We have all seen “Meet the Team” posts on social media.
Do they capture your attention?
Do you want to stop and read the long caption about that team member?
You may just like the post and move on without reading much about it.
This blog post is about ways to make sure your “Meet the Team” posts don’t just add to the noise of social media. But actually provide something of value.
I love the idea of “Meet the Team” posts because:
It humanizes a brand
It helps customers connect with the brand
It creates opportunities for more engagement on social media because the employee will share it and their biggest supporters will engage with the post
It can assist with company culture and uplift your employees
As with anything, good ideas can get diluted and become ineffective. I am passionate about writing on this topic because brands are posting about their team in order to “check the box” instead of posting because it is strategic and engaging content.
There are 4 areas I want to draw your attention to.
These will help you think about your content differently for the future and break through the noise.
TIMING
is everything
Many people do a campaign and post about each team member each day of the week of once a week. There is nothing wrong with this and we have done this with our clients. But once you have done that, what if you posted when there was something new to share about that person or your company? This approach feels more natural and organic and can be replicated continuously.
Examples:
New employee (shows growth in the company and makes your employee feel welcome)
Celebration of a promotion, certification, or exceeding a goal (this requires strong company culture and knowing your employees)
Change in services and who will be serving clients (reduces the feeling of being another number)
DELIVERY
needs to be strategic
If you are going to put effort, time, and money
into your Meet the Team campaign, you need to make sure it serves a purpose and moves the needle in terms of brand awareness or revenue.
Here are a few things to think about:
1. Should all of the information about the team member be in a social media post? Or can you give a little bit of information in the post and then entice followers to read or watch more on your blog or website? Then you are moving people from borrowed land (social media) to a place with captured attention. Once they are on your website, make sure you have an opt-in to capture their email address.
2. How can you post this content in multiple places to reach as many people as possible? Posting once on Facebook or Instagram is great but it has a limited life span. Consider YouTube, your website on the About page, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook stories, Instagram TV (if it is over 60 seconds), Pinterest, Twitter, Tik Tok, and creating social media ads through Facebook. Make sure the content is adapted to each of these platforms so that it does well on each. If the content is created well, your team member will want to share and repost. Create content your team members want to share!
3. Once you have captured the visual content and crafted the message (words), think outside of digital delivery. What if you repackaged the content for a local magazine ad or compiled all of the content for your presentation packet to potential customers?
VOICE
The Words
The words that you use in your captions, in your graphics, or in your videos are incredibly important. I want to encourage you to think outside the box and not do what you are seeing everyone else doing. I want you to focus your words on what the customer wants to hear.
Let’s think about social media specifically. Customers are on social media for their own needs. You need to be speaking to them in a way that meets them in their need. You need to be sharing about your team members in a way that shows the customer how they are serving them (making their life better). The customer is not going to be captivated by the team member’s favorite ice cream flavor or what they like to read. They will be interested to know about how the team member’s accomplishments, credentials, experience, or interesting facts serve the customer and make them better.
Don’t force the content or post just to post. This applies to all social media strategy but especially “Meet the Team” posts.
VISUALS
Photography or Videography
PHOTOGRAPHY
The quality of your image(s) matters. Period.
Because we offer brand photography, of course, I believe the best way is to hire a photographer to capture each team member. But I also believe that capturing them is the most important thing. You can use a newer iPhone with the Portrait setting outside with natural light to capture a strong picture of your team members. If you need more advice on this, check out this blog post.
Hiring a photographer and then sharing the photos with each team member, is a nice perk or gift of working for you. They can use that picture on their own social media and add it as a profile picture on LinkedIn. Again, create content that your employees are proud to share. A strong picture that makes them look good is a great way to do that!
VIDEOGRAPHY
If you have already done traditional “Meet the Team” campaigns before or you post about your team members on a consistent basis, think about incorporating video into your strategy.
You can do a 30-60 second video on each team member or you can do one video for the whole team or you can pair a couple of team members together that have good energy and can speak on their area, field, or department.
I do recommend hiring a professional videographer for these videos. You don’t want poor lighting, background noise, and unprofessional transitions to distract the viewer and make them lose interest. Remember this is an extension of your brand, viewers are always evaluating if your brand/business is worth their time.
If we can help you think about Meet The Team for your brand, email Eloise at eloise@eloisedesignco.com
Keep following the blog for more actionable branding and encouragement.