Wk8-A: How to Expand Your Reach on Instagram by Using Hashtags

 

      Between my two businesses, Whatwolf works best with the visual support that Instagram can provide. I do my best to spread my posts through relevant hashtags when I can remember; it was much more difficult, in my opinion, before Facebook updated their Business Suite to include differing descriptions between the two platforms. With casual freelancing being my current goal using hashtags is an extremely effective way to get my art and my name out with little effort on my part. Studying how other people use hashtags on Instagram has been extremely helpful to me to know some of my target keywords on certain posts. The following are a few of the more recent businesses I've had my eye on in terms of what to do to successfully market myself on Instagram.

Mud N Glass

     I recently discovered Mud N Glass through a Facebook group focused on introducing local artisans and buyers to help support small businesses in your town. I followed a handful of businesses in a link exchange in the group and began to watch for their posts in my feeds to see how an established business uses Instagram to push local and artisan products. One thing that stood out to me with Mud N Glass's hashtag use was they used their business name as a hashtag. I'm not sure why that had never occurred to me but that would help centralize my art if people are looking through posts via tags.

CR Mommy Designs

     CR Mommy Designs uses a lot more hashtags to spread their designs than I usually do. With that I see pros and cons, on one hand, that opens you to more opportunities for growth but on the other, it also opens you up to large amounts of spam or unwanted comments. That being said as CR Mommy Designs is a local-focused business I see that they tag the surrounding cities that they live in as well as relevant phrases to their designs. I.E. on one shirt design they have a quote that says "Just don't give up on yourself" and one of the hashtags used is #youareenough. The use of common verbiage and turns of phrase could be very helpful in reaching product posts further than they may go otherwise.

Fin and Rae

     Fin and Rae make gorgeous handmade macrame wall hangs, planter hangers, and more. They don't use many hashtags but the ones that they do use seem to be quite effective.  Fin and Rae has a focus on macrame-related and hand-made-related hashtags that they use consistently, as macrame is a rather niche market I would assume having a range of macrame hashtags would spread your work further than a generic wall hang or planter holder hashtag.

Lilac and Lace

   Lilac and Lace is an event planning and services business that is locally owned and operated. They make picnic set-ups, weddings, birthday parties, and more. As their business is more far-reaching they use a very wide range of hashtags on each post that covers the range of their services. Using a wall of hashtags can seem overwhelming when seen on the post, unfortunately, but I think in some cases for advertisement that detriment can eventually be used to your advantage by finding customers where you otherwise may not have looked. 

Wk7-B: How Other Class Businesses Use Instagram

 

     The Instagrams I visited for this assignment are as follows:

• claresdigitalmarketing
  
• _sydneysapothecary_
  
• flowersannettegomez
  
• thealibibrewingco
  
• wulv_media
  
• tridentpacificconsulting
  

Wk7A: Get Visual with Instagram

     The internet is chock full of a number of social media platforms and ways to engage with your audiences. With proper utilization of each platform tailored to your business and an eye for your analytics, you can help create a pattern of steady and consistent growth for your company. With various ways to connect and cross-post content from one site to another, it's no wonder that you can get good results using the platforms correctly. 

     For my own businesses, I use a lot of the same social media platforms to try and find my audiences with some exceptions. With Whatwolf I utilize Twitch, Discord, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter while for Power Gamers I use Twitch, Discord, Facebook, and Twitter. As Power Gamers doesn't have visuals focused content base at the moment I will be focusing just on Whatwolf for this assignment. 

     The Instagram I have set up for my Whatwolf projects is whatwolfart. I have been running this as my main art Instagram since Dec 30, 2016, and have made 58 posts in the last 4-5 years and I am up to 78 followers as of this post. I don't post in it nearly as much as I should, in all honesty, but it's because I haven't been creating much. Due to recent circumstances, however, I am looking to be able to keep a steady flow of content hitting my accounts in the near future.

