EPISODE 88 OF THE MARKETING SOLUTIONS PODCAST: 7 STEPS TO GETTING YOUR TEAM TO SHOW UP ON INSTAGRAM

Sonya:
In my last episode, I interviewed a business owner about how she gets her team to show up on social media. In this episode, I'm going to expand on our conversation and give you the framework we give our clients for getting their team to show up online so you can stop being the only one in the business driving the social content, because we know that can get exhausting and you have other things to focus on as the business owner. Make sure you visit the show notes in this episode to access the free resources we've created for you.

Sonya:
Welcome to the Boom Your Biz Podcast, a podcast for the movers, the shakers, and even bigger action takers in business. I'm your host, Sonya McIntyre-Reid, and each week I'll be exploring the question of what really makes businesses and organizations thrive? I'm on a mission to educate, empower, and inspire business owners and myself along the way. (singing)

Sonya:
If you thought that video was going to be another flash in the pan social media fad, I hate to be the bearer of bad news. Video content is here to stay to the extent that Instagram has announced that it is no longer an image sharing platform, it is a video content platform. For that reason, if you've been a bit resistant when it comes to getting in front of the camera or filming behind the scenes content, you may want to reconsider your stance. From a marketer's perspective, there's nothing better than video for connecting with an audience. Yes, you can write a heartfelt caption or style a beautiful product flat lay, but there's a reason why after all these years, I still remember the Rivers ads where they showed the viewers how they made their shoes complete with the monotone voiceover, which made it pretty funny and even more memorable.

Sonya:
If we take a look at YouTube, which most of us would consider the OG video platform, the number of viewers in 2021 is set to hit around 1.86 billion. Now, that's viewers, not individual video views. And that figure doesn't take into account that we now also watch video content on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and on streaming platforms such as Twitch. So it's pretty clear if it wasn't already, if you want to reach more people, you are going to have to jump on the video bandwagon. It may not be quick, easy, or comfortable, but it's absolutely worth it.

Sonya:
No matter what your industry, when you work with technicians, you may experience a bit of resistance when it comes to asking them to show up on Instagram Stories and Reels. After all, if your team works primarily behind a desk, up a ladder, or underneath a motor, they're not going to have a whole lot of experience talking on camera, nor are they likely to feel comfortable doing so. That doesn't get them off the hook though. Here's how you can introduce and enforce your new expectation that staff will show up on your social media.

Sonya:
Step one, set the expectation. So introduce the idea in your next team Huddle or monthly meeting. You can even steal this script if you need to. Hey guys, the rules of engagement on social media have changed. And if we want to reach our followers, we need to be doing video. Have a quick look on Instagram tonight and come back to us with two or three examples of the sort of content you'd be interested in creating. When you do your next round of performance reviews, why not set some KPIs for your team around social media content. That way you really drive home the message that video is important to the success of the business and therefore the success of your individual team members. So if you refer back to the previous episode, Rebecca Miller spoke about how each team member has to have two videos, which could be Instagram TV or a Reel each week.

Sonya:
Step number two is leading by example. If you are not prepared to show up on stories, how can you expect your team to? Being a good leader means leading from the front. Show up, mess up, and improve. It gives your team permission to do the same. Nobody is going to be perfect the first time they step in front of the camera. It's important that you as the business leader experience the process of going from a total novice and feeling a little bit uncomfortable to feeling like it's not too bad to be on Stories, to eventually feeling comfortable and confident in front of the camera. Too often, we see business owners expecting their team to do things that they themselves haven't attempted and getting frustrated when things don't go smoothly right off the bat. Go through the process yourself so you can help your team learn and improve faster and so you have a bit of empathy for those team members who might really struggle with being visible online.

Sonya:
Step number three, give them all of the resources that they need. There are even short courses available online that show your team how to sharp on Reels and Stories. If January is a traditionally slower month for your business, it's the perfect time to give your team a couple of hours during work time to learn. Alternatively, if you've seen another small business owner absolutely crushing it with their video content, why not reach out to them and pay them to come to your workplace to teach the team. You'll also need to make sure your team has all of the equipment they'll need, whether that's a full setup of ring lights and backdrops, or just a dedicated smartphone and tripod. It's up to you to make sure your team has everything they need in order to produce quality content.

Sonya:
Step number four, ease them into it. Nobody's going to be completely at ease talking direct to camera from day one. I certainly wasn't. Finding ways to get your team used to be on camera without necessarily having to speak or dance can help them feel more comfortable around the whole thing. Here are a few ideas for you. Set up a phone on a tripod and film a time lapse of a treatment, service, or standard work day. Obviously this won't work for all industries, but we've seen hairdressers, product-based businesses and even builders do this really well.

Sonya:
Do a meet the team story where you get a few seconds of footage of each team member either going about their daily work or waving to the camera. You then cut that footage up and add a cover image, some music, and each person's name and job title. Do a three words or less interview with your team where you stand to the side off camera and ask them questions. Because they're not looking at the camera or the person filming, it's a little less daunting. And because they only have to give short answers, it's not as confronting as doing a full on interview.

