Content Creation – Portfolio Rational
Introduction
The client chosen for our student project was the University of Hertfordshire Business School, located on the de Havilland campus. I chose to do three different Instagram designs: a post, a story and reel, based around the theme of mental health. According to University of Hertfordshire (2017) 'the majority of students studying full-time are aged 18-20 (66.3%)'. While Instagram is used by over 76% of 15–25-year-olds (Statista, 2022). These statistics would suggest that using Instagram for social media posts, will reach more current and prospective students than an alternative platform such as Twitter. Being a consumer of Instagram content myself, I have the ability to put myself in the position of the consumer, which helped me to construct my designs. In addition to the three social media designs, we were expected to compose a blog, containing various images, and a sponsored influencer video. The blog needed to contain creative copy writing skills and a call to action, whilst sticking to the LinkedIn character limit (3000 characters). The influencer video needed to demonstrate our understanding of earned and shared media referred to in the PESO framework (Dietrich, 2014). Dzamic and Kirby (2018) suggest that 'this model is useful when conceptualising spaces where content should appear, how it may be discovered and what kind of content could be deployed.'
Overall Creative Strategy
The target audience for my social media posts is first year university students. The Office for National Statistics (2021) recorded that 'over a fifth (21%) of first year students had engaged with mental health and well-being services since September 2020'. The demographics of the university and mental health statistics, suggest that the posts will benefit this group the most because they are the biggest and most likely to look for mental well-being content. First year students are more vulnerable to feeling lonely, anxious and depressed, compared to second- or third-year students, because it is a big change and a new environment that they need to adjust to.
My objectives of my Instagram posts are to make students aware of the resources available to them and reduce the stigma around mental health. Even if students don't need to access the resources at that current time, it is important to keep sharing this type of content, so they know their mental well-being is a consistent, on-going priority of the university. My objectives are shown in my content through using call to actions (CTA's) and links to websites to make the further information more easily accessible.
In my blog post I used off page search engine optimisation (SEO) because the assignment brief outlines the blog post is limited to 3000 characters, as per LinkedIn's requirements. Hanlon (2019) states that SEO is "the practice of improving an organisation's place in the SERPs using organic or free methods usually abbreviated to SEO." Using external links, such as a hyper link to the Herts Student Union website, refers the readers to more, informative, content without impacting the character count too drastically. Another benefit of hyperlinks is that they improve search engine optimisation and search traffic to your social media channels. I also used keyword intent, making sure to include words such as 'Herts', 'Mental Health' and 'Student Support' in my captions and hashtags to increase the chances that it would be viewed by others with similar search intent. This covers readers with informational intent: 'people with an informational intent have a specific question or want to know more about a certain topic' (Yoast, 2021).
The specific topics I chose to address within my theme of mental health were: how to manage your mental health and destigmatising mental health issues. The Buddy Scheme in particular helps to reduce mental well-being stigma as it encourages people who are struggling to come together. The proposition of the brand is that you wouldn't want your friends and family to stay quiet, so why should you?
Design
For my Instagram post I decided to use the BAB copywriting formula in my caption. The BAB formula helps readers to identify a problem they have and encourages them to take action, (Handley, 2017). According to Zote (2021), the ideal length for an Instagram caption is around 50 characters. However, I exceeded this limit by using 186 characters, (excluding hashtags) because it was necessary for following the BAB formula and telling a story. The caption for my reel contained a shorter, 143 characters, (excluding hashtags) following the PAS formula, (Handley, 2017), which helps to invoke fear into the reader. Zote (2021) outlined that 'the most effective number of hashtags to use for accounts with over one thousand followers, was between one and ten'. This influenced my decision to use three hashtags in both my Instagram post and Instagram reel. All hashtags contained relevant key words such as 'Herts', 'Mental Health' and 'LetsTalk', for search engine optimisation.
Some of the design principles you will see within my work are visual hierarchy, the rule of thirds and colour and contrast. In my post you will see that the text varies in size, with the largest text and the bottom, and gradually getting smaller down the page. This draws the reader to the title and helps the design flow. You will also see contrasting colours, with blue and orange elements of the design. It is suggested by Kramer (2022), that the colour orange communicates 'youth' and 'accessibility', which is a perfect match for the brand message and the target audience. The colour blue compliments the orange as it communicates trust and dependability, which is also important for our objectives. For my reel I chose a different colour palette, consisting of grey and pastel pink.
