Client Brief
The Social Media Design & Strategy brief was to create and manage a social media campaign over two different social media platforms, creating content to promote the clients business.
Client Blueprint
My client for this project is my childhood best friend who lives in Wales. When asked, she wanted to go by her writing name, Talia Syn, to keep anonymity throughout the project and throughout social media. Talia has been writing stories since secondary school but has always been a big reader.
At the beginning of the semester, I got my client to fill out a Google document questionnaire to gain an understanding about her as a writer, a reader, the stories she writes and how she wants to be perceived on social media. Continuing throughout the project, we used Google Drive and iMessages to keep up communication and to share files and ideas. We brainstormed the requirements of the project, being promotion of her newly finished piece that is the first book of a series called ‘Fracture Fairytales: Pure Intentions’. This would include social media posts relating to the book, links to Wattpad where the book is available to read and also a redesign of the book cover to encapsulate the themes of the story.
Client Purpose
“To create stories and share with others who are also interested in similar genres, themes and books.”
Aims & Objectives
To promote newly completed story Pure Intentions.
To promote clients Wattpad page.
To gain more followers.
To create a consistent brand throughout all social media.
SWOT Analysis
To start this project, I created a SWOT analysis for my client. This helped the project move forward as we could work to turn the weaknesses into strengths and to avoid or have contingency plans for threats.
Client Goals
The short term goals for my client, especially during this project is to gain more followers for her social media platforms, so she is able to promote her past, present and future stories to a wider fanbase. She also wants to be known for giving reliable and accurate books reviews of stories that are similar to hers. Her long term goals are to become a writer full time, to get published and make a career out of writing her stores.
Insight
My client already had an Instagram account set up which was used during the project. My client wanted a brand that had a theme that matched dark romance novels as that is to genre she wrote and reviewed the most.
Time Management
At the beginning of this project, I created a Gantt chart to follow throughout. I also kept a reference list of all the links I visited that aided me in my research and kept to do lists that I would update and print out regularly to make sure I was completing each task. I followed the Gantt chart and moved tasks around if there were other tasks taking priority, that needed to be added or due to poor time management on my own behalf. I also kept a record of the Instagram pages I used as reference in a chat with myself to make sure they weren’t lost in communication with the client and I could return to them easily.
Sketchbook and iPad
Throughout the project I kept a sketchbook with me so I could easily write down notes and ideas about the project, without needing to get my laptop or phone out and getting distracted by going online. I also used a sketchbook for meeting notes with my client to jot down quick ideas and so my client could read over it to make sure everything was correct. I also relied on my iPad throughout the project, to create the book cover and to monitor, post and share the Instagram page. Keeping my iPad close to my sketchbook meant I was able to take photo of the pages and digitalise them quickly to start working. I mainly used Procreate to create the Book cover and to view files my client sent to me that they had created previously.
Initial Ideas
The initial idea to work with my friend to help her promote her books and herself as a writer has been spoken about between us for a while. With this project and her completing the first book of the series happened at the same time. It seemed like the perfect time to work together and both benefit from this project.
Our idea was to promote on Instagram and TikTok at the beginning, however we moved onto Instagram and Pinterest as it fit the brief and wants of the client better. Talias’ USP is writing a genre that it up and coming in the world of booktok and booksagram. Dark romance has darker themes and mature content and often come with content warnings such as trauma and violence. The target audience is new adults, aging between 18 and 25.
Initial Insights
With my client already having an established Instagram business account, I was able to see some insights provided by Instagram. This was valuable information to have at the beginning of the project to understand the demographic she was currently attracting with what she had posted. I was also able to compare these to the insights at the end to see how the profile progressed throughout the project and if any of the insights had changed.
Research
Authors
As my client is an avid reader of the dark romance genre, and reading in general, she was able to recommend some of her favourite authors to use as reference via Instagram pages. This was a great help as it aided me to visualise how my clients own Instagram feed should look and what should be included within posts such as certain hashtags.