Sonya:
Step number five, make it fun. Can you create a bingo card with different content ideas, provide props, find funny audio clips your team can use? The more fun you make it, the more likely they are to jump onboard. Step number six, reward those who participate. Every team member you have is motivated by something different. If you have a few who are motivated by rewards and prizes, you're in luck. A bit of healthy competition is actually a good thing in this case if it means that you get plenty of content. The prizes don't have to be big, but if you can afford to be generous and offer a case of beer or gift voucher, you are more likely to get more content out of your team.

Sonya:
Step number seven, make it part of their job description and set measurable KPIs. This is easy to enforce when you bring on new hires since the whole job is new to them. But for well-established and long-serving team members, it can be a bit difficult to get them onboard. This is where setting KPIs for social content is a great idea. Present each team member with a couple of different options and have them either pick one or bring some of their own ideas to the table. KPIs should be measurable such as post two stories a week or contribute five examples to the team ideas folder.

Sonya:
Now, not everyone is going to be comfortable with being on camera. We know this. There are some roles within a business where it's not going to be appropriate for that team member to be chatting on camera. This is where you need to use your discretion. You might have some younger team members who are happy to take the lead when it comes to the video content and you should absolutely let them. You may also be surprised by some more established team members who love the idea because it breaks up their day a bit. It's a great idea to start with the team members who actually want to show up rather than force someone who doesn't want to be on camera to do so.

Sonya:
You don't have to force everyone to be the on-screen talent, but you should expect everyone to contribute ideas for content or be the person holding the camera. I'd be taking a good look at those who don't want anything to do with this aspect of the business and hold their resistance up against their behavior at work as a whole. Are they always resistant to change or is it a technology thing? Do they try and squash new ideas and new incentives? Do they have an unwillingness to learn and try new things? This can be a bit of a toxic company culture. So just take note of who does and doesn't get onboard. I'm very well-aware that with a lot of these points, it really does come down to, I guess, people management. It's not necessarily about encouraging video content at the end of the day. So maybe you'll get some management tips out of this as well.

Sonya:
So let me talk to you a little bit about how we do this at my businesses, Kiss Marketing and Linchpin, our digital marketing agency. So we have grown exponentially since July of this year, which is awesome, but it has definitely left a situation where it was our social media and our marketing that was being pushed to the side all of the time. I was just me in meetings, on calls all day every day. And by the end of the day, I would not have the energy to even be thinking about our own social media. So we had to put some things in place to take it off just being completely on me and having the team contribute.

Sonya:
So every single team member has the opportunity and is expected to contribute to our social media content. And while you mostly see my face on the Kiss and Linchpin accounts, as we continue to grow, we're introducing you to the wider team a bit more. In terms of managing our accounts, to take on the social media for both streams of the business plus managing clients would be a bit too much for one person to handle. So our content creators split the task. Lib creates and scheduled the Kiss Marketing content and Izzy does the same for Linchpin. Not only does this play into each of their individual strengths, Izzy is a design gun and Lib is really great at teaching concepts. By having ownership of a channel each, we're finding that they're really proactive at finding content ideas, not just for the business stream they take care off, but for each other as well.

Sonya:
The rest of the team drops examples of relevant content into a white file channel on Slack. If we see another agency presenting their results in an effective way, we'll take that idea, put our own spin on it. If we see a brand or expert talking about a topic we find interesting, we'll explore it further and create stories or even a podcast on the topic. We get inspiration from all sorts of accounts, both within and outside our industry, and I strongly recommend you do the same. So many businesses get caught up just looking at what others in the industry are doing. Instead, expand out and you'll find so many more ideas.

Sonya:
Finally, as Beck said in part one of this series, post it even if it's crap. Stories are only up on your feet for 24 hours. So if you're worried about having fumbled your words or being slightly off beat, don't be. Often it's the content that you think is a bit rubbish that ends up performing the best. In fact, I'd say it's pretty standard that the content you spend hours perfecting might perform okay, but it's usually the content you whack together in 10 minutes because you need to post something that ends up doing really well and is often the content that goes viral.

Sonya:
So there you have it, my two cents on how to get your team involved with creating video content for your social media accounts. We've created a freebie for you that goes with this episode that outlines the steps discussed in this episode and we've included some examples of accounts who do video content well too. Also the bingo card I mentioned as a bonus, which will add a bit of fun for your team. And I've also included some ideas for getting the whole team involved without having to be in front of the camera. So really, really meaty, juicy freebie there. Make sure you go download it. It's in the show notes or head to kissmarketing.com.au and click on that free tab.

Sonya:
I hope this has been helpful. And as always, if you want to join the conversation over on the Boom Your Biz Facebook group, make sure you submit a request to join. And don't forget to download this week's freebie. Thanks guys.