She Used Facebook Video and Achieved a 74% Increase in 1 Month’s Sales to Reach Year-End Goal

It was a stretch. Sell $24,000 in 30 days, when an average month is $14,000. But Kathy believed it could be done.

She knew, though, that she couldn’t just do what she had always done and expect different results.

In order for her Mary Kay unit to sell 72% more than an average month, Kathy knew she’d have to stretch out of her comfort zone. As director, she’d have to step up her game and take above average steps to motivate and inspire her team to the above average performance it would take to meet their goals.

So in addition to her regular team meetings, she used video to engage with her team on their Facebook Group page.

And it worked. They did it.

Kathy’s team sold $24,414 in June to reach their goal of being a Cadillac unit — a whopping 74% more than their average monthly sales. Kathy earned a new Mary Kay pink Cadillac, and her unit was recognized in the Mary Kay Circle of Achievement and will receive special VIP treatment at Mary Kay events.

“The strategy of using videos is very different from what I have done,” Kathy said. “It gave me a sense that I could really share my passion and my heart … and that I was connecting. The closest thing to it is individually calling my unit members. However, this was accomplished in a short amount of time and reaching so many more.”

Using Facebook Video to Connect and Inspire

Kathy and I worked together to develop her Facebook Video strategy, and then we held weekly implementation sessions to get the videos done.

First we defined her purpose for the video campaign.

Her purpose was: to empower her team to reach their sales goals by the end of June.

She wanted it to be easy for her team members to watch the videos and interact — both with her and with each other. Since most of the team is already very active on Facebook, it was a natural choice to use this social platform.

She posted the videos to the team’s Facebook Group because the messages weren’t meant for her general Facebook audience of family, personal friends, and clients. Posting to the group page kept the videos private and allowed her to speak openly about sales strategies with her team.

Next, we defined what her team needed to get out of the videos.

What did they need to reach their goals? They needed:

• Motivation
• Inspiration
• Training
• Sales Strategies
• Recognition of their Efforts

So keeping those needs in mind, Kathy and I outlined what each video’s message should be.

Then we held weekly implementation sessions to record the videos.

Kathy wanted both accountability and coaching to make the videos as effective as possible. So we met each week to record. We brainstormed what she was going to say, and I helped find different backgrounds at her Mary Kay center to keep the videos interesting.

She also created a progress board so she could visually show the team each week how close they were to reaching the goal. And she marked off the squares on the progress board “live” on video to generate excitement.

We recorded her videos on her iPhone and uploaded them directly to Facebook with no additional editing. In spite of her initial nervousness about being on video, and after a few false starts during the first week, she nailed most of them on the very first take!

“We did an average of one video each week. We also did a few extra as we were doing guest events,” Kathy said. “The last week we increased it to nearly every other day. I did about 4 the last week … including one the last day.”

And did her team like the video approach?

Kathy said, “They actually began giving me other ideas of teaching subjects that I could do online. Also it was great for my out of town gals to keep them in the loop. It really seemed to ignite momentum for our goal and unite us as a group.”

Facebook Recorded Videos vs Facebook Live

For this campaign, Kathy recorded the videos and then uploaded them to Facebook. Because she was new to using video, this was less intimidating and made her feel more comfortable than broadcasting live.

Recording the videos also let Kathy upload them when it was convenient and then schedule them to be published at a later time. She didn’t have to adjust her schedule to broadcast live video at any specific time.

Whether recorded or live, the power of video is that it’s so intimate and personal. Kathy was able to look into the camera lens and imagine that she was speaking one-to-one with the members of her team. She was able to deliver heartfelt messages of encouragement and inspiration. And her excitement and pride in their achievements along the way really showed.

“I definitely will use video again,” she said. “Probably more effectively after having some practice and more often.”

Final Thoughts

“I have to say that Michele was so great to work with,” Kathy said. “I had total confidence in her abilities to guide me through this new unfamiliar venture for me … while making me feel comfortable in doing it.

“Her strategies were right on point, and I used as many of them as I could.  I appreciated her as a coach … to mentor me … but also allowing me to have flexibility and input. She also asked the questions I needed to process through to get to the goal that I was going for.

“This was a steep climb to our goal for June. This tool gave me a feeling that we were using every medium to get all on board. I have to say that the end results were soooo many stepping up … really a grassroots effort by all.”

 

If you want to achieve the same kind of success that Kathy did using Facebook Video, apply to become an Exactly Write All-Star through our coaching program. Call 559.286.0106 to take the first step.