The reason for using pink is that it is a soft, 'delicate' colour (Kramer, 2022). Pastel pink is an appropriate choice when discussing mental health because it's a sensitive topic for some people.
My Instagram story for mental health was a much simpler design, because it is content that is consumed more quickly due to the twenty-four-hour limit. The shortness of the Instagram story inspired my idea for a 'quick reminder' post as it is relevant to the nature of the content and how it is consumed.
In relation to the brand guidelines, I ensured that I used the University of Hertfordshire font and colours. Their chosen font, used in all of their own campaigns and social media posts is Helvetica. On Canva, the closest version of the Helvetica font that they have available is Helveticish.
Theory
Models and Framework:
To make my posts and designs feel more authentic, I went for an Aesthetic Content Marketing approach (Dzamic and Kirby, 2018). In the brief the client wanted to see examples of paid, owned, earned and shared media. The Instagram posts and blog post for the Herts Business School are examples of owned media because they have been created by the business, for the business. Earned media is anything written/ made about your brand that hasn't been in an exchange for an incentive e.g. money. The video posts that we produced are examples of earned media because they were not paid for by the university.
Social Media Theory:
The content I have created is likely to be seen because of a user's search intent. Informational intent is going to bring up this type of media as it is associated with mental well-being content, which is typically sought out by a user. For my social media captions, I stuck to the BAB and the PAS copywriting formula to keep it short and informal.
Blog Theory:
Because my audience is first year university students, it was best to keep the blog post quite informal. However, considering the subject was mental health, it would be inappropriate and out of context to put in jokes or humour. I tried to keep the tone quite chatty, whilst still telling a story, to make it feel like the reader was listening to a friend. I started the blog with a question to grab the reader's attention and draw them in and to incite action, my blog features hyperlinks and call to actions to persuade them to sign up for the resources.
Video Theory:
Unlike other social media platforms, content has much more potential to go viral on TikTok. Therefore, I chose this platform. After watching the video, I want the audience to feel inspired to look after their mental well-being and feel confident in seeking support. I want the audience to act and try to better their mental wellbeing, even if it is independent, or they require support from the university.
Reference List
University of Hertfordshire (2017) Ethnicity and Diversity Annual Report. University of Hertfordshire. Available at: https://www.herts.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/192919/equality-and-diversity-annual-report-2017.pdf [Accessed: 5 December 2022]
Dixon, S. (2022). Reach of leading social networking sites used by those aged 15 to 25 in the UK. Statista. [Online] Available at https://www.statista.com/statistics/1059462/social-media-usage-uk-age/. [Accessed 5 December 2022]
Dzamic, L and Kirby, J. (2018). The Definitive Guide to Strategic Content Marketing. [Online]. Kogan Page. Available at: https://bibliu.com/app/#/view/books/9780749482237/epub/OEBPS/chapter-title00-03-02.html#ch00fig1 [Accessed 18 December 2022]
Hanlon, A. (2019). Digital Marketing: Strategic Planning & Integration. London: Sage Publications Ltd.
The Office of National Statistics (2021) Student Experiences Insights Survey. UK Government. Available at https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/healthandwellbeing/bulletins/coronavirusandfirstyearhighereducationstudentsengland/4octoberto11october2021 [Accessed 5 December 2022]
Yoast. (2021). What is search intent and why is it important for SEO?. [Online]. Yoast.com. Last Updated: 23 September 2021. Available at: https://yoast.com/search-intent/ [Accessed 18 December 2022]
Handley, A. (2014). Everybody writes: your go-to guide to creating ridiculously good content. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley.
Zote, J. (2021). How long should social posts be?. [Online]. Sproutsocial.com. Last Updated: 26 July 2021. Available at: https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-character-counter/ [Accessed 18 December 2022]
Kramer, L. (2022). Colour meanings and the art of using colour symbolism. [Online].
99designs.co.uk. Last Updated: November 2022. Available at: https://99designs.co.uk/blog/tips/color-meanings/#green [Accessed 18 December 2022]
Dzamic, L and Kirby, J. (2018). The Definitive Guide to Strategic Content Marketing: Perspectives, Issues, Challenges and Solutions. London: New York.
