CONTENT CREATION
During my graduate studies at the University of Baltimore, we were tasked with immersing ourselves into a niche community, building a community and posting quality content for the semester amongst a variety of social media platforms. Content is king. The expectation was to curate content carefully and ethically. Understanding the audience for whom we were writing was especially important for this assignment. I chose the hand lettering community because I am an avid lover of hand lettering, script, calligraphy and all things stationery. Posting original content and establishing an authentic voice to be able to engage with followers in a deeper way was the objective.
ENGAGING COMMUNITY: The most active members contributed strong and consistent quality content. For most this was happening daily, if not more. For the stores on Instagram that specialized in stationery, they used social media as a platform to promote and sell their products. The calligraphers who contributed strong content provided tutorials and highlighted their lettering process in clear and concise ways and offered tools to help fellow hand letterers improve their skill set.
WRITING: The writing that stood out most, those businesses or persons who promoted the idea that handwritten type is still in vogue and is a form of artwork. Posts that used language to promote the idea that fellow calligraphers can improve their skill set whether they are naturally gifted or are a beginner calligrapher just stepping out to learn the skill resonated the most within the community.
RESEARCH + STRATEGY: Through my graduate coursework in writing for social media I was effectively able to engage in this community, utilize data and social media statistics to determine how to create a virtual experience for like minded individuals. I generated more conversations through posting tutorials, images of eye catching photographs and overtime I saw increased participation.