    However, despite not using the platform correctly and having a beginner's understanding at best of hashtags I have grown my audience organically a few times over the years after making a post or two. I am feeling much more confident with the ease of Facebook/Instagram's new post publishing options that I will be able to be much more consistent in posting my work and being able to space it out to create more engagement opportunities for my audience. 

     I try to follow similar business/service provides to myself, and any of my friend's art or craft Instagrams as well. My current follow amount is 39 which I am always looking to increase for more inspiration and artists to support and learn from. Another thing I'm beginning to keep an eye out for is what hashtags other people are using for their posts. As of late I have mostly been posting my character 'Mosh' and a few hashtags I use for her are #manedwolf, #princess, #floatingcrown, and #twitchaffiliate as she is my 'VTube' character for streaming.

Wk6-B: Creating and Scheduling FaceBook Posts

Cleopatra's Closet

WHATWOLF

Scheduled Posts : 

     I believe that these posts will begin to kickstart and engage my audience after the tease of new similar pieces. Using the various 'throwback' terms I have set a buffer to the weekend when I intend to have my new art finished and posted.

POWER GAMERS D&D

Scheduled Posts : 

     I believe that these posts will help to engage my audience by asking them questions and trying to get them to interact with me. I also tagged another page in the first post as I am quite interested in one of their products for our games on Power Gamers. 

Group Pages Visited:

Clare's Digital Marketing, Sydney's Apothecary, Flowers~Annette Gomez, Alibi Brewing Company, Cleopatra's Closet, Trident Pacific Consulting

Wk6-A: Engaging your Customers

 

     Liking and following businesses similar to your own can help you curate a timeline that is catered to the same or a similar audience as your page. In doing so you can get a better idea of how better to market your goods and create your posts following current trends in the industry. 

WHATWOLF

     On my Whatwolf page I have newly liked the following business pages:

1. Minty Deer - An art and commissions page run by my dearest friend, Amy. I find her work to always be very inspiring and pleasing to look at. She is one of my biggest fans and supporters, always pushing me to do what she knows I am capable of. Having her posts come up on my feed will remind me that I am loved and capable of more than I think.
   
2. Teresa Joy's Art - I really enjoy Teresa's art style and how she branches out into new mediums. I look forward to seeing and being inspired by what she creates!
   
3. Simple Daily Drawing - As any artist knows, staring at a blank page or canvas is one of the most daunting things. By liking Simple Daily Drawing I will have drawing prompts right on my timeline whenever I need them!
   
4. Chillhop Music - I love chillhop as a genre and this is the page for one of my favorite creators/curators of chillhop music. I often listen to them when I am drawing or painting so I thought it would be apt to like their page from my own to have quicker access to share any mixes I like with my followers.
   
5. Castillo Studios - My late uncle and now my aunt are professional artists. Seeing Sammy's work is always jaw-dropping and inspiring. 
   
6. Cindy Avelino - As stated in my Week5-A post I adore Cindy Avelino's work and social media usage. Being able t easily see and share her work is an exciting prospect. 
   
7. A wolf's lair. - Similarly to Cindy Avelino, I decided to like A wolf's lair. from my business page as well to further curate my timeline for Whatwolf.
   

POWER GAMERS D&D

     On the Power Gamers D&D page I have newly liked the following business pages:

1. Dungeons & Dragons - Keeping up with updates from the creators of the game standard we use to play is very important so having them on the curated newsfeed will be fantastic.
2. Critical Role - Critical Role is a group of one of the most well-known streaming D&D groups. They run many fundraisers and help the communities they are involved in. Keeping up with them will be important in keeping up with applicable hashtags and trends. 
   
3. Wyrmwood - Wyrmwood is a well-known and high-quality provider of gaming trays, tables, dice, and more. As I personally use Wyrmood products when I play outside of the Power Gamers campaign I thought it would be a good idea to like their page from our business page.
4. Cantrip Candles - Cantrip Candles is a small, local business from LA that makes D&D themed scented candles with a map drawn on the lid of each one for use in your game should you choose. When we can gather safely again I'm hoping to get a few of these candles to help with the feeling and environment of our Power Gamers sessions. 
   
