Project Purpose or Objectives:
Since September, I have had the opportunity to work with the restaurant “Kingdom of Pho” in Rexburg, Idaho. The restaurant sells Vietnamese food in a small, food truck-like place right inside of Rexburg. The restaurant opened only a few months ago, and has been trying to reach all of the people living within Rexburg and getting their name out there. The purpose of my project is to help build their brand and create social media posts that will reach a variety of people in Rexburg. I wanted to learn more about content creation, video and photo editing, as well as website creation and other skills that go along with social media marketing.
Challenges:
As I worked for them, I was able to create posts about all sorts of different things and think of caption ideas that would help increase engagement within their followers. With this, sometimes being creative was a challenge for me. I am not the most creative person as it is, and thinking of creative post ideas as well as captions did not come as easy. I also had a hard time figuring out the different adobe programs and how to use them in order to make the content aesthetically pleasing for the viewers. These were only some of the challenges that came with the project as well as just meeting deadlines I had set for myself and with the owners and getting them what they needed, when they needed it.
Project Processes:
A typical day in my life while I worked for “Kingdom of Pho” was that I would go to their location and order myself some food. While I was waiting for my food, I would sometimes take photos, or videos of their food making process, or I would discuss with the owners some expectations that they may have for me, or things that they would be interested in seeing more in the future. As I communicated with them, I was able to get a better feel as to how I could get the image that they wanted for themselves out there. I would then take more photos and videos on site, and eat my delicious food. Outside of being on site, I would go home and spend hours editing. I would create post ideas, edit photos and videos, and learn new skills. I would also create caption ideas and hashtags with questions that would increase engagement. After that, I would send my ideas to the owner to make sure that she approved, and they would get posted!
An Overview of the Experience:
Overall, my experience working for them was extremely positive. They were patient with me and my busy schedule, but I still was able to meet their expectations and help them gain more followers on their account and ultimately more customers. I am able to say that I am leaving the project with much more knowledge about the adobe suite and content creation than I went in with, and for that I am extremely grateful. I know that these skills will help me in my future career, and I am grateful that working for “Kingdom of Pho” helped me build skills such as using Adobe Premiere, Photoshop, Indesign, and Lightroom. I also learned skills within Instagram and about how their algorithms work in order to make sure our posts get to those who live in the area.
Insights and Takeaways I Gained:
I gained a greater insight into the life of those who work as social media specialists and how important the media truly is. Many people would not even know that the restaurant was there if it weren’t for social media and that way of marketing. From working there, I will be able to take what I have learned and the skills that I have gained into my future jobs. I am grateful for my opportunity to work for them, learn more about many things, and enjoy some delicious food!