What’s your handle? Social media has been changing the voiceover game for some time and now we’re seeing a whole new influence…clients who are asking for YOUR social media influence! Yup, some clients now want to know what your social media reach looks like. It’s a game-changer for sure. Are you ready to play ball? Coaches Anne and Gabby are here to help you score big with social media
Takeaways
Quick Concepts from Today’s Episode:
Potential clients are starting to ask for a voice actors social media accounts in order to see what their social media reach and influence looks like.
This is the path of the Millennial consumer. Influencers matter.
Most voiceover actors don’t think of themselves as being influencers.
Clients are paying close attention to what Is happening on your social media.
Controversy, attention seeking, or negative social media behavior could be problematic for you.
Don’t buy followers, but make an effort to be on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.
Be on the platform your clients are on.
Don’t maintain an empty feed. Post regularly if you are on a platform.
Post things that let people know who you are without controversy.
Be the person a company wants to represent their brand, a spokesperson.
Companies have products and services and common elements to their message – when you are a voice for them, you are part of their message and mission.
You can be fired from a job based on social media conduct.
What you say and do on social media does matter.
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Referenced in this Episode
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Full Episode Transcript
>> Today’s voiceover talent is more than just a pretty voice.
>> Pretty voice.
>> Pretty voice.
>> Pretty voice.
>> Today’s voiceover talent has to be a BOSS.
>> BOSS.
>> A BOSS.
>> A BOSS.
>> Join us each week for business owner strategies and success with your hosts Anne Ganguzza and Gabrielle Nistico, along with some of the strongest voices in our industry.
>> Rock your business.
>> Rock your business.
>> Rock your business.
>> Like a BOSS.
>> Like a BOSS.
>> Rock your business like a BOSS.
>> Rock your business like a BOSS.
>> A VO BOSS.
>> A VO BOSS.
>> A VO BOSS.
Anne: Welcome, everybody, to the VO BOSS podcast. I’m your host, Anne Ganguzza, along with my amazing bosstie cohost, Gabby Nistico. Hey, Gabby.
Gabby: Hi, Anne.
Anne: Gabby, I want to give a big shout-out to some of our newest BOSS Blastees. I like that, BOSS Blastees.
Gabby: Oh cute. BOSS Blastees.
Anne: Yes. These are some of our newest clients for our BOSS Blast marketing product. Shout-out to Denise Kelly, shout-out to Kimberly Young, Dan Osborne.
Gabby: Susan Glow and her daughters the Glow Girls, Cassie and Sabrina, and one of our original Blastees, Dave Clarke.
Anne: Guys, thanks so much for supporting the BOSS Blast, and thanks so much for allowing us to help you to get your marketing out there.
Gabby: You know, we talk to talent all the time who tell us, it’s one of the biggest challenges. It’s one of the biggest struggles that everybody is facing in our industry right now. How do I get my demo into the hands of more buyers? BOSS Blast is a product that a lot of people have come to know and rely on, and it’s been highly effective for myself, for Anne, and for all of these people that we’ve been working with. And if you want to learn more about it, you can go to voboss.com, and you can even sign up for a free 15-minute consult with me and Anne if you have questions about it.
Anne: And guys, remember, this is a list that is vetted, which means that these people are on that list and specifically want to hear from you. So that is going to be a great, big advantage to you guys getting the word out to people who really might be able to hire you.
Gabby: Yeah, and honestly we’ve done a really – well, I think we’ve done a really good job of keeping costs down on this product so that really one job pays it back. It makes back your money, and isn’t that what everybody wants?
Anne: Guys, if you want to find out more, go to voboss.com and click on the shop tab, or you can go right to vobossblast.com.
Gabby: So I just have to make note, Anne, I feel so awkward right now because we’re back on ipDTL, right? Here we are recording another episode. You were here not 24 hours ago.
Anne: I knowww! Oh my God. [laughs]
Gabby: I know. Aww…
Anne: But I feel like I’m in the same studio.
Gabby: I know, right?
Anne: Because of ipDTL.
Gabby: The power of ipDTL, there it is. There was something that we had talked about while you were here that I think is going to make a great episode, and we should explore today. And it was from a recent audition that I got that I was really, really surprised by. It was a voiceover audition that was asking for the voice actors to supply their social media credentials and names so that the client could determine how big an influencer the individuals they were considering were.
