- Process Documentation
- Week to Week Progress Updates
- Week 1 – Initial Setup and Planning
- Week 2 – Refining Strategy and Early Prototyping
- Week 3 – Expanding Content and Strategic Focus
- Week 4 – Learning from External Contributions and Trends
- Week 5 – Shifting to Structured Content Creation
- Week 6 – Balancing Promotion with Engagement
- Week 7 – Transition and DA Pivot
- Week 8 – Full DA Pivot to Personal Brand
Process Documentation
Weekly Discord Updates
(logged in a Notion workspace)
Social Media Strategy & Tracking Document
The Fernwood Fitness Woonona Social Media Strategy is a key tool for documenting the development of my Digital Artefact (DA).
By tracking metrics and adjusting content based on performance, the strategy supports an iterative process that aligns with the DA’s focus on continuous improvement and community building.
View the strategy documents here:
Notion Workspaces
Communication Channels
Communication channels played a key role in tracking and documenting the development of my DA. These tools helped streamline content planning, collaboration, and the adaptation of the DA based on real-time input.
These channels included:
Instagram Business Account Dashboard
The Instagram Business Dashboard was a key tool used to gain insights that were then documented in the strategy to measure key metrics and guided content adjustments.
Instagram Analytics Dashboard
Tracked performance metrics like reach, engagement, and follower growth, which helped refine my content strategy and identify the most effective posts.
Instagram Achievements & Challenges
This feature allowed me to set specific goals (eg. increasing story posts), tracking my progress and motivating consistency. It documented how well I met my targets and helped me improve audience engagement, showcasing the evolution of my DA through goal-setting and creative exploration.
Week to Week Progress Updates
Week 1 – Initial Setup and Planning
Overview:
- Gained access to the Fernwood Fitness Instagram account and conducted an initial review of its performance.
- Held a meeting with my manager to clarify social media goals and expectations, focusing on increasing engagement and building community.
- Developed a physical social media strategy template, outlining:
- Key goals like increasing follower count by 10% and engagement by 15%.
- Weekly content plan, including a posting frequency of 5 uploads, 10 stories, and 2 reels per week.
- Performance metrics for tracking success.
- Began initial content posting and monitored the immediate response using Instagram Business Dashboard analytics to assess key metrics such as reach and engagement.
Week 1 Discord Post
DA Week 1 Update: Compared to some of you, my DA idea sounds really boring, however, I have agreed to manage and enhance the online presence of Fernwood Fitness Woonona on Instagram. At its most basic level, the objective of the DA is to curate an online brand persona that drives business growth. Looking deeper, the social utility extends to many parties: the business (monetary benefits, business growth), gym members (building parasocial relationships to feel more connected to staff and others, fostering community, and staying informed about relevant updates), and myself (personal skill development, gaining insights into the online fitness space for future business ideas, and applying subject content in a practical sense). These social utilities are interconnected, creating a web of mutual benefit that enhances the experience and success of everyone involved.
I definitely have a long way to go and expect many iterations in order to develop this preliminary idea into something interesting.
Brainstorm – Concept Mapping
Notion – Concept Refinement
Week 1 Strategy Document.
Developed a detailed plan outlining goals, key metrics, and content schedules to ensure a structured approach to the DA. It serves as a roadmap for consistent posting and tracking progress.
so the gym could keep a physical copy
Reflection: This foundational week focused on establishing a baseline for my DA by setting clear goals and structuring content creation. Having a physical template allowed me to better manage the workflow and provided a roadmap for tracking progress. Analysing initial posts helped guide the strategic focus moving forward.
Subject Application:
- Prototyping and Ideation: This phase aligned with subject concepts of learning by doing. By laying out goals and refining the strategy, I could iteratively adjust content to meet engagement targets.
Week 2 – Refining Strategy and Early Prototyping
Overview:
- Continued with the posting schedule and monitored early content performance through the Instagram Business Dashboard.
- Experimented with different content types, including promotions, fitness tips, and community-centric posts.
- Met with the gym manager to refine the strategy based on early feedback, specifically focusing on increasing community engagement.
- Used Instagram Achievements & Challenges to stay consistent with content posting and track goal progress (e.g., increasing story posts)
- Started planning for the Pitch
Week 2 Discord Post
In today’s seminar, Travis posed the question, “How do you generate value out of the Discord?”. This week’s update is going to be a recap of how I applied this question and the outcome on my DA idea.
From this question, the discussion led to breaking down the word ‘generate,’ to find it implies input to get something out, highlighting the importance of adaptation over time. This was then analogised through the concept of plant evolution to meet conditions – Evolution is driven by constraints, just like tropical plants adapt to their environment by growing larger leaves or absorbing more moisture (or something along those lines at least). Relating back to the subject content, we revealed that, in media, our platform (and their unique conditions/restraints) shape what we create.
