Authenticity. This is what we as content creators strive for on social media – on our own channels, those of the influencers we work with or of our “brand ambassadors”.
The importance of brand ambassadors doesn’t necessarily lie in the size of their communities, but rather the legitimacy they bring to our cause, service or product.
So. In the pursuit of authenticity, is it possible, or even advisable, to shape the content that our ambassadors put out?
When I worked as a content producer for the British Council, we worked a lot with students or recent graduates who were participating in different initiatives, including the English Language Assistants programme, and invested a lot of time into supporting them on their content creation journeys. Here are some ways I found to help them produce good content, without ending up with something homogenous or too “corporate”.
Show, don’t tell
If you make content creation sound like a drag, they won’t engage. Every year, the British Council would bring all Language Assistants for that year together an deliver a day of pre-departure training. Within this, we dedicated considerable time to showing them some of the fantastic content created by previous ambassadors, the different mediums of expression, and how this could support them in their later career.
Start with their own interests
A couple of candid conversations and a scan of personal channels will quickly tell you whether the person is better suited to writing, video, audio or something more graphic-led. Find their creative spark and lean into that, and (re)shape for your various platforms as needed.
Have a conversation (or two)
When working one on one with a Language Assistant, I would always do a couple of interviews – one at the start, and one in the middle of their journey. This allowed me to get to know their tone of voice, reasons for doing the programme and interests more deeply, and help them to make connections and draft possible topics for their content.
Have them answer a question
I’m a big believer in starting the content creation journey with a question you want to answer, or showing how you addressed a challenge. It tightens things up no-end and gives folks, especially inexperienced content creators, a reassuring framework for their creativity.
Let them go broad and show them how to sharpen as needed
From the outset, I frame the project as a co-creation and how we can learn from each other.
I like to get as much material as I can and provide them with a couple of different options if possible. I take the time to explain edits/adjustments I’ve made, always bringing it back to their story, personality and energy, and how the edits bring these to the fore.
Lastly, it’s important to really listen to any concerns they have and be open to feedback on their end as well. At the end of the day, we want to make sure they’re comfortable with the approach and proud to share it on their own channels too.