5. JourneyQuest - JourneyQuest is a D&D-themed series of movies that I was introduced to by two members of Power Gamers. It is a hilarious watch and I think that we would do well to start trying to connect with them.
   
6. Francis Roberts // Old Man Wizard - Francis is actually an old friend of mine who I met when he was in a band at the local renaissance faire. His newer work is a genre called 'dungeonsynth' which is very fitting for D&D. Old Man Wizard is his current band/project as well. 
   
7. Cindy Avelino - Similarly to my Whatwolf page I decided to like Cindy Avelino's page on Power Gamers as well. Her bases as in part intended for Dungeons and Dragons characters. 
   

Wk5-B: Learning about FaceBook Data Collecting

 

     Facebook (and general) analytics are a great asset when gauging what content your audience enjoys. Post Reach allows you to get an idea of how much of your audience is seeing your content or advertisements and Post Engagement gives you an idea of how many people interact with and enjoy your content. These sets of data are helpful in curating your content to maximize your potential on social media. 

     There are three main types of post reach -- organic, viral, and paid. Reach of all types will show you how many people have seen your content on their Facebook feeds, whether they have Liked or Followed your page or not (including if you are running paid advertisements) as when your fans interact with your content it will appear on their friends feeds as well giving you a wider reach. Post Reach can be a good benchmarker as well, showing you when your fans are most active, thus giving you a better idea of when to post curated content for maximum view and engagement.

     With Post Engagement you see an increase in post reach when, as mentioned above, fans interact with or share your content. Post Engagement is an important metric, in my opinion, as it can help pinpoint more accurately what kind of content your audience enjoys seeing. Taking the extra step to react, comment, and especially share is so beneficial to businesses that rely on social media to be successful. As your Post Engagement increases you can curate your content more accurately alongside the Post Reach data to better maximize your view and engagement.

List of Pages Commented On : Teresa Joy's Art, Manley's Dragons And Exotics Pet Breeder (arachnid warning!), Dun Central Independent Game Studio

Wk5: Alternate Assignment

 

     I have been running my Whatwolf page since October 17, 2017. I currently have 153 likes and 157 follows. I haven't been using it often as of recently as I have not been producing much art or other applicable content.

     I created the Power Gamers D&D Facebook page on August 14, 2020 and we have 27 likes and 32 follows. I usually use it to repost D&D memes and try to post our session reminders to it when I'm able to. 

Cindy Avelino - Cindy Avelino also uses her Facebook to advertise and sell her artwork, her Facebook sort of crosses over both of my businesses as she has some TTRPG focused artwork. I feel she uses Facebook very effectively, as I found her via advertisement campaigns she ran on Facebook, and she uses it to show her own personal work as well as advertising her things for sale on Gumroad. She usually posts multiple times a week, either showing new content or reminders of sales on her Gumroad bases. I think her cover photo and calls to action are very well done. I can't think of any way she could be using Facebook more effectively but I can absolutely take a few pages from her book to better my own social media use.

A Wolf's Lair - Volkyrax uses their Facebook to share their artwork and commissions as well as freelance and offer their services. They don't post very often, every few weeks with a few smaller time gaps here and there.  I really like the art they used for their cover photo but I think their calls to action could be better set up. Overall I think that they have room for improvement in their use of Facebook. I think that I could improve my own use by paying more attention to hashtags.

A Cup of Conure - A Cup of Conure is run by a long-time friend of mine, Cassidy, she saw significant growth over the 2020 year due to proper usage of social media. She uses the page to advertise and show art, share videos and pictures of her pet birds, and use her platform for local bird disaster fundraising.  She posts fairly consistently every week, sometimes more, and her choice of cover photo and calls to action are well done. I can (and do!) learn a lot watching how Cassidy manages her social media presence.