Logan Draper, digital marketing director at DesignWorks Group in Wichita Falls, discusses using Instagram at the third MSU Texas Social Media Day, Oct. 1, 2018.
DesignWorks director emphasizes use of Instagram
October 8, 2018
Logan Draper, the digital marketing director of DesignWorks, lead the fifth session of Social Media Day where he covered not only his job, but also how those in the audience can prepare themselves for such positions.
“Instagram is our number one media platform when it comes to engaging and growing our audience,” Draper said.
One of the main focuses of Draper’s presentation, including a question-and-answer session, was about maintaining a presence online. He said he believes that when a person is trying to build his or her own brand, posting four or five times a week is necessary, but consistency is the main key.
Draper suggested the weekly posting amount, and also talked about the importance of remaining present online. This involved interacting and replying to those who comment on the posts in a timely manner, as well as finding a market’s niche.
One of the more important aspects of posting, in his mind, was the hashtags used on a post. Finding the right ones to use includes finding which one fits the post just right so that it applies well, but also not broad enough that nobody would be able to find the post.
“We’ve also found that five hashtags is the perfect amount to draw traffic toward your page.”
Another focus of the presentation was on self-preparation including scheduling and maintaining posts something Draper said DesignWorks does by using Sprout Social, Hubspot and Hootsuite, with Hubspot being the main one.
“It is important for us to be able to manage and watch over all our different media platforms in one concise space.”
With each of these platforms, comes a training and certification program. Draper said he believes that seeing a certificate or training program in any of these three when looking at resumes automatically catches his eye. Along with those, are other options for training. For Draper, the most important ones are YouTube, Google and Facebook.
“If you walk into an interview with a Facebook certification, you’ve pretty much already got the job.”
Finally, Draper emphasized the importance of being careful what goes online.
“When I get a resume, I rarely even look at them first. Instead, I’ll go scroll through their social media and look at how they represent themselves.”
Draper reminded the audience just how important posts can be. He talked about how even if the post was online for a limited time, like a Snapchat or Instagram story, or even deleted, it can still resurface someday.
“Watch what you post because it always can come back to bite you.”
A GOOD INSTAGRAM POST
Start with a good photo.
- Move up close and fill the frame. Your phone’s camera is very wide. Learn to see as the camera sees things and move up closer.
- Avoid backlighting. Don’t shoot into the light. Keep the primary light source beside or behind you.
- Follow the rule of thirds. Divide the frame into a tic-tac-toe board. Keep the subject at the intersection of any two lines and out of the center of the frame.
Write an engaging caption.
- The caption should invite people to engage.
- Short titles, and key phrases associated with the image, provide the viewer with something to remember easily.
- As a question. The question may encourage viewers to comment, which in turn can spark conversations between viewers and the photographer. Remember, it is “social” media.
RESOURCES