Anne: Wow. [laughs]
Gabby: Uh oh, what is happening, what is happening here? Yeah.
Anne: [laughs] I can actually see that. I understand why they’re asking for it, because they want the voice talent to help promote. They want influencers in social media so that they can expand their market and have people buy.
Gabby: Sure. We’re somewhat used to seeing this with celebrities and with on-camera talent, and you know, I feel like it’s become a pretty common, consistent part of modern marketing, especially to millennials, but to see it in voiceover blew my mind.
Anne: Yeah, that’s –
Gabby: I was like, whoa.
Anne: Think about this and consider this. How can we prepare ourselves for requests like that? Are you guys active on social media? Are you considered to be influencers? And Gabby, what does it take to be an influencer on social media? There’s a good question.
Gabby: Right? And that’s what’s crazy about this. So obviously voice actors, we don’t have the same kind of reach or appeal that other performance areas have. Some of us do. I mean, OK, really, really well-known people who are in animation or in an animated movie, they might. But the average working voice actor, I mean, gee, I don’t know.
Anne: Or a videogame, Gabby, if you think about – not just animation but videogame.
Gabby: How many followers does it take? I mean, to get to the center of the tootsie pop, right? [laughs]
Anne: So then I guess I would ask you, Gabby, this particular audition, I’m going to assume that it was a commercial audition?
Gabby: Yeah.
Anne: Ahh.
Gabby: Yeah.
Anne: So companies today are really looking. This wasn’t for an animation. It wasn’t for a videogame.
Gabby: No.
Anne: It was for a company that sells a product.
Gabby: Yeah.
Anne: Interesting. So that company is looking probably to expand its market out into people they may not ordinarily reach.
Gabby: Right.
Anne: I’m wondering where this particular company had advertised before. And did they advertise on social media?
Gabby: I mean, I don’t know. But I think what’s – there’s a couple things to consider that I think are important. I mean, first of all, it means that potential hires for voice actors are now looking. They are actively looking to see what’s going on in our social media. And that’s even I think more of a reason to tone down politics, controversy, argumentative behaviors, you know, anything that can make them raise an eyebrow and go, “oo, maybe I don’t want to work with this person. Maybe they’re, you know, too much of a troublemaker,” so to speak. Right? Which we don’t think of! People don’t think about it. They think “ oh, it’s just, it’s my Facebook, who cares? I can do whatever I want.” Mmgh…
Anne: In terms of social media following, I think now probably very prevalent is Instagram, right? They want a huge Instagram following. And of course Instagram is owned by – who?
Gabby: Facebook.
Anne: Facebook. So they’re kind of closely related, and I assume Twitter’s not too far behind. I think we can all argue one way or another which one is better, which one is more popular, which one is being phased out. But I think honestly as voice actors, we have to look at our combined social media power –
Gabby: Yeah.
Anne: – on all the platforms and see where we are in relation to, are we an influence? Are we an influencer at all, or you know, how many followers do we have? I’m not going to sit here and recommend that anybody go and buy followers because that, people can see that a mile away. But I do believe it’s important that you, as a business on social media, really has to make an effort to be out there. I know some people just, they’re fleeing Facebook. They don’t want to be on Facebook anymore. Maybe they just want to be on one platform. You know, I was always of the belief that you should be on the platform where your clients are. So if you take a look at the companies that you want to work for, and/or companies that you keep seeing a lot of auditions for, maybe it behooves you to take a look at where they’re advertising.
Gabby: Well, my thought on it is this too. You should never feel like you’re embarrassed or like you want to hide from a particular segment of your business. So if clients in voiceover are now starting to say, “hey, we want to see your social media,” you should be like, “all right, yeah. Here it is.” You should be proud of what’s going on there and not want to cringe and go, “uh oh, maybe I shouldn’t, you know, send them – that’s not a good thing to do.” Look, I have friends who do this. They’re on Instagram, but they never post, so their feed is empty, and there’s nothing there. There’s nothing to show, whereas if you’ve got even a halfway decent plan, and you’re consistent, and you’re posting regularly, you know, it should look pretty good. You shouldn’t, you shouldn’t feel bad about it. It should be fairly consistent and something that you can submit. Even if you don’t have tens of thousands of followers, at least the company can say, “well, you know, they’re doing what they can to stay relevant, and they’re building their following.” And do you agree?