Target Audience
The target audience for my clients series is new adult. This is the age range between 18 and 25 years old. It is a relatively new term for book genres but is becoming more popular as it acts as a good buffer between young adult (12 - 18) and adult 25+. With my client already having a successful Wattpad profile, I could see that her stories were already attracting these readers using the insights available. The insights also stated that the existing audience is predominantly female. However, the posts and profile created on the different social medias will cater to all genders.
Social Media Management
After researching how many posts should be posted in a day, I planned accordingly to achieve about 40 posts over the timeline given, with enough time ti examine the insights provided by the social medias business tools. I also researched different automated posting softwares such as Preview and Instagrams built in tool. However, as my client has her Instagram account linked with her private profile and has an inactive Facebook profile. These softwares were unavailable to me. I was able, however, to use Pinterests built automated poster as the profile was created for this project.
Sustainability
The sustainability goal for this project, provided by the University from the the United Nations (UN) was sustainability goal 12. ‘Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns’. During this project, I tried to use sustainable ways while creating, such as reusing sketchbooks and notebooks from previous projects that still had empty pages, rather than buying new. I also tried to be sustainable by reducing the size of my files when uploading to my portfolio and when sharing files with my client. I will also encourage my client to be sustainable when printing her books if and when she gets published by using recycled paper or sustainable production methods.
Competitive Analysis
Multiple Instagram pages were studied for the competitor analysis. Allowing for inspiration for our own posts and to make a clear USP for my client. The authors used for the competitor analysis are authors that my client aspires to be like and actively reads and follows.
Direct
The direct competitor for my client would have to be an author that is very similar in the genre that they write and the stories that they write, with a similar target audience. One author that I found was Nikki St. Crowe (@nikkistcrowe). In her Instagram bio she writes “#1 Amazon Bestselling Author of spicy paranormal romance where the villain gets the girl” This is very similar to the plot of Pure Intentions as it is a dark romance book that is spicy. Looking at Nikki’s page, she has a very clear brand image that is clean, calculated and bright, using white backdrops to make the dark covers of books stand out and the posts about her own novels also stand out. The review template in the caption that Nikki uses is also very similar to that of my own clients which they created. Taking inspiration from this competitor helped as I knew what hashtags to use and how to format the captions.
Secondary
A secondary competitor that I studied for my client was the author Lucy Smoke (@authorlucysmoke). My client is a big fan of her work and reads a lot of her books, a few of which have been used for the the reviews throughout the project. Lucy Smokes instagram was a good page to use as a competitor she she writes a similar genre to Pure Intentions, but she also posts a lot of reviews. Lucy also has a strong brand throughout her posts, with a darker vibe but is still very clean. Lucys page is also a lot more personal as she posts pictures of herself, either with her books or with other creators and fans at meet and greets. My client what’s to keep her anonymity however.
Inspiration
Most inspiration for the Instagram posts and the pins on Pinterest have come from other social media profiles, such as other authors. Inspiration was also gained from Pinterest collections that my client had already curated previous to starting this project.
Instagram
Other authors used for inspiration helped me envision what elements of writing posts and reviews work. Implementing these into the designs and gaining feedback and ideas from my client, was a good starting point to start the sketches.
Pinterest
The Pinterest posts will follow the same design used for the Instagram posts to keep the brand image and message consistent over the two social media platforms. Pinterest boards have also been used and combined into the sketches created for the posts and reviews, which will also be used in the Instagram posts.
TikTok
After deciding to work on Instagram and Pinterest, TikTok will not be used throughout the project. This is because what the client wants from the brief fits these two social medias better, and the client is already a regular poster on TikTok with her own character and book edits. They still match the brand massage and image, but the client has complete control over TikTok and what is posted.
Personas
I created 4 personas that matched the target audience in different ways. This gave a good indication of how the social media pages would be perceived and what they would need to achieve. Raging from the ages of 18 to 23 and having different interests, and at different levels of interest in the genre and reading in general, this created a good range of personas.