Applying this in order to to generate value on Discord, I copy and pasted all of the Week 1 and 2 updates into ChatGPT. From this, I was provided an analysis, inspiration and project development ideas to help refine my own ideas through collective insights..
Thanks guys!
Week 2 Strategy Document.
Reflection:
Early data showed that community-driven posts performed better than promotional ones. Adjusting the content mix toward more interactive posts helped boost engagement. The Instagram Achievements & Challenges feature kept me consistent in posting and tracking progress toward set goals.
Subject Application:
- Iteration: I focused on refining content based on engagement data, which aligned with the course’s emphasis on constant improvement. This iterative process helped me stay responsive to audience behaviour.
Week 3 – Expanding Content and Strategic Focus
Overview:
- Completed Project Pitch with a clear idea of what my DA aimed to do and how
- Started posting a minimum of 5 times per week (including reels and stories).
- Attended a workshop with Fitness Playground focused on evidence-based social media strategies for personal trainers, which inspired the breakdown of content into three categories:
- Awareness (60%): Short, shareable content like funny videos and myth-busting.
- Alignment (30%): Engaging posts such as testimonials and longer educational content.
- Action (10%): Promotional posts with calls to action.
- Began testing different formats and focused on incorporating feedback from the audience.
Week 3 Discord Post
Text from Post:
DA Week 3 Update: Hey everyone! Here is a little update on my DA… As you can see by my strategy, I started managing the Fernwood Instagram from July 1. This allowed for initial development and set a strong foundation for my DA. Currently, my prototyping involves posting a minimum of 5 times per week (+ stories, + engagement with comments and other posts), mainly following current promotions and advertising the services offered as requested by the owner of the franchise. However, I’ve noticed that funny reels and non-promotional content perform significantly better. After attending a workshop with the brand Fitness Playground that focused on evidence-based social media strategies for PTs, I’ve decided to apply the advice offered and iterate my approach. My plan now focuses on three categories of content: Awareness (60%): Short, shareable content like funny videos, how-to’s, trends, and myth-busting. Alignment (30%): Engaging posts such as testimonials, progress videos, and longer educational content. Action (10%): Posts with calls to action to drive engagement and conversions. This new strategy aims to build trust, provide value, and create touch-points with our audience. Looking forward to seeing how this evolves! Thanks for the inspiration and good luck with your pitches everyone!
Digital Artefact Pitch
Week 3 Strategy Document.
Week 3 Content Posted
Reflection:
Categorising content into Awareness, Alignment, and Action helped streamline the approach. Funny, shareable posts (Awareness) performed best, reinforcing the need for content that engages rather than promotes. Logging ideas from other creators in the Instagram Message Archives allowed me to adapt successful trends.
Subject Application:
- Prototyping: Testing different content types and adjusting based on feedback aligned with the course’s emphasis on iterative development.
Week 4 – Learning from External Contributions and Trends
Overview:
- Due to travel, handed over Instagram duties to other staff members.
- Analysed the posts made in my absence, which included reels, promotions, and trend-based content.
- A funny trend-based reel generated the most engagement with 6,357 views, 82 likes, and 6 comments, reinforcing the power of tapping into popular trends.
- Saved trending ideas for future content creation and developed a plan to pre-schedule posts when unavailable.
Week 4 Discord Post
To ensure the progression of my DA and to keep refining my approach, I’ll be finishing each weekly update with a question to guide the next prototype or iteration. For this week: How can I better anticipate and integrate trending content to consistently drive high engagement while maintaining the unique voice of our gym? This is something I’ll implement each week to ensure my DA evolves based on real-time feedback and continues to meet its objectives.
Week 4 Strategy Document.
Reflection:
This week was a valuable learning experience, as I was able to observe the impact of trend-based content without directly contributing to its creation. The success of a trend-based reel that performed far better than other posts reinforced the importance of staying agile and capitalising on trends to drive engagement. Although it was disheartening to see the highest-performing content not come from my efforts, this highlighted the importance of planning ahead and incorporating trends into future content creation.
Subject Application:
- Reframing: This week’s experience aligned with the subject’s concept of reframing. By shifting my understanding of what drives engagement (i.e., trends rather than consistent promotions), I could see the value of being flexible and adapting content strategy based on audience preferences and trends.
Week 5 – Shifting to Structured Content Creation
Overview:
- Implemented a structured content creation plan: Dedicated Mondays to planning and scheduling content for the week, planned collaborative posts with Hypoxi and Reformer for specific days.
- Tracked engagement performance: Using the Instagram Business Dashboard, the July Monthly Analytics Report showed growth in followers (+12), accounts reached (+24.2%), and accounts engaged (+2.4%). The number of grid posts increased by 6, and reels increased by 3, but stories decreased by 26.