Anne: I agree and especially agree with what you said prior to this where – please just keep anything too controversial off of your social media because that could, that could really make or break. That could make or break a company that may want to hire you from hiring you or not.
Gabby: Yeah.
Anne: It’s important that you are conducting yourselves in a professional manner, in a professional manner. I think I’m just going to leave it at that. [laughs] It’s not that you can’t use these platforms to speak on things that would enhance your brand, if they do, but again I think that politics is something you should maye try to maybe shy away from, and religion, any sort of thing that would, that would portray you as something other than a professional.
Gabby: It just becomes anything that I think is too heated or that could be taken negatively. I know that that’s such a broad area because my God, anybody could take anything the wrong way, but there’s going about your social media with a light heart, and a sense of humor, and a sense of a fun little break or entertainment in somebody’s day, and then there’s having like a really heavy agenda.
Anne: Yeah, that’s a great point. Try not to have such a heavy agenda. And I think also post things that really kind of let people know who you are without too much [laughs] too much controversy one way or the other. But like Gabby said, lighthearted, fun, something that showcases you that they could look at and say, “you know what, this would be the person that I would want to represent my brand. This is who we are.”
Gabby: Yeah, and really the funny thing is, this is what’s going on everywhere. Companies are seeking this. It’s almost like we’re not just a voice actor anymore, we’re now a brand ambassador.
Anne: Good point.
Gabby: That’s something I don’t and a lot of voice actors are prepared for. I mean a lot of people don’t even know what that means, to be a brand ambassador. I’m lucky, having worked in radio and advertising, like that’s all you do.
Anne: Oh yeah.
Gabby: You are instantly a brand ambassador. You’re always putting on someone else’s T-shirt, someone else’s logo, and like going out there and singing their praises. And so we have to get used to that idea, that we’re going to be crossing over from just being on mic to really potentially being a part of that brand message and what that company is doing, and like a spokesperson.
Anne: It’s really interesting because I just gave a presentation on corporate. I talked about the common corporate themes that seem to be relevant today, in today’s advertising, because companies have products. Companies have services, and they sell their products and services. And so there are very common elements to a company’s message. And as you mentioned, you are a brand ambassador. Ambassa-door – is that the way you pronounce that? Don’t put that in. Brand ambassador.
Gabby: Ambassa-teur.
Anne: Brand ambassa-der.
Gabby: Ambassa-teur.
Anne: [laughs] As you mentioned previously, you are a brand ambassador for that company. You have to just – you are working for that company.
Gabby: Yep.
Anne: So working for that company, you are a voice for that company, so you have to kind of enhance and/or elevate, and/or go along with, or be on board with their mission statement. And a lot of companies today have common themes for what they stand for, for their mission statements: environmental, green, inclusivity –
Gabby: Socially conscious.
Anne: Exactly. Those are things that if you can demonstrate in your social media that you are also along with that, that helps them to identify with you, and you to identify with their brand, and probably be one of those things where they would say, “you know what? I like who this person is. They would be a great brand ambassador for us.”
Gabby: You’re right. I know we did another episode not that long ago about contracts and NDAs, but guys, this is part of the fine print. When you read a lot of the voiceover contracts that we sign nowadays, there are clauses that actually give the client the right to fire you and/or terminate your agreement based on conduct, your conduct.
Anne: Oh yeah, absolutely.
Gabby: That something you do, or say, or post, or write in your personal life could then cost you the job.
Anne: Do you remember, Gabby, a few years back, I think one of the first very public instances of that was AFLAC?
Gabby: Oh God, yeah, Bobcat. Like dude, what were you thinking?
Anne: No, actually it was Gilbert Gottfried, correct?
Gabby: That’s right, that’s right. Sorry, sorry, sorry. Yeah, Gilbert Gottfried, you’re right. I always get them confused. Yeah, Gilbert.
Anne: He said something on social media that wasn’t acceptable, and bam.
Gabby: Oh yeah, no.
Anne: I mean literally got fired like in the next second.
Gabby: Yeah.
Anne: And then there was this big campaign for the voice of the next AFLAC duck.
