active on Instagram, which should help to identify the best time of day to post content for optimum exposure. As a result, I mainly post work between 6-8pm.
✺ TIKTOK STRATEGY ✺
So far, I have uploaded similar videos to my Instagram Reels to TikTok. This was because I was struggling to find the time to create entirely different videos for both platforms.
The most successful TikTok videos tend to work with music and humour, and at the moment I don’t feel myself and my brand align with the platform very well. TikTok users are much more self-based, their content often films themselves, talking to the camera, being funny or taking part in a TikTok trend or challenge. I also prefer to use my own particular taste and style of music for my videos, which might not be the ‘trending’ music of the moment, that can enhance viewing figures.
I’m yet to see the benefits of TikTok, however I do know that as a platform it is getting increasingly more important for brands and small businesses to utilise. The benefits of TikTok is that its homepage has a ‘Doom Scroll’ meaning that unlike Instagram, where your work will not appear after a short while, you are guaranteed to have your work seen by more people on TikTok .
I haven’t had huge amounts of success with TikTok, though have had views and new followers despite me not posting much and not interacting with other users. I am hoping that as I become more confident in my artwork and build a stronger network, I will be more relaxed about my content on TikTok such as showing myself, talking to my audience, being more personable and taking part in the trends on TikTok. Once I adapt more towards TikTok, I hope that I will see better results.
✺ WEBSITE ✺
My website for Emsie is very much a work in progress and will continue to be. As I still need to create a substantial amount of work, and diversify my portfolio, my social media accounts are a much better way of showcasing my work. I will also be able to make a more interesting website as my knowledge of Squarespace improves, and once I have a cohesive final set of branding.
I am using Squarespace to create my website, as I find their templates professional looking and sleek with enough personalisation features for my needs, compared to other platforms. Squarespace also has the option to make your site e-commerce, so if I do decide to sell my work, for example stationery or art prints, in the future then Squarespace can cater to those needs.
