OUGD602 - SB01 - Achieving Optimal Engagement

In the age of Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat and a host of other social medias, it is becoming more and more important to maintain a presence online. It's no longer enough to design, in such a saturated market as design you should advertise yourself as efficiently as possible. In watching a class on Skillshare I learnt the basics of creating an online presence specifically through Instagram, but the processes I learned could be applied to any other social media online.

An example of a designer with an impressive online presence is Gary Stranger.

Through the use of typography and colour, Gary has amassed over 100,000 followers and averages 4000 likes per photo. He gains on average 42 followers a day, which means 42 individuals have engaged with his work and chosen to continuously engage in the future. Any one of these individuals could commision Gary for a piece of work or become an invaluable contact in the future, which is why maintaining an active online presence is extremely important in the digital age, especially for young designers moving into the industry from now on.

Four sure-fire ways of achieving optimal engagement online are as follows:

1. Post Regular Content

Every time you upload a piece of content onto any social media, you have the opportunity to reach countless people with said content. Using hashtags and tags, you can make your work seen to people interested in even the most niche topics. Simply put, the more you post, the more likely you are to be seen and engaged with.

2. Relevancy

To create a following of individuals genuinely interested in your work, it's important to advertise yourself in relevant channels. 'Ghost' followers as they are commonly referred to are accounts that follow you but rarely, if ever engage with your content. Even though having a higher follower count may look good to employers, it is more important to create a valuable following that is genuinely interested in the work you create.

3. Hashtagging

Simply uploading content is rarely enough to be seen by a significant audience. You need to make it easier for audiences to find you through your channels, using primarily hashtags. For example, Gary would commonly tag his work with #typography and #(location). This shows his work on the relevant hashtag categories and ensures it is seen by users searching for those hashtags. This means it is important to hashtag your work whilst your following is still small.

4. Professionalism

It's important to maintain a level of professionalism with your work accounts. They should be treated as separate from your private life (unless you are comfortable with the public eye being on your life as well as your work of course!) Using Gary as an example, only his work is posted on his main account, with his private life kept on another account.

Those are four ways of increasing engagement with your work online, and procuring a valuable following of your work. Creating such a following isn't necessary to become successful in the design world, but can help catapult your work into the view of large clients and studios which is difficult in the age of saturation in the design industry.