Social Media Campaign
Introduction
During the second semester, we were tasked with developing a social media campaign across two platforms. I chose Instagram and LinkedIn, each offering distinct benefits for reaching targeted audiences. Instagram was selected for its visual nature and ability to engage creatively with a broad demographic. As highlighted by Constine (2018), Instagram is “designed to be a space where people discover visually engaging content,” making it ideal for creatives looking to showcase their work in an eye-catching, shareable format. My personal experience also reflects this, I often see emerging designers gain significant exposure through striking visual posts.
LinkedIn, on the other hand, serves more professional and career-oriented functions. According to Safko (2012), “LinkedIn is the best platform for B2B marketing and professional networking,” which makes it highly valuable for creatives looking to build industry connections and showcase their expertise. For me, it provided an opportunity to network with professionals in the design field, explore job leads, and build a credible professional presence.
The campaign also needed to support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 17: “Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development.” I focused specifically on target 17.17, which emphasizes the importance of fostering effective public, private, and civil society partnerships. As defined by the UN, this goal encourages collaboration that is inclusive and driven by shared values.
In response, I chose to highlight organizations and initiatives aligned with sustainability principles and ensured that the content promoted ethical, inclusive messaging across both platforms. The result was a campaign that not only aimed for strong visual impact but also reflected a commitment to responsible and meaningful engagement.
Research
The primary focus of my initial research was identifying which social media platforms would best support the goals of my campaign. Since LinkedIn was a mandatory platform for the assignment, I concentrated on evaluating Instagram, Facebook, and Behance to determine which would serve as the most effective complementary platform.
Instagram emerged as a strong candidate based on its user behavior and demographic reach. According to a 2023 report by Statista, approximately 31.2% of Instagram users fall within the 18–24 age group, aligning well with my target audience (Statista, 2023a). Additionally, Hootsuite notes that Instagram users frequently use the platform to discover new products and services, with 81% of users turning to it for research on things they're interested in (Hootsuite, 2023). This confirmed Instagram’s value for both visibility and potential client engagement, particularly within creative industries.
In contrast, Behance is tailored to a more niche, design-oriented community. While it serves as a valuable professional network and portfolio hub, its audience overlaps significantly with LinkedIn’s professional environment. Given its limited reach outside of design circles, I concluded that it would not help broaden the campaign's exposure.
I also considered Facebook. However, Statista data shows that the majority of Facebook users are aged 25 to 34, representing 30.8% of its user base (Statista, 2023b). Since my campaign was aimed more at 18–24 year olds, Facebook didn’t align as well demographically. Instagram, by contrast, provided better access to this younger age group while also aligning with my brand’s tone, more visual, relaxed, and culturally current.
In the end, I chose Instagram alongside LinkedIn. Instagram offered dynamic engagement, visual storytelling, and better demographic alignment, while LinkedIn provided professional credibility and opportunities for industry networking.
Inspiration
For my campaign, I drew significant inspiration from the Instagram strategies of McDonald’s and Pubity, both of which effectively target the 18–24 demographic through bold visuals and impactful messaging. McDonald’s Germany’s “Iconic Days” campaign was particularly influential, its minimalist Instagram Stories used time-specific visuals like sunrises and starry skies to creatively pair menu items with different parts of the day. This approach inspired me to experiment with time-based themes in my own Stories, using colour and design to reflect mood and timing. Additionally, the global BTS collaboration by McDonald’s stood out for its use of bold, interstellar colors and nostalgic 80s-inspired graphics that successfully blended two brand identities while appealing emotionally to younger audiences. From this, I learned the power of combining brand personality with bold, nostalgic design to create memorable content. On the other hand, Pubity’s feed influenced my approach to text and layout, its use of big, punchy headlines on brightly coloured backgrounds makes their posts instantly eye-catching and easy to consume, especially for fast-scrolling users. I plan to apply similar techniques by integrating large text overlays and clean, graphic layouts in my posts to improve clarity and shareability. These brands demonstrated that bold design and thoughtful presentation can significantly increase engagement, which has shaped both the visual and strategic direction of my campaign.
Reviewing my LinkedIn results, I found the platform allowed me to reach a much more targeted and professional audience compared to Instagram. While follower/connection growth was gradual, up by 6.9% in the past 90 days bringing me to a total of 47, it was clear that my content attracted viewers from specific industries and roles relevant to my field. I reached professionals in advertising (21.3%), media production (12.8%), and marketing services (8.5%), which aligns well with my aim to connect with creative and strategic sectors. My content also reached employees at companies such as The Fellas Studios, Eli Lilly, and University of Bath, showing potential industry interest. Most viewers came from companies with 11–50 employees, suggesting my work appealed to smaller, agile businesses, an ideal fit for freelance or entry-level creative roles. The job titles I reached, including video editors, founders, and creative strategists, indicate that my posts were seen by individuals likely involved in hiring or collaboration. Even though I didn’t see a huge spike in followers, these insights showed me that LinkedIn gave me access to the right people. Moving forward, I’ll focus on posting more consistently and refining my content for professionals in media and marketing, making sure my work not only looks bold and clean but also communicates value to these specific audiences.
