{"id":8330,"date":"2020-04-02T12:35:36","date_gmt":"2020-04-02T11:35:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everpress.com\/blog\/?p=8330"},"modified":"2020-04-28T11:55:47","modified_gmt":"2020-04-28T10:55:47","slug":"do-you-need-social-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everpress.com\/blog\/do-you-need-social-media\/","title":{"rendered":"Do You Need Social Media?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gone are the days when illustrators and designers trudged from door to door, heavy portfolio in hand, to try and secure their next client. Now all you need is a phone and an Instagram account and you\u2019re ready to share your work with the world. Social media has become an increasingly integral part of creatives\u2019 lives, offering a place to show projects as well as build your profile and, potentially, land your next commission. But how important is it when it comes to a creative career?<\/span><\/p>\n

A Clear Strategy<\/h4>\n

For artist and writer Alison Rachel, who runs <\/span>Recipes for Self Love<\/span><\/a>, social media has completely changed her life. She started the account while going through a career change from advertising, using it to share an illustration every day. Things quickly blew up, and now Alison has almost 600k followers. She modestly attributes this to being in the right place at the right time \u2013 as well as featuring in the likes of <\/span>Teen Vogue, Glamour<\/span><\/i> and some other mags \u2013 but she\u2019s definitely doing something right, having recently landed a book deal, as well as partnerships with Netflix, New Balance and Nike.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Courtesy of Alison Rachel via Recipes For Self Love<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So how did she do it? As Alison suggests, there is naturally an element of luck, but the artist and writer also has a clear posting strategy that goes some way to explaining her account\u2019s rapid traction.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cConsistency, good quality, and all the hashtags,\u201d she says. \u201cBut consistency is key. I think the reason my platform grew at the rate it did was that I was posting every single day at the same time of day – checking where my audience was, checking peak traffic hours, and every day posting something new, engaging and of quality.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Consistency is key<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Courtesy of Grrrl Zine Fair for International Women’s Day 2020<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the same kind of analytical work you do when releasing any kind of product into the market,\u201d she adds. \u201cThinking strategically about who you\u2019re talking to, why it matters, and what your intentions are. Audiences are really sophisticated nowadays, and especially young audiences on social media. We understand stuff inherently. It\u2019s very easy for us to connect and enjoy something authentic, but we can also tell when something isn\u2019t \u2013 and it\u2019s a bit of a turn-off.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Content That Isn\u2019t Just Instant Gratification<\/h4>\n

If all that sounds a bit intimidating, bear in mind there are other ways to approach social media. Filmmaker Anna Ginsburg<\/a> describes herself as \u201cinfamously bad at Instagram,\u201d yet has still managed to amass over 18k followers on the platform \u2013 popularity that she attributes, in part at least, to the many IRL talks she gives.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Anna is also proof that people browsing social media don\u2019t just want quick wins. After posting her nearly three-minute film <\/span>What Is Beauty<\/span><\/i> on Instagram, in full, she found she was surprised by how many people watched the whole thing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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A post shared by Anna Ginsburg (@annaginsburg)<\/a> on