Topic

For my capstone project, I want to create and build upon a project that encapsulates what I have learned during my time in Saint Joseph’s communications program. That mentioned, I have decided to create a fitness and lifestyle instagram account, where I will be in charge of planning and following a content strategy, filming and editing any necessary footage, creating any necessary branding elements such as a profile photo graphics and thumbnails for reels, as well as develop and strengthen account development by ensuring a media strategy and analyzing engagement metrics. Topics and ideas featured on this page could be, but are not limited to: workout plans, workout how-to videos, meal/snack/smoothie ideas, grocery shop hauls, personal anecdotes discussing why I got into fitness and nutrition, how building fitness goals has benefitted my mental health, gym motivation, etc. In other words, this page could be seen as a guide for people who are new to the gym, or people who are interested in strengthening their lifestyles in this way.

This subject matters to me because I am already extremely into fitness and wellness; It’s already part of who I am and a lifestyle I follow on a daily basis. Not only would I be building a project very authentic to me, but the branding, content creation, and account development would directly translate into skills I have already learned during my time in the communications program and feel confident building upon in an individualized way.

 

Form

I am interested in developing the account on Instagram, as Instagram is a platform that I have lots of experience with especially when it comes to reel editing and evaluating professional insights. I am open to also creating this account on TikTok, as I do have experience with editing directly on the app and assessing engagement metrics. My only concern is that I would rather focus all of my energy on one platform rather than get swamped with trying to build two platforms at the same time, but it is a challenge I am open to.

What I want the user to experience through my project is a guide to help them begin, pursue, or strengthen their fitness and lifestyle goals. In other words, I could almost be a shoulder to lean on for people who have similar interests as me. It would be building a personal brand as well as a community within the fitness and wellness industry.

 

Example #1: @Maddien.fitness

Maddie is an online fitness coach who shares her journey on Instagram and TikTok. My account would be similar to Maddie’s in the sense that my account would be a comfortable space where I allow myself and others to grow together. My account would be different from Maddie’s in the sense that it wouldn’t focus on anything personal training, and more so what has worked for me personally. I think Maddie does a really good job at balancing the fitness aspect with the lifestyle aspect of her account, so I would take inspiration from that as well. Links to posts that I would take inspiration from can be viewed below:

 

Example #2: @Emilyhottingerfit

Emily is a fitness and lifestyle blogger and influencer who shares her journey on Instagram and TikTok. My account would be similar to Emily’s in the sense that it would also reference motivational content, recipes, workout plans, form tips, and so on. Emily also does a good job at incorporating lifestyle content onto her page so it’s not so fitness heavy. For example, to space out the content, she has a couple videos about her PA school journey, day in the life videos, outfit inspo videos, etc. Almost all of her fitness videos include voice-overs. While I like that idea, I probably wouldn’t make all of my videos voice-overs just to space out the types of videos on my account. Links to posts that I would take inspiration from can be viewed below:

 

Technology and Materials

This project will require my iPhone, as all of the content will be filmed on there, Instagram and/or TikTok depending on which platform I use, as well as editing applications such as CapCut and/or iMovie. For thumbnails, I plan to use Canva and Photoshop. As of right now, I do not believe I would have to purchase any outside technology or materials.

 

Audience and Impact

The primary audience for this project would be users who have a similar lifestyle as mine, those who are actively involved in fitness and nutrition. I find this project to be extremely fitting for me because it is already something I practice in my day-to-day life, but assembling the creative direction for the content strategy incorporates the meaning of this project. The secondary audience for this project will be people who may not be as active, may not have the time to be as active, or people who might not currently practice healthy lifestyles but who have the desire to. The fitness and nutrition community can be very confusing and overwhelming at first, and when beginning a personal journey it can feel extremely overwhelming and hard to find a place to start. Following along my page can serve as inspiration, and like I said earlier, a sort of guide to help them begin that journey if they wish. This project matters because it is one that is not only authentic to me and comprises my skills I have developed as a communications student, but it can help others.

 

Prior Experience

As for Instagram, I have lots of prior experience being solely in charge of different types of business accounts, running campaigns for nonprofits, as well as creating necessary graphics, thumbnails, or highlights.

During my sophomore year of college, I took a social media marketing course where we worked with both hypothetical and real businesses and services to rebrand their social media. The first half of the semester, I built and worked with Tubby Time. Tubby Time was a business idea specifically advertised to new parents. Each bar of Tubby Time soap would contain a small toy, helping parents to teach and easily encourage their children to wash their hands, as every scrub is a step closer to a surprise. I created content for Instagram and Facebook that was mostly informative and educational to new parents. The second half of the semester, I worked with Thee Hair Barb. The Hair Barb is a company that creates virgin and raw wigs for women with afro-centric hair, while working to protect clients natural hair as well as perfect unique styles. I created content for Instagram and Facebook that explained current services and acted as an easy outlet to arrange appointments.

During my junior year of college, I accepted an internship position with Baker Street Partners. During my time with the Real Estate Development company, I ran their Instagram and would go to job sites to collect any necessary weekly content. My job consisted of creating and following a content strategy to resonate with the target audience, while building a sense of loyalty and trust with the followers who might not have been looking to buy at that given moment. I recommended we follow an 80/20 rule, where 80% of the content would be informative regarding the company, and 20% would be informational regarding the surrounding area (featuring parks, restaurants, bars, etc. to get the users to feel out the area). Aside from editing weekly content, I also helped the team build a separate Instagram account for property management projects, and did any necessary rebranding for both accounts.