Campaign Strategy
Instagram
For the social media strategy, I posted 2 - 3 posts a day of different content. The content would range from information about the client as an author, which I took from the Google Docs document that she completed at the beginning of the semester. Information about the series or book that she is currently promoting, Fracture Fairytales: Pure Intentions. Also, book reviews completed by the client, which were also written in another Google Docs with the correct formatting, hashtags, quotes and ratings. Creating this document meant that the reviews were accurate in the designs and were easily accessible for both me and the client. The posts were posted at similar times everyday, one at 10am, 2pm and 5pm. This meant that they would be posting on the target audiences feeds at peak times when social medias get the most traffic, but it also meant they were being posted at good times in different time zones, such as in America and Asia, where some of the followers are from, provided by Instagrams Insights.
Unfortunately, with Instagram being part of the Metaverse and my client having her author account linked with her personal account and having an inactive Facebook account, I was unable to use an automated poster for Instagram. I had to post each individually at the correct times. Due to lectures and working full time, these were sometimes a little late as I didn't alway have access to the account, but they were always posted within the hour of the designated time.
Pinterest
For Pinterest, I had to create a new profile for my client as she didn’t have a dedicated account for her stories. This allowed me to create a business account to access the insights that Pinterest is able to provide on posts and I was also able to automate the posts. This helped me a great deal when it came to posting consistently as I was able to plan all of the posts at once for the correct boards with the correct captions. I later used these captions, or ones very similar, on Instagram when I had to manually post. I also posted 2 - 3 posts a day on Pinterest to remain the same as Instagram, leaving a clear brand message between the two social media platforms. Given that there were no previous insights for me to analyse before posting, I was hoping the timings used for Instagram would translate the same onto Pinterest. This seemed to work well as the posts got a view clicks, however, I think trying different times in the future would be beneficial to see if there are other times which suit the platform better as it is a growing social media platform in the UK.
Book Cover
One task that my client asked me to complete during this project that doesn't directly relate to the brief was to redesign the book cover for Pure Intentions to fit the branding that was created for the posts. I thought this was a good idea as it allowed consistency through all online presences, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok and Wattpad.
Sketches
When I met up with my client, I asked what elements she would like to include on the book cover, how they tie into the story and if there were any elements from the existing book cover. This was helpful as it was easy to start designing sketches which I would later share with my client for feedback and any alterations. Taking elements such as the title being diagonal across the cover with the series name at the top meant I had elements to work around and not have to fit in. As the client has a better understanding of the story, I believed this process worked well. The main elements she wanted to be included were; a rose, fire, a spider with spiderwebs and possibly a jewel.
Development
With these ideas in mind, my client stated that she didn’t want a book cover that would blend in amongst other stories in the genre, and to not use the font Sveva as it is heavily used for fantasy novels. She wanted a script handwriting to make the book cover approachable and like it was writing by the main protagonist. I carried this idea into the social media post design.
I studied other dark romance book covers and found that a lot of the same elements are used such as snakes, fire, models in suggestive positions and nature such as flowers or forest in a dark setting. I wanted to incorporate some of these themes to relate the book to the genre as if it were being printed and view in a store, or while a reader is scrolling through Wattpad. Also my client wanted some of these elements included, while also making it stand out. I sketched a rough idea of a rose on fire with a spider hanging off the stem and possibly some blood dripping from the leaves. I also sketched some Scorpion Grasses (Forget Me Nots) as they are my clients favourite flower.
I then used an AI colouring machine to gain inspiration from and to have an idea of what colours should be where, but more specifically, how to colour the flame.
Final
The final book cover as all the elements that my client requested such as a spider, webs, flowers and fire. After some feedback from Talia, we decided that having a white background looked better with the colour scheme used throughout the design and this will also make the cover stand out amongst the genre. I am very happy with how the rose on fire turned out as it is the main element and the most eye catching element of the book cover. After a few attempts and looking at different images for inspiration, I believe the style and composition fits the theme of the book very well. I also think the typography being gold makes it stand out very well, especially with the script font. Having different fonts for the title and the series and author name was a good idea as it breaks up the design well. The Forget Me Nots as background flowers also create a good depth to the cover while not overwhelming the design.
Posts and Pins
With Instagram having a three post layout when viewing profiles, I used a similar layout during the design process. This helped me visualise how the posts would look on my clients profile, how they worked together and the order they needed to be posted.
