You’re aware of Hustle Stories (formerly called Hustle Studio), our platform’s latest peer-to-peer communication solution enabling businesses and organizations to create more immersive and engaging experiences through peer-to-peer video messages. Hustle Stories is the modern way to manage relationships, built to drive engagement, connection, and action at scale. It improves connectivity regardless of where your supporters may be and helps organizations showcase more about products, services, or mission-based work. You may be wondering, “Why is P2P video messaging important?” Incorporating video messaging into communication strategies allow organizations to say and interact much more than traditional text message character limitations allow, creating the opportunity to increase your brand or organization’s memorability through more authentic human-to-human connections. Hustle Stories saves our customers heaps of time typically invested in time-consuming emailing and phone calls to no avail, and most importantly, it works.

“Hustle is GREAT. People are so responsive. The platform is easy to use, and those on the other end seem really ready to engage. I’m psyched!” – Chelsea Watson, Distributed Organizer, Resist Campaign | Sierra Club

We’re thrilled with Hustle Stories versatility and usefulness in driving real engagement, connection, and action at scale in today’s mobile lifestyle. Embracing innovative communication tools makes the difference between getting lost in the heavy traffic of other mediums and strengthening relationships with communities of supporters, volunteers, or members. Today our team wants to share more tips and tricks when getting started with Hustle Stories.

Before Recording, Ask Yourself

• What do you want to accomplish?
  • Educate
  • Persuade 
  • Inform
  • Promote 
  • Follow-up
    
• Who is your audience?
  • Staff
  • Supporters
  • Volunteers
  • Members
  • Customers
    
• Who is recording?
  • Network representative(s) 
  • Stakeholder(s)
  • Volunteer(s)
  • Member(s)
    
• What emotional response are we looking for and how do we do that?
  • Psychological response (Enjoyment, sadness, fear, anger, disgust, etc.)
  • Behavioral or expressive response (Smile, grimace,  laugh, sigh, etc)
    
• What will you say?
  • Hone organic messaging by speaking from the heart of the matter.  Keep it casual and quirky. Hustle Stories isn’t meant for perfection, but personality. Have something you want to improvise? Wing it and have  fun engaging with supporters! 

Video Message Types

Identifying the correct type of video for your message is critically important for success.  Diversify, create, send, and mobilize action!  Below are a  few of the different types of video messages Hustle Stories sends:

• Outreach videos
• Reminder videos
• Follow-Up Videos
• Mission and Vision Videos 
• Organization Culture Videos 
• Event Videos
• Brand Videos
• Onsite Updates (like live action videos from events)
• Testimonials 
  • Customer
  • Volunteer
  • Employee
• Product Videos
  • Demo Videos (Walkthroughs, How To)
  • Launch Videos
• Educational Videos 
  • Industry Update Videos
  • Explainer Videos 
  • Tutorials

Hustle Stories Tips and Best Practices

Here’s our team’s list of practical ways to get the most out of Hustle Stories video messages:

• Personalize! Video messages should feel relevant and personal to the audience member receiving it. What sets Hustle Stories apart from other tools is that it’s one person sharing something directly with another. Nothing is more powerful than that of human-to-human connection. . 

• Leverage clips. Separate your messages into short bursts of digestible information instead of sending one long video. Even a quick 10-seconds of behind-the-scenes action or a product testimonial carry a lot of weight.

• Always include a call to action. Located towards the end of your P2P video messages, best practice call-to-action signposts signal what to do next for supporters. Failing to include a call-to-action in your communication strategy often confuses how to sign up for an organization or service or make a purchase. 

• Always record vertically. People view content, particularly video content, on mobile devices more today than ever before. Vertical video is the best orientation for holding devices in one hand, requiring less space in crowded environments compared to gripping horizontally for landscape orientation. 

• Include some text in your text message. Optimize each message by echoing the most important aspects textually and through video. Remember that P2P messaging means communicating and keeping up with your audience wherever they may be, like in noisy environments. Additionally, offering text in your video messages helps keep followers with accessibility engaged for what’s next. 

• Focus on strategy. The best conversational peer-based messaging strategies focus on being consistent with a thoughtful messaging cadence. Taking time to develop a robust outreach strategy enables groups and organizations to be intentional in their messaging, constantly treating customer phone contacts carefully and with consideration. 

Bonus Tip!

• Leverage analytics for follow-ups. Start making more data-driven decisions in how you engage with your audience. Track chief performance metrics like engagement rate, the positive action rate, and the opt-out rate of your contacts. Use this data to improve performance. Using Hustle, admins can track the raw total of messages sent and received by Agents. This information is visualized in a table broken down by day. 

Start Video Messaging with Hustle Stories Today 

Want to learn more  about Hustle Stories? Contact us today and request a demo, or send us your questions about peer-to-peer video stories. 2022 is your time to start turning text and video messaging into action!

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