- Adjusted content strategy based on performance: The report revealed that funny, trend-based reels (such as “Crimes in the Gym”) outperformed promotional content. Fernwood-produced content, especially advertisements, performed poorly in comparison to the more interactive and engaging posts.
- Iterated Trainer Tips: Feedback from analytics prompted changes in format, moving away from infographics towards reels and images for more engagement.
Week 5 Discord Posts
After seeing the success of the trend-based reel last week, I’m doubling down on creating similar content that resonates with our audience. This week, I also made a significant change to how I manage my content creation for the Fernwood Instagram account. In the past, I left content creation to the last minute, which led to feeling overwhelmed and sometimes resulted in lower-quality posts—like text-based updates when I didn’t have fresh content from the gym. To address this, I’ve now dedicated Mondays to planning, creating, and scheduling content for the week. This shift has already reduced stress and given me more time to focus on crafting engaging posts. Moving forward, I’m aiming to produce higher-quality content consistently and to stay ahead of trends by saving ideas and creating content in advance. I’ll also be asking for help when I need it to avoid the burnout that can come from trying to do everything solo. Question for the week: How can I further optimise my content creation process to ensure it remains sustainable and continues to produce high-engagement posts? I’ll be using this question to guide my approach next week, ensuring my DA keeps evolving in a meaningful way.
Another Update…So, I’ve just wrapped up another weekly analytics report to guide next week’s content plan. Last week’s analytics showed funny videos are still killing it in terms of engagement, so that’s definitely going to shape this week’s approach. My boss wants me to put more focus on promoting offers and changes happening at the club. I’m planning to weave these into trending content with some subtle calls to action—nothing too in-your-face, but enough to drive engagement. Also, I came across a reel on Instagram that had a ChatGPT prompt for generating niche-specific reel ideas. I gave it a go, and now I’ve got a spreadsheet full of ideas to test out. Let’s see how they perform over the next few weeks. Question: How can I best balance the need to promote club offers while still keeping our content engaging and trend-focused?
Week 5 Strategy Document.
Monthly Analytics Report:
The July Monthly Recap Analytics showed a small follower increase (+0.3%) but a more significant rise in accounts reached (+24.2%) and engagement (+2.4%), indicating wider content reach and slightly higher interaction. While grid posts and reels increased, story posts dropped.
Funny, trend-based reels outperformed promotional content, while ads and formal posts underperformed. The report suggested switching Trainer Tips from infographics to reels or images to boost engagement. Moving forward, the focus should be on interactive, entertaining content, community engagement, user-generated content, and posting during peak activity times.
Reflection: This week showed the effectiveness of pre-planning content and using structured schedules for improving performance. The data-driven approach helped identify what type of content was resonating with the audience, which ultimately led to better engagement. The need to shift towards more interactive and fun content became evident, particularly for reels, which performed better than traditional advertisements. This week reinforced the importance of analytics and a flexible approach to content creation.
Subject Application:
- Prototyping and Iteration: By testing different formats and using data insights, I adapted the strategy to focus on more engaging, community-oriented content. This aligns with the subject’s focus on iterative development and constant refinement.
Week 6 – Balancing Promotion with Engagement
Overview:
- Experimented with mixing promotional content and engaging posts, using humour and trends like the smash cake trend, adapted for gym-related content.
- Created playful content, including a fourth-wall-breaking video, which led to a direct membership sign-up.
- Adjusted the strategy to focus more on light-hearted content that blends promotion with fun engagement.
Week 6 Discord Post
Week 6 Update: To address last week’s question about balancing club promotions with engaging, trend-focused content, I experimented with the smash cake trend, adapting it for Fernwood by having staff choose their favourite gym equipment instead of celeb crushes. While this didn’t expand our audience much, it was great for member engagement and retention, reinforcing the importance of content that resonates with our existing community.
I also made a cheeky, fourth-wall-breaking video begging people to take advantage of the promotion cause we are tired of making content (staff ‘sleeping’ around the gym). This post led to a direct sign-up, showing how playful content can promote offers effectively as it comes off more authentic.
Question for next week: Does increased reach directly boost business performance? Should I focus on expanding content reach to attract new followers, and does that growth lead to more sign-ups?
Content Examples from Week 6:
Reflection:
This week was a turning point in terms of blending promotional content with engaging, trend-driven posts. By experimenting with trends like the smash cake challenge and producing playful, authentic content, I was able to achieve a higher level of engagement while still promoting the gym’s offerings. This highlighted the importance of making promotional content feel natural and engaging, as more playful posts tended to resonate better with the audience than traditional advertisements.
