The temperatures this week have us jumping for joy! 20 degrees and sunny skies are something to celebrate. Join us in the celebration by getting outside, going for a walk, or even enjoying a patio. Funny enough, warm weather, people enjoying the outdoors and exploring the city are the exact ingredients needed for a fruitful sampling season. Furthermore, it’s why in Canada we see an increase in outdoor activations between May and September each year. But what if we told you there was a secret ingredient to outdoor activation success? Lucky for you, we’re sharing our recipe for success, including our element of surprise: street teams!

Street Teams Defined

If you’re thinking to yourself, “what is a street team?”, we’re glad you asked! Simply put, street teams are a group of people (brand ambassadors, event staff, sales staff, etc.) who “hit the streets” promoting and/or sampling a brand, product or service. Pretty self-explanatory, right? On the surface, it would seem that street teams are simple enough. However, we wouldn’t be great at what we do if we didn’t know that there is more to it than meets the eye. In order to cook up a successful street team there are three critical factors we encourage you to consider.

Location

 The first ingredient to consider when planning street teams is location. Of course, there is physical location, inside or outside for example. However, we’d encourage you to think about location more holistically. For instance, your location should provide you access to your target demographic. In addition, there are multiple other factors that impact location, such as time of day, day of the week and/or proximity to a holiday. Finally, think about how your assets i.e. branded uniforms, trucks, tote bags, walking billboards, etc. fit into this location. It should be both easy for your street team to access as well as give you equal access to your target consumer.

Key Messaging

 The next component that will set up your street teams for success is key messaging. Remember, people’s time is valuable, so when considering the key messaging for a product, it should also provide value. It should be clearly defined, to the point, catchy and concise. If you are catching consumers during their leisure hours or during a busy commute to or from work, you need to maximize the interaction time you get with them. When you get the opportunity to engage with consumers in longer conversations, make sure you have a list of FAQs at the ready. Furthermore, its key that your street team members, know their stuff. We highly recommend you invest in training them!

The Team

The last step in our successful street teams’ recipe is the team members themselves! If you want to connect with consumers and get your products into their hands, you need the right team to do it. What may be considered the “right fit” is completely customizable. Remember, it has to make sense for your brand, product and to your potential customers. Consider what qualities makes sense for your approach. For instance, if your initiative requires consumers to sign up, similar to a meal kit company, then you might want to think about sales and savviness as top qualities. However, perhaps your campaign is more lighthearted, then a more bubbly and approachable personality might suit your team better. Whatever the attributes you’re looking for may be, we recommend those who are personable, yet responsible and come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences.

So, now that you’ve perfected your next your street teams’ recipe – it’s time to get cooking and hit the streets! All jokes aside, street teams are a valuable marketing tactic. They can be a standalone program, deploying in multiple markets simultaneously, or an extension of a permitted activation. Whatever the case may be, we highly recommend you give it a try. Be sure to connect with us, let us know how it goes. We’ll see you out there!