Introduction-
For this student project, the name of the client is the University of Hertfordshire Business School. We were asked to choose three different themes and create three different creative content pieces for them which follow the client brief and brand guidelines. By doing this successfully, we could show the client that we can incorporate designs that follow the brand guidelines, that we can successfully copywrite and show that we understand the theory. The objective that we had to keep in mind is that the client wants to expand their following on 3 different social media platforms across three different audiences which in this case are perspective students, current students, and alumni.
Strategy and concept-
When creating the content, I had the main objective of raising the client’s follower base on 3 different platforms in mind. The platforms I have chosen to focus on were Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn so that the content created on those platforms would also bring more followers to them. Try to contribute towards this goal, I have included call to action phrases that would push customers to follow the client. These different content pieces are designed to provide the audience with information which would then lead them on to want to know more. This is designed this way specifically to gain a larger following.
I have used various content types to meet the objective. For the social media mock-ups, I decided choosing a theme that would allow me to use planned content. This works for my theme ‘Why choose Hertfordshire Business School?’ as my target market are prospective students. Every year, there’s a certain time frame where A-level students are searching for what different universities have to offer. Therefore, universities must prepare content for this theme each year. My mock-ups portray to the audience what the university offers them and then pushes them to find out what other benefits they can get from joining.
Evergreen content is the other content type I used. The blog and video were designed to be relevant for a much longer time frame – this content doesn’t necessarily need to change. The blog aimed at alumni, talking about how they can promote their personal brand and the video talks about the Go Herts award and the benefits that it gives – aimed at current students. This content can be useful for many years as unless something major changes, it will remain valid for a long time. Baker (2015) mentions that evergreen content can be a great way to build upon the business’ search engine optimisation which can then lead audiences to the content much easier.
The brand’s promise is to be able to transform the lives of students and staff, allowing them to do things to their full potential. I believe that my content pieces relate well to the client’s promise as I mention in the video how the Go Herts award can push students to do better. I believe my creative concepts have matched up with the brand promise and promotes the positive image of the university. I also made sure to write all the copies in the specific tone of voice that they have asked. This is important as the client wants to be portrayed in a certain way and the tone they have set is what they expect to be seen as. They want to be approachable, confident, collaborative, energising, ambitious and transformative.
Design-
Copy writing-
Copy writing is an important aspect to consider when making content therefore considering what method to use is important in order to get a powerful impact on your reader. Therefore, I used different copywriting formulas from Handley (2014). One of the formulas I used was the PAS model (problem, agitate, solve). This model allowed me to relate to prospective students and think about what they might worry about. The money expenditure on books is definitely many people worry about. I put the problem and agitation together as they come hand in hand – you buy more of something; you lose more money. Newberry (2022) mentions that relating to your target market makes you closer to them and pushes them to become customers. Using this information, talking about books being expensive for students to buy shows them that the university understands and therefore has a solution. This is now where the solution is presented and entices the prospective students to want to find out more. I believe this formula would work well when working on growing a following as the audience can expect you to mention more solutions.
For every single copy, I kept in mind the platform’s word count. Zote (2019) mentioned all the different word counts for each platform I used. This was very useful as I had a guide of long I can make my copies – limiting them to a certain word count. I did some research and according to Wylie (2020), the ideal word count for a tweet is between 71 and 110 characters. I have tried to narrow down my character count however, my copy is about providing the audience with useful information and then leading them somewhere else to find out more therefore I believe more using more characters was the right choice as prospective students do their research to find out more information rather than less.
Within my copies, I also have the use of hashtags. Newberry (2021) talks about how hashtags are used to expand the reach of the posts. Considering my Instagram post as intended for prospective students, I have added the hashtag ‘ucas’ as this is the portal that prospective students use to apply for universities. This comes hand in hand with search engine optimisation (SEO) as if the target market was to search up the UCAS hashtag on Instagram, there is a possibility that the post would show up for them, informing them about the university and enticing them with the benefits listed.
Aesthetics and design principles-
In my social media design, I have used the colour and contrast design principle. The YouTube video from DesignMantic (2017) mentions different ways to implement contrast into a design – I decided to use contrasting colours. My copy was made to directly address the audience and make them feel important. I made sure to highlight the ‘you’ by putting a white background underneath and turning the actual text purple. This was a contrast from the text above it as it was white text backed up with a purple background. This created a sense of importance to the reader as I am directly addressing them and giving it a sense of urgency by making the ‘you’ stand out.