Subject Application:
- Adjacent Possible & Reframing: Leveraging trends and making minor adjustments to existing formats demonstrated the subject’s focus on exploring adjacent possibilities and reframing promotional content. By adapting popular trends to fit the gym’s branding, I could engage the audience more effectively while still promoting the business.
Week 7 – Transition and DA Pivot
Overview:
- Took a break from managing the Fernwood account due to ongoing health issues.
- Revived my personal training account (@unmatched.fit) to maintain content creation during the break.
- Posted previously created content (Trainer Tip Tuesday) and began strategising for the personal account, considering it as a potential new focus for the DA.
- Analysed the engagement of content on the smaller platform, noticing a drop in performance compared to the larger Fernwood page.
Week 7 Discord Post
Week 7 Update: This week, due to ongoing health issues, I’m on leave from work and taking a break from managing the gym’s socials. I also hit a roadblock when I got locked out of the Fernwood account. To keep up with my DA, I revived my personal training account, @unmatched.fit, which I rarely use. This account has 89 followers, and I mostly post fitness and lifestyle content to my stories. I reposted a video I had already edited for Fernwood (Trainer Tip Tuesday). It didn’t perform well, but it was a start in maintaining some content output. Since I’m considering leaving my role at the gym, I may shift my DA focus to this personal account. In my Pitch, I mentioned that one of my goals was to learn social media strategies to eventually apply to my own brand, so this could be the perfect opportunity to test those ideas.
Question for next week: How can I effectively establish @unmatched.fit as my DA if I decide to shift focus, and what steps should I take to build engagement on this platform while navigating the uncertainty of my current project?
Reflection:
This week was marked by a transition as I began to focus on my personal brand due to health-related issues and a break from managing Fernwood’s account. Reposting content from Fernwood to my personal training account, @unmatched.fit, highlighted the challenges of engaging a smaller, more intimate audience. The lower engagement from reposted content also underscored the importance of tailoring posts specifically for the audience. This shift allowed me to apply the strategies I learned from Fernwood in a smaller-scale environment and consider a full pivot of the DA.
Subject Application:
- Anti fragility: The DA pivot demonstrated the concept of anti fragility, where setbacks (such as health issues and reduced account access) were leveraged to create new opportunities. By shifting my focus to a personal brand, I continued to adapt and progress the DA, reinforcing the subject’s emphasis on resilience and flexibility in project development.
Week 8 – Full DA Pivot to Personal Brand
Overview:
- Completed peer review and gained some valuable insights / advice regarding my next steps. Feedback from peers was very helpful.
- Officially quit managing the Fernwood account and pivoted the DA to focus entirely on @unmatched.fit.
- Shifted from managing a large business account to developing a personal brand.
- Posted content aimed at fitness tips, workout routines, and lifestyle, targeting a small audience of 89* followers.
- Switched the account to a business profile to track performance and engagement.
- Began considering gathering UGC from clients (friends and family) to make the account more professional.
- Completed Peer Review Part 1, gaining some valuable insights, especially around the importance of flexibility and iteration in DA development.
*now 88 followers
Week 8 Discord Posts
Week 8: I’ve officially quit my job and stepped down from managing the Fernwood account, so I’ve pivoted my DA to focus on @unmatched.fit. I’m still staying within the fitness Instagram space, but I’ve shifted from managing a larger business account to focusing on developing a personal brand. I’m currently posting to a small follower base of 89 people, most who I know personally. I have a few clients I’m working with (friends and family) and I’m considering gathering UGC from them to start making the page more professional. I’ve also switched the account to a business account to better track performance. This shift allows me to apply the strategies I learned from managing a larger account on a more personal scale. It’s still early days, and there’s a lot to consider in terms of building the account and establishing a clear brand identity. My DA will document this development and the iterative process, including how concepts like the “adjacent possible” will shape the account’s growth. Question for next week: How can I establish @unmatched.fit as a professional account through UGC and other strategies, and what steps should I take to build trust and engagement with my small, local audience?
Peer Review Part 1
Click Button Below to View:
Audio of Peer Review Meeting:
Reflection:
The official pivot to my personal training account, @unmatched.fit, marked a significant shift from managing a larger business account to developing a personal brand. While the audience was smaller, the strategies learned from Fernwood were still applicable but needed to be adjusted to fit a more intimate setting. The switch to a business account also provided more insights into engagement patterns, and considering user-generated content (UGC) opened up new possibilities for increasing professionalism and interaction.
Subject Application:
- Exaptation & Iteration: This week exemplified the subject content on exaptation, as strategies developed for a larger account were repurposed for a smaller, more personal brand. Iterating on previous learnings allowed for continued growth, despite the change in scale and audience. This adaptability highlights the value of iteration and flexibility in the DA’s development process.
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