Brand Development
Once I locked in the platforms for my campaign, I shifted my focus to building a bold and cohesive brand identity that would feel instantly recognizable across all my content. Because I’m targeting a younger audience, I kept the style clean and simple, but with punch. I focused on building visual consistency by committing to a bold, youthful colour palette that runs through all my content. Instead of relying on fixed templates or borders, I let the colours do the heavy lifting, using the same vibrant blue and black from my website to tie everything together. This approach keeps my posts feeling fresh and dynamic while still unmistakably part of the same brand. Whether it’s a high-energy announcement or a more minimal visual, sticking to this palette ensures my feed feels cohesive and instantly recognizable. To tie everything together, I used a strong, modern font across all platforms that reflects the confident tone of my brand. This consistent use of bold colour, clear type, and minimal clutter is designed to cut through the noise on fast-paced feeds, helping my content stand out and be remembered.
Looking at my Instagram analytics, the results were more modest than I had hoped. My account saw 122 profile actions, including 111 profile visits and 11 link taps, which shows there was some interest in my content. However, I only reached 26 accounts in total, with 9 followers and 17 non-followers, and had 8 engaged users with just 14 total followers overall. While the engagement levels were relatively low, I’ve recognised one of the biggest factors was consistency. My posting schedule wasn’t as regular as it should have been, and I didn’t fully stick to a planned rollout. I also used hashtags on my posts to help boost visibility, but I’ve realised I may not have chosen the most effective or targeted ones for my audience. Moving forward, I plan to research and refine my hashtag strategy to reach more of the right viewers. I’ve learned that consistency is key, not just in timing but also in maintaining a clear brand tone and look across every post. If I had stayed more consistent with my visuals and posting frequency, I believe these numbers would have been stronger. Going forward, I plan to be more strategic and consistent to build engagement and attract a wider audience.
Conclusion
Looking back on the development and execution of my social media campaign, the experience has been incredibly valuable in shaping both my creative approach and strategic thinking. Choosing to run my campaign across Instagram and LinkedIn gave me the opportunity to explore two very different platforms with two very different audiences. Instagram allowed me to lean into a more playful, bold, and visually driven identity, using bright colours, strong typography, and minimal design to capture the attention of a younger audience. While the engagement on Instagram wasn’t as high as I had hoped, it gave me real insight into the importance of consistency. I learned that creating great-looking content is only one piece of the puzzle. Keeping a regular posting schedule, refining hashtag use, and staying on-brand are what drive real growth. In future campaigns, I will be more deliberate with these elements to build stronger momentum and connection with my audience.
On the other hand, LinkedIn offered a more targeted and professional environment where I was able to reach individuals in specific industries like advertising, media production, and marketing. Although the platform saw slower growth in terms of new followers, the quality of engagement was higher and far more relevant to my career goals. I was able to get my work in front of professionals with job titles such as video editor, founder, and creative strategist, and connect with people from companies that reflect the kind of environments I want to work in. This showed me that while broad engagement is great, reaching the right people can be far more impactful. I plan to continue using LinkedIn as a space to grow my professional network and refine how I present my design work to industry audiences.
Developing a cohesive visual brand across both platforms helped reinforce my identity as a creative. Rather than relying on templates or repetitive layouts, I kept things clean and visually unified through consistent use of my colour palette, tone of voice, and typography. This allowed my content to stay flexible while still being recognisable. Drawing inspiration from brands like McDonald's and Pubity taught me how powerful bold visuals and a clear message can be when used intentionally. I’ve taken those lessons and applied them to my own work, not only in how I design, but in how I communicate with an audience.
Overall, this project has given me real-world insight into the demands of digital marketing and content creation. I’ve developed a deeper understanding of what it takes to build a brand online, how to measure the impact of content, and where there’s room to improve. Most importantly, I’ve gained confidence in my ability to create and adapt based on feedback, performance, and audience behaviour. These are skills I’ll carry with me into future roles, whether in freelance projects or within a professional design team. While the results were not perfect, they were honest and informative, and they’ve helped lay the foundation for growth.
References
Constine, J. (2018). Instagram hits 1 billion users, launches IGTV. TechCrunch.
https://techcrunch.com/2018/06/20/instagram-igtv/Safko, L. (2012). The Social Media Bible: Tactics, Tools, and Strategies for Business Success (2nd ed.). Wiley.
United Nations. (n.d.). Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals. United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal17Statista. (2023a). Distribution of Instagram users worldwide as of January 2023, by age group.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/325587/instagram-global-age-group/Hootsuite. (2023). Instagram statistics you need to know in 2023.
https://blog.hootsuite.com/instagram-statistics/Statista. (2023b). Distribution of Facebook users worldwide as of January 2023, by age group.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/376128/facebook-global-user-age-distribution/Griner, D. (2019). McDonald's Created Beautifully Minimalist Ads Perfect for Instagram Stories. Adweek.
https://www.adweek.com/creativity/mcdonalds-created-beautifully-minimalist-ads-perfect-for-instagram-stories/Barwick, R. (2021). Mood Board: The Retro Inspirations Behind the McDonald’s x BTS Collab. Marketing Brew.
https://www.marketingbrew.com/stories/2021/12/15/mood-board-the-retro-inspirations-behind-the-mcdonald-s-x-bts-collabPubity. (n.d.). Official Instagram Account.
https://www.instagram.com/pubity/