2019 Featured Creator: Inspiration for 2020 Engagement
Moving into the new year the Freestak team wants to encourage you all to strive for inspirational, engaging content that truly motivates others to get active. Discover the reasons why you create content and express that through eye-catching photos, unique experiences and personal interactions.
Sarah Leighton, @fitforadventure_, believes that movement, and exploration of the outdoors, are human needs. As a result, she focuses her content on storytelling and capturing unforgettable moments throughout her adventures in order to inspire others.
During her work with Lowe Alpine, Sarah was given the opportunity to express her creative freedom through the brand’s ‘Move your World’ program by exploring and pushing the boundaries of her content and adventures. Obtaining a 9% engagement rate, one post in particular (below) captured not only a high amount of likes but inspired 63 comments as well.
Touching base with Sarah, she shared some thoughts and information as to what inspired her for this post and how she keeps her audience engaged throughout her content.
What was your inspiration for this post?
My inspiration was the snow! The conditions were incredible that day, and it was the first real snow on the ground in Wales this winter. I’d had my eye on this ridge for a while, and when I saw the forecast with such little wind, I decided the night before that I was going, and I was taking my drone. I live in South Wales, and travelled to North Wales (a 4-hour drive) for this hike. I’m quite spontaneous like that. I barely get to fly my drone on the mountains because of the wind – so I wasn’t missing this opportunity!
How do you keep your audience engaged?
I engage people through storytelling, showing different places that I could inspire people to go, and also light-hearted humour I guess. I just tell the story of what I’m doing – it’s genuine, it’s sharing the things I love doing, and that I would be doing regardless of social media. It’s sharing my life I suppose.
What have you enjoyed most about working with Lowe Alpine?
I’ve really enjoyed working with Lowe Alpine, and one of the reasons for this is that they weren’t too prescriptive about what content they wanted. They asked for a minimum but left it open to our own creative interpretation. I love the backpacks so it was only natural that I would go over and above what they’d asked for, because I’d be out using the backpacks for all the things I do anyway.
I love what the brand are about; the whole ethos behind the ‘Move your World’ tagline represents a lot of what I stand for – I live my life on the move, exploring and pushing boundaries. I want to work with a brand that reflects that, that suits my light-hearted and slightly humorous outlook, and values the things I do. They’re at the forefront of pack design, and I want to be a part of that.
What do you want your followers to take away from your content?
I always hope that my followers get something – whether that’s a little laugh on a day when they’re feeling a bit demotivated, some inspiration to go out on their own adventures, some tips/recommendations or knowledge from my journey, or enjoyment from one of my stories. I have been told many times that I’ve brightened someone’s day with a bit of light-hearted humour on a post or story. There’s so much seriousness in the world, and many reasons for it, but I like to provide that light-hearted relief if I can.
What will drive engagement in the future?
I’d like brands to value the power of stories, and YouTube videos, as well as just posts. There’s sometimes a lot of emphasis on posts that look pretty on someone’s Instagram page, and I do get engagement through those, but I also get a huge amount of engagement through my Instagram stories. They’re the raw, uncut, follow-along footage. They’re what people often reply to and ask questions or laugh at.
I think long term brand relationships are the way forward – so that they can know what the people creating their content are really about, to know that they work with those who really live and breathe what they represent, and to appreciate their value.
How do you drive engagement for your content? Leave a comment and let us know what’s important to you when creating content and how it develops your engagement and encourages others to get active.
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