I have made sure to use different colour variants when working on different audiences. For example, for my social media mock-ups, I used white and purple. In the brand guidelines, these specific colours are used to address prospective students. Therefore, I made sure to incorporate them into the design by making the text white and the backing of it a very specific purple. I used the hex code the university has provided to get the exact colour they want. I also tinted the picture I took to look a bit more purple to make it fit the university’s theme. For the blog post, since I was addressing alumni, I used the darker colours that are in the guidelines. This is important as it keeps consistency when adhering to specific target markets and it allows the audience to understand easier who the posts are meant for.
SEO considerations-
Considering the type of themes I chose to cover, my content provides information therefore when searching for this type of content, prospective students would search for things like ‘benefits of going to the University of Hertfordshire’ or ‘what resources does the University of Hertfordshire provide their students’. I therefore made sure to include keywords in my copies to make my posts easier to find, some words being – resources, university, information, library.
Theory-
3H framework-
When making my content, I kept the 3H framework in mind. W3Lab (2021) explains the differences between each type of content – hero, help and hub. I used the help and hub content types. My social media mock-ups and video are based around taking the audience to a hub where they can find more information that they are looking for. It promotes them to follow and keep updated with anything they need to know – this fitting in well with the client’s objective of increasing their following.
My blog post is all about helping alumni, after finishing university, they may be finding it hard to get accepted for jobs and they might do some research about how they can help themselves. They would therefore search something like ‘how to become more employable’ which would lead them right to my blog.
Raising awareness in Paid media-
The use of paid media is important because according to Meyer (2019) it can increase the business’ exposure. I used this for the Instagram post as I made it a sponsored post in order to get it to be seen by a larger audience. This helps to meet the objective as the more people that see it and are interested, the more are bound to follow the client. This is influenced by the PESO theory (Dietrich, 2014).
Take-over video-
When planning the video, I decided that the type of influencer content that I will make is a takeover video where somebody takes over the business’ social media for a day. Nguyen (2022) mentions that these types of videos promote relatability which is why I chose this content type. I used this to talk the Go Herts award and inform current students on why it is good for them to considering applying for it and what benefits come with it. It’s a more laid-back approach therefore I did it on TikTok where it’s more casual and users can sit through a short video that can aid them.
References-
Baker, A. (2015) Evergreen or Topical content: What works best? [online] SaltedStone. Available at: https://www.saltedstone.com/blog/2015/11/evergreen-or-topical-content-which-works-best/#:~:text=Topical%20content%20is%20timely%2C%20relevant,to%20have%20a%20fleeting%20appeal.
DesignMantic (2017) One Minute Design: What is Contrast? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5bm6V5bWpo&t=4s
Handley, A. (2014). Everybody writes: your go-to guide to creating ridiculously good content. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley.
Meyer, K. (2019) Paid Media, Explained in 400 Words or Less [online] Hubspot. Available at: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/earned-owned-paid-media-lead-generation
Newberry, C. (2019). The 2019 Instagram Hashtag Guide—How to Use Them and Get Results. [online] Hootsuite Social Media Management. Available at: https://blog.hootsuite.com/instagram-hashtags/
Newberry, C. (2022) What Is a Target Market (And How to Find Yours in 2023). [online] Hootsuite Social Media Management. Available at: https://blog.hootsuite.com/target-market/#:~:text=The%20better%20you%20understand%20your,likely%20to%20convert%20into%20customers.
Nguyen, S. (2022) How to Run a Smart Social Media Takeover in 7 Steps. [online] Hootsuite Social Media Management. Available at: https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-takeovers/#:~:text=A%20social%20media%20takeover%20is,and%20post%20content%20they%20create.
Wylie, A. (2020) What’s the ideal length of a tweet? [online] PRNEWS. Available at: https://www.prnewsonline.com/whats-the-ideal-length-of-a-tweet/#:~:text=You'll%20get%20more%20retweets,engagement%2C%20according%20to%20Buddy%20Media
W3Lab (2021). Hero Help Hub - 3 Types Of Content (+Examples). W3 Lab. [online] Available at: https://w3-lab.com/hero-help-hub-3-types-of-content-examples/.
Zote, J. (2021). The Ideal Length of Every Social Media Post. [online] Sprout Social. Available at: https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-character-counter/
Zundaite, G. (2022) Picture of the library books.