This past summer, I interned at a boutique in my hometown, where I ran both their Instagram and TikTok accounts. In order to run both accounts successfully, I developed and implemented a marketing plan to promote brand building and in person sales, analyzed business insights to determine the target audiences, edit weekly content, as well as act as a liaison between the clients and business owner.

Last semester, I worked alongside Water is Life Kenya, a non-profit organization based in Delaware that helps bring clean water to people in Kenya. Working in a group with other students, our goal as collaborators was to develop and implement a social media strategy on Instagram in order to generate a larger following, increase awareness of WILK’s mission, steward longtime supporters, engage new supporters, and eventually drive donations for WILK’s campaign to empower Kenyan women. We did this by creating posts and reels to help people understand the Maasai culture, the services WILK provides to the community, and how they have benefitted the Kenyan people. All of these aspects were able to help users feel more connected to the grounds in Kenya. We made sure to hit on the educational aspect first so by the time we began the campaign, people would be willing to donate. When it came to planning the campaign, we made sure to discuss and implement  necessary colors, fonts, logos, photos, and general themes for the graphics in order to make the campaign look cohesive and instructional.

 All of my related projects and internship experience mentioned can be seen under the portfolio tab of my website: https://www.carsenvespe.com/portfolio.html. Though all of these projects are extremely different, and my project will vastly differ from all of these as well because it will be more personalized branding rather than creating content for other companies and campaigns, my experience on Instagram and TikTok has taught me that the most important rule to success on these platforms is consistency, and that can be built by creating and following a content plan and marketing strategy.

 

Educational Experience

This project would help me reflect on my educational experience in the communications department because it aligns with work I have done in the past. During my time in the program, I have gained lots of valuable experience in content creation and branding, and choosing this project would be an individualized reflection of what I have learned so far, and how I can use my prior knowledge to build a personal brand.

One class that I devote a lot of my gained knowledge to is Beautiful Social. Beautiful Social is a course offered at Saint Joseph’s that collaborates with non-profit organizations to practice community-led design in new media and social web consultancy, training, professional writing, social media management, online survey design, web design, and web based video free of charge. This course has taught me that the work leading up to the project is just as important, and if not more important than the project itself. We discuss topics such as design questions, comparative media analysis’, on-paper prototypes, Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle, and organizational storytelling. Within, I have worked with real non-profit organizations to rebrand their company and run social media campaigns. This hands-on experience has transformed my trajectory of learning, as it has helped me further develop my problem solving, collaboration, communication, and management skills.

 

Research

I will begin my research identifying my target audience, and with that investigate the types and styles of content that resonate with that demographic, what time of day that demographic is most active, and what type of content strategy resonates with them the most. Within my related coursework and prior internships, I do have lots of experience doing research on specific demographics and analyzing specific engagement metrics.

The other aspects I will have to become more familiar with are the editing softwares, such as CapCut, and all of the different features within. I am extremely familiar with CapCut, but as mentioned I have only ever done branding and management for business accounts, so perhaps I can venture into different, more personalized editing styles that I have not done before.

 

Obstacles and Resources

I do not currently see many potential obstacles, considering this project is very genuine to me and something I have been wanting to create for a long time now. The only challenges I see might be generating new ideas on a weekly basis, and trying to create content that is unique and not too similar/repetitive to other content already out there. Obviously, I will be and already have begun taking inspiration from others, but I also want my account to be distinct from others.

 

Timeline: Create a timeline that accounts for each week of the semester and what you hope to work on when. This is where you lay out your workflow. What will you work on first? Then what? And so on. This can be general for now.

Week 3: Formal proposals and conferences

  • Create Instagram & TikTok accounts,
  • Create any necessary profile picture branding materials
  • Create a bio

Week 4: Background research and ethics, time management

  • Research the specific demographic I am trying to target
  • Create a content strategy

Week 5: Materiality, technology, and inclusive design

  • Begin making content (post 2x a week)
    • Purpose behind the account (photo)
      • Caption explaining why I got into health and wellness
      • Creators who inspired me
    • Workout walkthrough video
      • Leg workout

Week 6: Inclusive design, inclusion and diversity

  • Make content (post 2x a week)
    • Protein shake recipe
    • Grocery store haul

Week 7: Inclusion and diversity (cont.)

  • Make content (post 3x a week)
    • Fridge restock
    • Workout walkthrough video
      • Back and bicep workout
    • Daily eats picture slide/video

Week 8: Midterm check in (50% completion)

  • Make content (post 3x a week)
    • Workout split ideas
      • 5x a week
    • Gym ‘grwm’
    • Workout walkthrough video
      • Core

Week 9: Work on projects

  • Make content (post 3-4x a week)
    • Workout split ideas
      • 4x a week
    • Form video
      • Bulgarian split squats
    • What’s in my gym bag picture slide/video
    • Daily eats picture slide/video

Week 10: Work on projects (60% completion)

  • Make content (post 3-4x a week)
    • Purpose behind the account (video → What, why, and how)
    • Can’t get to the gym?
      • At home workout ideas
    • Week of gym outfits

Week 11: Work on projects

  • Make content (post 3-4x a week)
    • Workout walkthrough video
      • Leg workout
    • Protein snack idea
    • Building a gym routine
      • What order to put workouts in

Week 12: Work on projects (80% completion)

  • Make content (post 3-4x a week)
    • Workout walkthrough video
      • Chest shoulder tri workout
    • Types of sneakers to wear depending on the workout
    • Form video
      • Hip thrusts

Week 13: Presentations practice

  • Make content (post 2x a week)
    • Mobility video
    • Daily eats picture slide/video

Week 14: In-class presentations

  • Practice presentations

Week 15: Presentations (95% completion)

  • Practice presentations

Week 16: Course ends

  • Continue building the account past capstone due date