In this week’s episode we dive back in to social media for designers. We cover a ton of stuff, from how to keep up with the ever-changing social media landscape, to how to boost your engagement, attract new audiences and express your authentic self through your creative work on social.

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Show Notes for This Episode:

[1:00] This week we are back talking about social media for designers
[1:45] The hosts are missing Lisa Glanz and give her a mention
[2:20] Tom thinks that the social media channels need a refresh almost every three month as it’s likely the audience experiences a content fatigue
[2:45] Dustin finds that when it comes to social media some things work and others don’t
[3:00] Ian agrees and he says that things he’s certain are going to work don’t and other things he posts without thinking a lot, do very well
[4:00] Tom is curious about finding more on the polls on Instagram stories
[4:30] All users of the networks experience fatigue and this is the reason the social media networks come out with new features all the time
[5:30] Ian recently used an Instagram poll to check which if his audience preferred green or orange to be used for writing on a hat, giving them an involvement in a finished product
[6:20] Polls can be very effective for increasing engagement and designers can easily benefit from this by sharing two versions of a design and asking the audience which one they prefer
[6:50] Tom thinks it’s very powerful for creatives to ask their audience to choose between two options and involving the audience in the process of giving feedback
[7:20] Dustin previously did a caption contest for a retro fidget spinner ad and it did very well, but reveals that he forgets to try the things that have worked again and again
[7:50] Ian doesn’t use a schedule for his social media posts and does it more on a day by day basis
[8:20] He does recommend having a schedule for Youtube videos as those require more time to create and a lot of planning is involved
[9:00] it’s good to have a routine or plan your content depending on the day and this will give you a structure and make it easier to post every day
[9:30] Tom agrees with this structure and this is something he has implemented at Design Cuts
[9:50] This allows you to review what worked and what didn’t so you can push more content that works in the future
[10:30] Dustin finds it hard to try out new things on social media as he doesn’t have the time to do it
[10:50] Ian suggests that at the beginning to focus on what’s the quickest and easiest post to publish
[11:30] A screenshot of work in progress is a great way to create an engaging post
[12:00] Tom suggest starting with introducing one new thing at a time in your existing social media schedule
[13:30] Dustin found that more and more people are coming to him via his social media channels and couldn’t imagine not having the social media presence
[14:00] There are phone apps like Later.me which allow you plan and schedule batches of posts
[14:30] Facebook has a native feature that also allows scheduling and for Twitter you can use Twitter Deck to schedule image posts only
[15:20] Documenting your day as you go around is an easy way to create social media posts
[16:00] Dustin asks what is a big no for social media for designers, and the answers is not as obvious as some might think
[16:30] Both Tom and Dustin enjoyed a video of Ian trying to write with a new ink pen on a hat, and seeing that things didn’t go very well as the pen leaked, and despite this the post got a lot of positive interaction from his audience
[17:00] It can get paralyzing for your audience to always see only perfect work
[17:45] The post was one of the least liked but one with the highest number of comments
[18:40] Tom likes the Reactions feature on Facebook as it gives you more ways to engage with a post rather than just liking
[19:15] Dustin would like to see videos of Ian from his motivational talks
[19:40] Ian likes the before and after work some designers posts – showing progress over the years can be very inspiring
[21:20] Tom thinks it would be very useful for Ian to post more of his fails even as a video
[22:00] A carousel format including the successful design along with the failed version would also work very well
[22:30] Dustin would like to see a video of Ian doing lettering not in his office, but in the house, showing the reality of having kids and the challenges he comes across while trying to do lettering
[23:30] Your audience would like to know about your struggles, and therefore the before and after post tend to do so well
[23:50] Vulnerability and authenticity are very important
[24:50] Dustin likes the authenticity behind Tom Instagram talks as they are real and not polished
[26:00] Tom follows Steve Bartlett – the entrepreneur and CEO of the marketing agency Social Chain and says he likes how brave he is to be so personal and authentic in his posts
[27:00] Tom struggles with choosing between the meaningless sharable posts, such as memes which get a lot of engagement and the more meaningful ones that don’t
[28:00] Dustin thinks the audience might remember the meme but won’t remember you
[29:00] Sometimes doing the exact opposite of what you’ve been doing so far can be very beneficial
[30:00] You should ask yourself what makes you stop and look at a post and try to replicate this type of content
[31:30] Tom follows Jake Frye Designs and likes it because every week they do a redesign of a popular logo and they show all the stages of the design as well
[32:50] Ian agrees mini-series are great and suggests jumping on a feed as well, like the lettering feed Good Type which has topics such as Mental Health
[33:50] Another great feed this month is Inktober and a lot of designers are following and doing the monthly design challenge
[34:40] Tom is asking where can web designers, print or logo designer show their work as they don’t have the huge communities and there aren’t monthly challenges around their work
[35:50] Ian thinks time lapses of building a website can work very well
[36:30] Dustin would like to see more funny videos of things going awry
[37:30] You need to try as many content strategy as you can and see what works for you
[38:00] There isn’t a huge community for web designers on social media
[38:50] Dustin’s brother is a software designer and does Snapchat videos showing pieces of coding and how these work
[39:40] Find a segment of likeminded people and relate something like Star Wars to your work, as many web developers seem have an affinity for it
[40:40] Ian thinks self-initiated projects are very good as it is a different idea and ads you to the mix
[41:20] He enjoys doing random things and shares this with the audience, as it shows his personality within his work
[43:20] Always try and be real and take risks
[45:30] Take something from your unique personality and infuse it in what you do
[47:00] Ask yourself how would you describe yourself and how would others describe you
[48:00] Dustin gives an example of John Lennon and says that he might not be the best singer, but it was his unique style that made him famous
[49:00] Think how does your passion, enthusiasm and personality flow into your work and make that flow from your work into your social media
[50:00] Dustin find social media a confined place where you must do certain things and wonders how would it be if everyone share what they wanted
[50:40] Tom asks the hosts how can designers be truly authentic on social media
[51:00] He mentions and important aspect – the caption which accompanies the graphic
[51:40] Ian thinks that the image or video is the first thing that grabs the attention
[52:30] It is however important to add context around your work
[53:30] Tom says it’s important to also engage with others on social media and comment on their work, which can in return help grow your following
[55:00] Dustin mentions a big NO on engaging with others, which is commenting ‘nice’ on someone else’s post and asking then to check your portfolio
[56:30] He thinks the best way to interact with someone’s work is to comment and say what you like about their work
[57:40] You need to spend time commenting as well as polishing your feed
[58:30] Ian has more respect for people who practice what they preach
[59:30] Some designers miss out by just sharing their work and living in their own bubble and not engaging with others
[1:00:00] Ian suggests having a routine and making time to comment
[1:00:30] Find a happy medium between posting on social media and focusing on your work
[1:01:20] Dustin finds he can never implement all the social media tips he’s read and usually tries one to see if it works
[1:02:40] Ian and Dustin recommend Thinkertoys: A Handbook of Creative-Thinking Techniques and finds it useful for creating posts
[1:03:30] Tom and Ian suggest creating a post and sharing the books he finds useful for his work
[1:04:30] Ian takes pictures of all his lettering books and shares these on social media as people like book recommendations
[1:05:20] Dustin had a giveaway on social media and the prize was $200 worth of books and it was very effective
[1:06:20] Tom thinks there is a lot more to cover on social media and he will be saving these ideas for a future episode
[1:07:00] Thank you all for listening to this week’s episode


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