I am a communications professional with experience in writing, radio broadcasting/reporting, social media strategy, and content creation. My strengths include adapting strategies based on measurable data, tailoring content to the target audience, and crafting narratives that engage the audience.
Why I Chose The Rock Gym For My Senior Project
I knew going into this project that I wanted to work with a business or organization that I felt passionate about. I have a strong background in fitness and athletics, and I aspire to start my own personal training business. Experience in both the gym industry and communication is necessary for this goal. Creating a social media campaign for The Rock Gym was the perfect combination of both.
The Rock Gym is a local rock climbing gym in Rexburg. Their mission is to provide and sustain a fun, adventurous, and inclusive environment where climbers of all levels can come together to enjoy the community, with their motto being “We Rise by Lifting Others.” Working with The Rock Gym allowed me to work with, get to know, and expand a passionate community.
Creating The Strategy
My first step was to meet with The Rock Gym’s management to allow them to communicate their desired outcome from my work. Their goals were to promote their weekly events, encourage more people to come to the gym, and increase community engagement. I created a content calendar that aligned with these goals. The calendar included 5 Instagram posts and 3 Facebook posts per week. The Rock Gym was already doing very well at consistently marketing most of their weekly events, such as Family Night and Date Night. The Rock Gym needed to advertise its newer event, Girls Night, more consistently. They also would post flyers and stagnant posts most
often. Moving forward, my strategy was to post more reels and carousels, which would increase engagement. Reels increase engagement by having an interesting hook and the ability to tell a story that a static post cannot. Carousels increase engagement by keeping the viewer invested in swiping to see what is next while providing clear and simple information.
Strategy Highlights
I created 10 weeks of content designed to boost community engagement for The Rock Gym on Instagram and Facebook. A few main highlights include:
- Posting once a day to keep the audience engaged with The Rock Gym without getting overwhelmed.
- One of my favorite parts of the project was editing reels that I could be proud to publish on The Rock Gym’s Instagram and Facebook.
- Creating “tag a friend” campaigns to increase visibility. These campaigns would give an incentive to tag a friend, such as an extra raffle entry.
- Creating reels and carousels to catch attention, tell a story, and boost engagement by keeping the audience wanting to see more.
My combined efforts allowed me to reach my goal of increasing engagement by 2% and followers by 1% on both Instagram and Facebook. My highest performing reels had an average engagement rate of 3%. This was a 1.5% overall increase. My best reel had a 6% engagement rate because I combined promotion with entertainment. The reel had a high-energy and engaging hook that enticed the viewer to keep watching. This kind of storytelling is what drives engagement and interest in a brand and social media presence.
What I Learned From This Project
Over the course of this project I saw the affect that storytelling has on engagement rate on social media. Having clear content themes is key in content planning and creation. These themes should align with the brand’s objectives. Once The Rock Gym had clear content themes, the content planning process became more clear and we were able to tell a stronger story that resonated with the audience. Creating fun, relatable content that showcased the community and values of The Rock Gym is ultimately what drove engagement.
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