An employee has the right to post information about his or her wages, hours and working conditions online. General complaints or grievances are protected under federal law (the National Labor Relations Act) and various state laws that protect employees from retaliation for complaining about working conditions.
Follow this pathway to gain not just a following, but a cohort of your coworkers who will help you fight for a better workplace.
➢ Start with what you know! You’re an expert on your workplace. Make a list of all the things that need to be fixed.
➢ Focus on where you work – you’ll grow a community of coworkers who relate, and trust and love your content.
➢ And when you post, make sure to cover just one issue at a time. That’ll attract the attention of people also struggling with that problem, without alienating them if they don’t relate to another piece of the post.
➢ But don’t always be negative! Celebrations and positivity sprinkled in help make your feed a place people want to come back to.
➢ Videos are everywhere and the popularity of them is increasing everyday. Well-crafted online videos can engage your audience, move people to action, increase your outreach by being shared online, and the potential reach goes beyond the target audience. Mastering short-form video and posting Instagram Reels / TikTok consistently can lead to massive growth and engagement on Instagram. Here are 5 top tips:
■ Research & re-share. In order to create engaging Reels, dedicate some time researching what others are creating. This will allow you to keep up with trending videos and get inspired by the videos others are creating. Re-share videos that have a lot of reactions, comments, or shares.
■ Just start. For many creators who have spent their entire careers shooting photos for social media, the pressure to learn short-form video can be nerve-wracking, but the best way to get better at something is to practice. What you create won’t be “perfect” at first, but through practice, you’ll find your groove and enjoy the process.
■ Make sure your videos serve a purpose. Every video you post should be either educational, inspirational, and/or relatable within your niche.
■ Open with a hook. In order to gain views and maximize the reach of your Reels, you need to “stop the scroll” by starting your Reels with some type of hook. You can do this in a variety of ways. First, through a visual hook, like wearing bright lipstick or a patterned top, or bringing in your store’s logo to attract other people who work there. Second, through text that calls out your audience’s problem or desire. For example, text at the beginning can say “Tips on getting leave approved through Sedgwick”. Third, you can use movement, like jumping toward the camera or waving at the camera at the beginning.
■ Batch your Videos. Consistently posting will positively impact your account and the performance of all of your content. In order to stay consistent, make a bunch of them in advance!
➢ Captions are a great opportunity to spark conversation, provide value, and form meaningful connections with your community. Here are a few tips to keep in mind when writing your captions:
■ Make the first line eye-catching enough to encourage users to stop scrolling. Some examples include “The ultimate guide to…”, “5 things you should know about…”, “The real truth about…”, “Anyone else feel like…?”, or “Do you know how to…?”
■ Make your caption easy to read. There’s nothing worse than a long caption that is only one paragraph — so break it up!
■ Use some fun, on-brand emojis. This will make them more visually exciting
■ Have a call-to-action. It could be a question, an invitation to share, or an ask for advice.
■ End your captions with hashtags. Use popular but not TOO popular hashtags to target your audience better. Examples of good hashtags to use are: #amazonemployee, #walmartassociate, #wages, #pto
❖ While growth and engagement rates are important metrics to be mindful of, you should also focus on the quality of the community you are cultivating. When you’re hyper-focused on reaching tons of people, you might have a very large audience, but one that doesn’t necessarily trust you and follow your lead in taking on management because you haven’t spent the time building a relationship. In comparison, when you’re hyper-focused on a quality connection, you’ll have an audience that trusts your recommendations, joins you in taking action, and follows you to other platforms.
❖ After posting on your feed, stay on the app for at least 30 minutes responding to comments and moving people to DMs where you can establish a stronger relationship. Go back later in the day to respond to the rest. When you receive DMs, always be sure to respond and strike up a genuine conversation.
❖ Follow people that are engaging with your content to learn more about them. Look for commonalities in what they are posting and connect it back to your message when it makes sense – and in a sensitive way.
We hope you found this guide useful. Just remember – there is power in numbers.
These corporations often make decisions at the very top without giving a platform or a voice to those of us who are doing the work. That’s why we’re building a community of support for working people all over the country – and we are demanding a say in what happens at the top because it impacts us at the bottom.
We’re a nonprofit organization called United for Respect. We are made up of people just like you working together to change corporate policies and our laws to improve our economy and our futures for our families.
We believe in advancing a vision of an economy where corporations respect our work and recognize our humanity. We are building an economy that allows us to live and work in dignity.
This is the first step in a new initiative – one that we hope will build an army of influencers telling the truth about the retail industry. And we need your help!