Taking an Instagram account from the amateur-level to the professional-level is something that takes a deep understanding of your company's target and current audiences, a good eye for design and aesthetic photos, a clear brand identity, comprehension of various analytic tools, and lots of time spent engaging with followers and other accounts.
In this case, the client did not want a social media feed that was so 'trendy' and 'hip' (such as other top CBD brands have) that would exclude some of their customers: everyday people suffering from chronic pain and anxiety from all age groups and backgrounds. Thus, a feed of content that includes original photos, text posts, and videos that would be inviting to a wide audience was agreed upon.
Content creation
As part of my role managing The Hemp Folk's Instagram account, I create most of the content that is posted on their profile. From text posts describing the effects of CBD to Christmas-themed photoshoots, content creation is a demanding but very fun part of the job!
The client also provides some photos of their products as well, and especially snapshots from behind the scenes (such as of their beautiful farm!). I take all of the photos they've provided and create a unified feed together with the photos I take and the other content I create.
Instagram before and after
Before I took over, the client was using a lot of Canva templates that lacked consistency, did not fit well into the feed with normal photos, and were not optimised for Instagram, so parts of the images were cut-off.
Before I took over, the client was using a lot of Canva templates that lacked consistency, did not fit well into the feed with normal photos, and were not optimised for Instagram, so parts of the images were cut-off.
Growth and engagement
Over the first 6 months of taking over The Hemp Folk's Instagram, the number of followers has grown from 179 to 534 (a 205% increase), completely organically. The engagement rate rose from 1.1% to an average of 4%.
Since Instagram did not allow advertisements of CBD on their platform, we have not boosted any posts or spent any funds on other promotions of any kind. All of this success was organic!
Instagram has also directly led to sales on The Hemp Folk's website through giveaways and other promotional campaigns.
Note: Instagram management and social media strategy were just one part of my freelance work for The Hemp Folk. I also helped build their website and make it online sales-ready, created bespoke illustrations, developed marketing strategies for maximum sales, and more. These portfolio highlights are just one way to share one angle of my work in a more visual and in-depth way.