I first wrote out an idea list of what sort of posts would be made such as character quotes, where to find Pure Intentions, book reviews and posts about the author. I came up with about 40 different ideas and sent these through to my client to gain feedback and if she liked the ideas. My client gave the feedback that she didn’t want posts about scenes that happen within the book, because as an avid reader herself, these wouldn’t make her want to read the book and would rather read quotes. She also wanted to focus on the two main protagonists of the story rather than using quotes from secondary or supporting characters. My client also wanted to include a post about a playlist she has made for Pure Intentions, made up of songs that are either written into the story, or that fit the vibe of the story. I agreed and amended the list to include these and ended up with about 35 post ideas ready to design.
Sketches
With these ideas in mind, I started to sketch out designs for the book reviews that included the review itself, ratings that my client used emojis for, 2 separate quotes, a picture of the cover, the title and the author. I sketched out two different designs that spread across two 1080 x 1080 px art boards to fit the format Instagram uses. One design was very structured and square in design to try and fit all elements in clearly, and would be written with a font such as Times New Roman. The second design, and the one selected by client had a scrapbook like design to it, where elements would overlap each other, with details such as tape, ripped paper and sticky notes to be included in the design. The design also implemented a script font to make the review feel handwritten, called Cherry Blossom.
Development
With the design decided, I started to work in Adobe XD and Adobe Photoshop. Using Adobe XD allowed me to layout the art boards in the same format that Instagram uses with 3 posts next to each other. Once I had the design I liked, I translated these into Pinterest posts which are 1920 x 1080 px. The designs that are across two slides for Instagram, were made into a similar layout down one pin. Otherwise the design was the same, just adjusted to fit the measurements.
For the background of the posts, I used the colour pallet designed by me and my client, using different colours for different categories, such as a light maroon colour for the female protagonist and dark green for the male protagonist. I also used the dark green for the book reviews as it made the different elements stand out the best and black for posts such as links or call-to-actions. Initially I made the backgrounds a plain solid colour, however, after discussing it with my client, I decided to add the Forget Me Nots from the book cover, adding depth to the posts and these also make the posts tie in the the theme of the book. The fonts used throughout the posts are Cherry Blossom, Typeka and Timberline.
Final
My client was very happy with the final design for the pins and posts. She liked the colour pallet and the style of fonts used. The final review design as a scrapbook like look to it, making it look handmade and very approachable. including the elements of a polaroid for the books covers and using Cherry Blossom to give a handwritten feel. This is also helped by the use of sticky notes, ripped line paper and tape. Finally, the use of the Forget Me Nots in white adds a nice background to the pins and posts which also ties the posts to the book cover.
Amendments
The only amendment that my client wanted throughout the posts being active were for me to add the matching photo to the review. She wanted the photo to be first and then the review template in the carousel, making it clearer what the cover looked like.
Analytics
Pinterest
After all of the pins had been posted, I reviewed the analytics for the Pinterest page and found promising results. Overall, the profile achieved 672 monthly views, however gained 0 followers. There have been over 400 impressions from all pins with an increase into May. I believe if my client were to continue posting on Pinterest, she would gain a good following and gain more readers over on Wattpad by continuing to provide the links within pins and in her bio.
Instagram
Comparing the insights provided by Instagram from the beginning of the project, to the end. Profile engagement has increased by 716% and gained 10 followers. I believe, posting consistently, sticking to a theme and using the correct hashtags made a big impact on the engagements of the posts. Having studied the likes and comments, they do seem inconsistent in numbers, however, they are still reaching new profiles and spreading the word about my clients new book and about my client themselves. If my client were to continue to post consistently and adapt themes with every new book, she would gain a substantial following just like the authors she admires and the ones used for the competitive analysis.
Reflection
Overall, I enjoyed working on this project and with my client. I believe that we acted professionally when needed to even though we are friends and have known each other many years. I also believe the project was a success due to the social media growth and engagement on both profiles.
However, I will not be carrying on with this project as my client prefers to have complete control over what is posted and when and would rather create the content herself. I would, however, like to design more book covers and manage different social media pages in a similar vain. I throughly enjoyed creating a brand for an author, understanding their story as well as the story they have created and bringing it to life. I will pursue this further, possibly as a career or freelance.
Reference list
All links used for research, background reading and images.
