what’s a street team? and how do I set one up?

As you’re getting ready to launch your product/book/store/shop/baby, you know that you have some connections who have said “let me know how I can help.” Or you know you have done some similar promotions for colleagues in the past and now it’s your turn to ask them to help you.

We often advise our clients on setting up a shared folder (or website page) where they can direct their “super fans” and/or engaged colleagues, what we sometimes call the street team.

what is a street team, exactly?

From Wikipedia: “A street team is a term used in marketing to describe a group of people who ‘hit the streets’ promoting an event or a product. ‘Street Teams’ are promotional tools that have been adopted industry-wide as a standard line item in marketing budgets by entertainment companies, record labels, the tech industry, corporate brand marketers, new media companies and direct marketers worldwide. The music industry is now seeing a boom in the use of large street teams to reach out to fans and improve sales in the smaller hard to reach fans internationally.”

The value of a street team is word-of-mouth marketing. While a facebook ad telling me that I’m going to love this product might not get me to stop scrolling, seeing a quote graphic (meme) from my friend who I think shares good wisdom just might get me to pay attention.

how do I get started?

Don’t assume you know everyone that wants to help. Go ahead and ask your FULL list and social followers if they are interested in helping.

1. 1. Consider setting up a little (free/easy) google form to capture folks information, name/email/preferred area of social where they would post for you.
   2. Make a list of the colleagues you’ve helped already and get their contact information into this list.

consider timing

When do you need help? Check with your publisher on when the best time for pre-order push will be. Sometimes this timeline starts earlier than you might think, especially if you’re aiming to try and make a best-seller list.

consider communication

How will you communicate with the team? What assets will you give them?

1. Consider a special FB group where you can fill them in on the details as they happen
2. Create a special list in your email client to make sure it’s easy to send them updates
3. Do you have a “super-super fan” (or three) that you might be able to use as a “telephone-tree” so that you can share thoughts with that person and have them implement the details?

what’s the ask?

Consider the following requests and put them on a timeline for how you will share/request with your team. Sending a huge list may overwhelm them, but trickling too many requests may lose their interest as time to launch date nears. You know your people, trust your gut.

specific street team tasks for book launches

1. Pre-order the book on Amazon to become a verified purchaser
2. After pub date: review on Amazon (stagger these if possible)
3. Respond (beautifully!) to negative or critical book reviews
4. Post review on Goodreads starting sooner
5. Share photos of themselves holding a copy of the book, along with sharing what the book means to them on social (including #bookstagram)
6. Call local libraries to ask them to order the book
7. Call local independent bookstores and ask them to carry the book

what’s in it for them?

You decide how you want to reward your team. Do you have an online course you could offer them? A download? The minimum is usually a copy of the book/product so they can truly express their opinions based in reality.

what should you share with them?

• The goal of this page/folder is to make it easy for your people to share for you.
• Have a list of endorsements ready for them to cut and paste.
• Have sample tweets (shorter) and FB/Insta/Linked In (longer) posts ready for them to cut and paste.
• If you’re an author, include an excerpt if they have their own blog and want to share it there.
• Create 5-10 quote graphics (memes) for them to use on social media with your branding related to the product launch.

Want to know more? Read our article about social sharing, including a sample document.

Like what you’re reading? Then opt-in to get the Worthy Wednesday newsletter, a monthly update featuring the latest tips and tricks to help you get your Worthy message out to the world.

Did you enjoy this post? Please save it to your pinterest board and/or share on the social webs.