BE ESSENCE

Be Essence is a creative agency that provides the service of content creation and content distribution for influencers and brands. We aim to help our clients profitably use and understand social media platforms by providing quality images and detailed consultations for our clients. Let us help you capture your essence.

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BE ESSENCE SPILLS THE BEANS ...

I don’t think you should ever complain when there is too much of something but when it comes to choosing the perfect app, it can be completely overwhelming as to how many there are … which one is better? Which one is free? Which is the easiest to use? The realms of social media is no longer as simple as creating content and posting it with that basic Instagram filter, its all about being different, posting with themes and using filters to make photo’s look more glamorous than they actually are. The fact is, social media is used as the front in which we present ourselves to the world. This needs to be attractive to followers and there are hundreds and thousands of apps out there to help us do this, but where do we start? 

STRUCTURE

I only began to realise the importance of downloading apps to help with the structure of social media platforms until I launched both Be Essence and my photographic career. Its hard to keep up with constantly posting content in order to maintain a following as well as gaining a larger reach. Thats when I started looking into apps in which I could relieve some of the stress of having to post each and every day. 

PREVIEW APP - This app has made my life so much easier when it comes to managing my Instagram page and I think it could really help you too! 

This app enables you to plan each post for as far in advance as you’d like. Using this app you can view your existing Instagram layout and add potential images or videos to your feed to see if they would match the style of your current images. When you are happy with how the images look you can add captions, hashtags and set the date and time of when you’d like an image to be posted. Using this app has allowed me to spend a single day planning a weeks worth of content and the rest of the week focussing on projects and time to be spent on myself. I couldn’t be more organised with this app! 

TEMPLATES/STORIES

STORYLUXE - Posting is great … but here at Be Essence we love to be active on our stories to gain a more personal relationship with you all. We downloaded story luxe to give our stories/images a more creative style. Story Luxe is an app which provides film style templates in which you can simply upload your images to! This can be personal preference but we just love the classic film look and it couldn’t be made easier with story luxe. 

PINTEREST - This is probably our go to app … rather than using templates Pinterest is great for finding background images for posting questions or polls on your story. Pinterest allows for so much creative freedom and finding ‘your look’ by adding pins to particular boards. 

FILTERS

Filters are probably one of the biggest selection of apps to narrow down. It has probably taken me  since I first started up my Instagram account til now to find the perfect ones. Here are my favourite … 

VSCO - VSCO has been my day one editing app, with my favourite filter being C3. This app is the starting point of using filters for your gram and if you ask around I think most people can say they have it or have used it! 

COLOURTONE - This is my newest find and I am just in love with the variety of filters they have to offer. There are a mixture of premium filters that you may have to purchase but personally, I am more than happy with the free ones! I think if you want a clean, elegant and consistent colour to your feed this is the app for you. 

SNAPSEED - This is a slightly more technical editing app. If you are a photography perfectionist then this will change your life. Snapseed is almost a phone version of photoshop. Snapped allows you to edit out anomalies within your images as well as being able to adjust the light, contrast, saturation (you name it) on particular sections of an image. This has been a ground breaking find to use on our phones rather than having to log on and use photoshop for smaller editing purposes!

HUJI - Isn’t it funny how we live in a digital world yet people rave about having that film effect? I have tried many film style apps which produce beautiful film style imagery but they always seem to come with small catches such as not being able to process the film for 5 days? Now I appreciate that this is to give the feeling of processing actual film but sometimes we just want an image now. Well Huji is just perfect for this. When you open the app it gives you the notion that you are using a film disposable camera and you can process your image to have random light leaks and image dates. But what if I have an existing photo that would look great with this filter you ask? Dont worry, Huji lets you download images from your camera roll into the app and do exactly the same thing! 

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AVOIDING DROPPING THE C BOMB

Keeping consistent with social media is hard enough, having to constantly find new and creative ways to occupy and engage with your followers without repeating yourselves … we get it! However, when large scale news kicks in, whether its politics or natural disasters it’s hard to not join in on the conversation. Don’t get me wrong, It’s not a bad thing using your platform to help your followers create a larger understanding of a topic or providing them with ways to deal with a particular subject but in times like these it feels slightly claustrophobic when there’s nothing else to post or talk about. Twitter, Instagram and Facebook feeds are being dominated by Covid-19 … Surely I’m not the only one longing for just a small sense of normality to appear when scrolling through my feeds? Surely i’m not the only one who wants a break from the anxiety? 

Be Essence has come up with some ideas to help you maintain your platforms whilst avoiding dropping the C bomb!

One of my first top tips is to download a preview app that allows you to plan your content far in advance. Take a day to plan a weeks worth or a few weeks worth of content to decrease the stress of having to find new and interesting content every day. 

Secondly, take a step back and go back to basics … before Covid-19 took over what did you post? What did your audience love to see? 

OUTFIT OF THE DAY | SKIN CARE FLAT LAY OR IGTV | PRODUCT RECOMMENDATION | PROMOTE A FELLOW BLOGGER THAT YOU LOVE | SHARE A PERSONAL STORY | THROWBACK TO SOMETHING THAT MADE YOU HAPPY | EXERCISE REGIME | SHARE YOUR 2020 GOALS (it’s still only February!) | SHARE YOUR FAVOURITE APPS, BLOGS, PODCASTS .. 

All these things are ideas that you would normally create and put out to your followers, so why stop now? This normality is JUST what we need right now and could probably help someone more than you know. There is probably at least one person out there who is struggling with self isolation and putting out a post of your favourite exercise regime or skin care routine could help someone massively right now and doing it without needing to … drop the C bomb! 

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What’s Coming is Better Than What is Gone!

The reliance on social media has to be one of the most daunting things to have emerged within our lifetime, but as it stands there is simply no way of avoiding it’s influence. It baffles me that so many people still aren’t willing to accept it’s appearance in our lives due to the fact that change and the advance in technology probably scares them. I have learnt that Social media can be such a beautiful thing when utilised in the right way and I think that’s why I feel so strongly about teaching people how to use their platforms in a positive way. 

My interest in social media sprouted when I delved into realms of fashion at University and from there I began to notice the vital changes within the fashion industry, such as how it is advertised and how it is modelled to consumers. A lot of brands have developed their methods by using the power of influencers and bloggers to showcase their products. Now, If this is something you don’t know about, it is a really interesting and extremely clever concept that you need to read about! Social media influencers are individuals who have established credibility in a specific industry, has access to a huge audience and can persuade others to act based on their recommendations. However, it is a lot more complex than that … there are different types of Influencers (Nano, Micro, Macro) and influencers who specialise in fashion, fitness and even travel and influencers who don’t just use Instagram! The world of influencers is just endless. The world of influencers is so enormous that I even wrote my dissertation surrounding this exact subject … I tell you, it’s a hell of a read! 

I think the purpose of this first blog post is to generate a more open mind towards social media and how influencers and brands utilise it. The front of social media platforms such as Instagram are probably very negative and I feel as if people are beginning to alienate them from society just like our traditional celebrities. When you look deeper into what these individuals are actually doing and how influencing works, it’s actually a really clever occupation and beneficial to us all whether you like it or not. I absolutely love my job and I feel as if I am extremely lucky that I get to build relationships with these individuals. Influencers are here to inspire you and give you genuine recommendations and I love that I get to see whats behind the camera when working with these incredible people. 

So … one bit of advice from me:

Embrace this new world of social media.