The starting point...
After seeing my work online via my own social media platforms, the lovely Lonsdale from the Somerstock Publicity Team, approached me about getting involved with the Somerstock Committee and asked if I could provide advice and support for their accounts.
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Upon first glance, the main difficulties presenting themselves were a lack of engagement, no clear brand tone of voice and very little structure or personality to the posts. Essentially, they had photos but no story and were in need of a complete overhaul when it came to strategy, so I got to work implementing the following:
1. Getting strategic
I kicked things off with an in-depth Social Media Audit and audience profiling exercise to understand who we were talking to with our content. This initial insight shaped everything, from what we needed to say to when we needed to say it and allowed us to form the foundation of a long-term social media strategy using content pillars I’d identified, that would resonate with the audience’s expectations and wishes when viewing the Somerstock profile.
2. Building the brand personality
Creating the personality behind the brand was one of the key factors in understanding how we would converse with our audience across all forms of media. The tone needed to be both fun and engaging whilst also conversational and authentic to encourage people to interact with the brand. This tone of voice became a pillar of which was used to create captions as well as reply to DM’s and craft carefully considered comments.
3. Crafting content with intent
Each post created served a purpose and aligned with the content pillars I’d identified. For example:
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Lifestyle and family entertainment - highlighting the child-friendly nature of the festival with silent discos and stalls tailored to the children.
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Seasonal hooks - tailoring content to suit national holidays where relevant i.e. Mother’s Day gift ideas
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Informational festival updates - weather reports and band spotlights
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Community campaigns - a sticker treasure hunt across Somerton, involving local businesses and engaging the community
Whilst content was limited to pre-existing photography that was captured from years before, I managed to carefully curate each post and optimise them for engagement and interaction with the Somerstock profiles across Facebook and Instagram.
The imagery taken was in line with the brand image we were aiming to portray by showcasing real people and an energetic atmosphere that resonated. Due to a lack of video content captured at previous events, I opted to place all efforts on platforms that favoured image-based content and were heavily utilised by the Somerstock audience, which became Facebook and Instagram. However, after I have captured content at the festival, we will also be implementing TikTok with lots of short-form video content to carry across all 3 platforms!
One of the most-loved and well-received posts, as determined by the Somerstock audience, was a heartfelt shout-out to the volunteers who make the festival happen ⬇️
5. Aligning the ads
As part of the funding applied to the town events, I was given a limited Meta Ads budget to work with which was strategically deployed throughout the campaign to boost engagement and website traffic.
Knowing what to run as an Ad and when was part of the strategy formed at the beginning, as we focused on national holidays i.e. Mother’s Day and Easter as well as highlighting the line-up of local artists and specifying an audience more likely to convert, prior to publishing each ad.
6. Measurable metrics
To achieve tangible results and make adjustments to the strategy as necessary, I set up Google Analytics and a monthly report to track each platform, allowing me to effectively monitor the progress of the posts, as well as the number of people converting and clicking through to the website.
The Results?
To avoid any seasonal trends that may affect the metrics, I decided to compare year-on-year results across the same time period. Below shows the difference in percentage from May 2025 when compared to May 2024 according to Meta Business Suite, for Facebook.
Yes… that is a whopping 1,700 INCREASE in link clicks 😱🤯
So, why did this strategy work so well?
Well… simply because it directly tackled the key challenges the festival faced: low engagement, an inconsistent tone of voice and a lack of structure. When I first came on board, the social channels felt disjointed and underused but it was clear that consistency was the foundation we needed, so I established a regular posting rhythm and introduced a clear, friendly tone that reflected the festival’s personality. Platforms like Facebook respond well to that consistency, and we quickly saw our engagement begin to climb.
With limited video content to work with, I leaned into what we did have, which was authentic photography. These high-quality images gave our posts a polished look and helped tell a visual story without needing a full production team. I also made sure every single post had a purpose, whether it was driving ticket sales, building excitement or simply celebrating the community surrounding Somerstock. That purpose-driven approach meant I wasn’t just trying to fill the feed but that the posts were generating momentum.
Most importantly, I focused on the local nature of the festival by involving the community into the content. By running local competitions like the Somerstock sticker treasure hunt, spotlighting volunteers and engaging directly with followers, the Somerstock accounts started to feel like a real part of the town. Finally, by setting up Google Analytics, we could clearly track the impact, proving that this wasn’t just about likes and comments, but real, measurable outcomes that were the main focus of this campaign… website traffic, which has proved successful given the metrics above.
What does the client have to say?
Emily answered our Facebook plea for someone who knows what they're doing to help us with our social media campaigns for Somerstock Music Festival and the Somerton Arts Festival. As a committee we were floundering around in the dark, not knowing the difference between a reel and a story and aimlessly boosting posts.
Emily has helped us understand the basics of social media marketing and how each platform has its own benefits. She's set up website tracking so we know what's working and what's not, and she's created a cracking content calendar which has carried us through the last few months, building anticipation and excitement.
We've already seen huge spikes in clicks / views / likes / follows - don't ask me, ask Emily! And ticket sales are going better than we could have hoped.
We're incredibly grateful for all her help, not just in actually performing the magic, but in helping a group of committee members hailing from a different, pre-digital age to have some vague understanding of this social media alchemy!
- Lonsdale, Somerstock Publicity Team
Let's build something similar
If you’re running an event, or looking to bring your brand to life online the power of digital marketing can skyrocket your brand. With the right strategy, creative freedom and tracking in place, we can generate real engagement, clicks, and conversions.