Social By Tori: The Process

Over the Autumn Semester 2022, Social By Tori is starting to find its feet. My plan right now is to try my best to continue to grow, post and share for years to come. The process I went through (and still working on) started like this…

Project Ideation

Social by Tori was technically already in the works before the semester started. What originally was terriTORIal presets (2020)… which turned into Tori Saros Designs (2021)… now lives on as what we know to be ‘Social By Tori’. My main aim and direction of this platform were to be able to create an ongoing portfolio (digitally) which allows me to utilise social media to create a relevant and sharable experience. Instagram is my base point of sharing, purely for the layout. TikTok is always something I wanted to be better at and really be able to utilise. When browsing jobs recently just to understand the industry and understand possibilities and processes, it was interesting to me that most ‘requirements’ included something to do with TikTok or being able to understand and use it well. This then was the reason I knew for the future of Social By Tori I wanted to create content over these popular platforms. 

Planning & Scheduling 

This is where things start to get a little bit ‘complicated’ and ‘off track’. After posting my pitch I, unfortunately, fell ill with our friend COVID (don’t recommend), leaving me quite fatigued and inactive for a good 2-3 weeks. This means my original plan and timeline probably were already out the window and I had to re-group. Coming up with a generalised idea of how I wanted the page to look, and the way I wanted to layout and design content was one of my first processes after being sick. Without this base, there was no indication of how I was going to make content. I originally planned to make 3 posts a week… BAD IDEA. This turned out just not to be doable. Between my other classes and assignments, outside commitments and most importantly ‘me time’ this was something I either had to time manage REALLY well or completely change. I moved into a less structured ‘post whenever you can’ mentality. As I mentioned earlier I really want to be able to come up with a plan that works for me and once this semester is FULLY over this will be a bit priority to set me up for future artefacts and projects. 

Research For Content

Coming up with my content and what it would include was obviously the biggest step. Without content and information/evidence to back it up, there would be no point. I found myself searching for ‘social media strategies’ and pretty much self-teaching myself about the best ways to utilise social media. I brainstormed from other existing social media agencies and creation accounts as well as the few articles I found to help me come up with some ideas for posts. I utilised articles that my peers provided to me in my pitch feedback. These included Semrush and An In-Depth Look at Marketing on TikTok. I have made a list which I refer to when creating posts of social media tips and ideas and also add in my own additional posts of works and commissions that I produce. This article on ‘Sprout Social’ has given me a really good insight into social media strategies and tips. It includes platforms and features to utilise, advertising, specific tips for each platform and analytic results. 

What’s Next? 

Now that the semester is coming to an end… What’s next for ‘Social By Tori’. As I stated above I really would like to continue this by expanding and developing the page and content while I have more time. I hope to be able to adjust and create content against future predictions of social media and keep up with the constantly changing trends and popular platforms. I really want to expand my own knowledge to be able to help people further their own development with social media accounts and content creation. I feel I will look into a much stricter schedule to insure I am following my own advice, while trying further develop and create for Social By Tori to the best of my ability, utilising my skills and design practices. 

https://instagram.com/socialbytori