Gainesville Finds
Gainesville Finds, a local Instagram-based store specializing in vintage Gators clothing, reached out to Elevate Agency, a student-run consulting and advertising agency at the University of Florida, seeking help with their business.
As a Project Manager for the agency, I was assigned to Gainesville Finds along with three other students on my team. I kept consistent communication with the owner of the business and clarified the problems the company was facing along with what goals he was trying to reach.
The owner of Gainesville Finds laid out some problems that the business was facing:
Decrease in followers after students graduate
Lack of interaction in posts
Sales were heavily carried by pop-up shops
Online sales trailed significantly
Pop-up shops were limited to apartment complexes and sorority houses
One of the main goals for the company was to increase its social media following and interactions. As a result of its Instagram-only business model, Gainesville Finds prioritized a high follower count and a steady increase in followers in order to increase its exposure. I worked alongside the creative on our team to develop a content calendar and content ideas to post on the Gainesville Finds account while also developing templates for the owner to use moving forward after the campaign ended. Once implemented, the company’s page saw significant growth in interaction, sales, and follower count. Although the campaign ended prior to students’ graduations, we predicted that higher interaction and a greater sense of community would reduce the impact of students unfollowing upon graduation.
In order to expand Gainesville Finds’ brand recognition in the greater Gainesville area and within the student body, I worked alongside my research team member to understand the demographics of people who followed the page and those who purchased merchandise. A majority of the brand’s target audience were students, with a significant minority being Gator fans within Gainesville. As a result, I researched opportunities for the company to set up pop-up shops, such as local markets, while also reaching out to local businesses where students would typically be present, such as coffee shops and restaurants. I worked with my creative and copywriter to develop print advertisements to place along areas on- and off-campus with heavy foot traffic. These print advertisements promoted the brand’s Instagram page and upcoming pop-up shops.
Over the course of the campaign, the company page saw an increase in interactions from an average of 10-20 interactions to an average of 100-150 interactions per post (not including products). Followers increased from 6,000 to 7,400+, an increase of roughly 23%, by the end of the campaign.