Social surgeries – Argyll & Isles Culture Heritage and Arts Assembly
The brief
Argyll and the Isles' Culture, Heritage and Arts Assembly (CHARTS) champion over 500 creative organisations and individuals. During the pandemic I supported their members by facilitating 10 1:1 digital marketing training sessions and producing training resources.
My role
To provide tailored support, for every digital marketing training session I carried out a digital audit. This looked at how each member’s digital channels were currently performing and included suggestions on how they could be improved (websites, social media channels, search engines and email marketing).
I also produced training resources including three virtual masterclasses featuring interviews with the author Mark Shayler on ‘How to stand out on social media’; ‘Who uses social media and what was the impact of the pandemic?’ with Fiona Mills from The Media Shop Scotland; and ‘Writing for social media‘ with Stuart Delves from Henzteeth.
I was also a webinar panel member for Glasgow School of Art Innovation School, where I discussed the digital marketing training needs of members in Argyll and Bute.
The result
The virtual masterclass videos and webinar have received over 500 views.
“Limited ability, lack of interest, worry about the amount of time needed had all contributed to my having a very low social media presence. This undoubtedly contributes to a lower number of visitors to our garden in Kintyre and also limits the number of people who see my oil paintings. After a session with James Coutts I am much more aware of what should be done and I have a renewed optimism about doing something about it. James was well prepared and sensitive to my situation and very responsive to my concerns. ”
“I found the Social Media Tune up session with James incredibly useful; the session was packed with advice! I felt that my precise questions and queries had been attended to, James had very clearly researched my work to date so that he could respond with as much feedback as possible that was unique to me. The advice given was easy to understand and will be very achievable. There was plenty of opportunity to ask questions and discuss points further. It was really interesting to get a professional view on my use of social media, as James was able to highlight methods for me to use my time to effectively on social media. James answered my questions so thoroughly, and it really felt that the experience tailored to me as an individual.”