Gabby: And it was really funny because obviously there was that moment where people were like, “well, it’s just his social media. It was just his Twitter account. Like what’s the big deal? It was there, and he took it down so fast,” and it’s like, “ehh no, it went out. It was there. People saw it. Done, over.”
Anne: Oh my goodness, Gabby. I could, off the top of my head, just recently, there was something that Barbra Streisand –
Gabby: Barbra Streisand.
Anne: – said. Roseanne Barr –
Gabby: Roseanne Barr is another one.
Anne: Roseanne Barr, she got fired from her television – so guys. You have to be really careful at being your own brand ambassadors.
Gabby: Yeah.
Anne: – what you say and what you do on social media, because that is a reflection of your business and your professionalism. Somebody looking at you, and you may never know it, that’s one thing I say so many times. You may never know. You don’t know how many people are actually looking at you. They may never say anything. They may never comment. They may never – you might never know who’s looking at you. But they can make that decision in a split second.
Gabby: Times are changing. This is a new way of advertising, a new way for companies to reach buyers. You know, I was reading something else today about how there are companies on the other side of this coin that are taking a stand against influencers, meaning companies in hospitality, and hotels, and restaurants that are mmm in jeopardy of being taken advantage of by social media influencers who want something for free. Right?
Anne: Yeah.
Gabby: “I want to stay at your resort, and I’m going to write all these great tweets about you, and therefore you’re going to give me the $5000 luxury suite.” Not so much. Companies are kind of pushing back a little bit and going, “you know, maybe, no. What’s it really worth?”
Anne: I think there’s something to be said that in all of this, no matter what you do, you have to be authentic.
Gabby: Yes.
Anne: If you’re not authentically – you know, well, I think if you’re one of those influencers that’s just looking for a free ride, that of course doesn’t really show authenticity at all. It’s about who you are and your authentic self, and that makes them want to also have you on their side as well.
Gabby: Sure. And I mean, we’re not saying not to be yourself. It is OK to have your opinions, it’s OK to have your viewpoint on the world. All of that is great, but know that if it’s becoming, I don’t know, antagonistic or it’s just creating too much backlash, that company is not going to want anything to do with that.
Anne: So Gabby, what sort of social media channels are you thinking?
Gabby: The way I saw it, they wanted as many as we were willing to give in this audition, so I thought that was really interesting.
Anne: Did they specify a platform?
Gabby: No, no, they didn’t. No. So you know, to me, I interpret it as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, possibly LinkedIn. Now this wasn’t a corporate client, so LinkedIn may be not as valuable but I could see a corporate client leaning that way. If the brand is really, really young, they might want Snapchat if you have it, and I also think YouTube, because YouTube’s great.
Anne: Yeah, YouTube.
Gabby: Everybody loves YouTube. So if you have any kind of YouTube presence at all, it’s a good thing.
Anne: And especially because I really believe new media is going that way. YouTube, Vimeo, streaming. Anything streaming –
Gabby: Yeah.
Anne: I think that if you had to concentrate on a social media platform to really start to maybe build upon, most voice actors I don’t think are thinking about it right now. I would say –
Gabby: It’s YouTube.
Anne: – take a look, take a hard look at your YouTube channel, and if nothing else, at least start building up, start uploading things that you’ve done, work that you’ve done, you know, demos, even if they’re not video, you can make them video-based pretty simply.
Gabby: Mm-hmm.
Anne: There’s lots of tools out there.
Gabby: YouTube itself has so many resources now that help you to create video, yeah.
Anne: Don’t not think about social media and how it may affect you getting a job and becoming a valuable asset to a company that may want to hire you to be their voice, and not just in commercial, right? This goes for anything really. And especially for my corporate students that I was talking to the other day, I mean, you are a brand ambassador. You are a voice for that company. And the more you can help that company to spread the word to have other people, you know, get on board with the brand, the better.
Gabby: Or just again, general alignment. My friend Lisa Biggs, who also Anne’s friend, we talk about there’s many, many, many things she doesn’t post on her social channels because she knows how much of her work revolves around kids and children’s programming and games, and so she’s very conscious of the fact that she doesn’t want any of her clients or companies to go, “oh man, what’s going on here? Lisa lost sight of the audience.” It’s important that we think that way. We all have the power to be influencers in some way, shape or form, and we got to start thinking that way now.
Anne: Yeah. And I hear this over and over again, it could take you 10 years to build up your brand but only five minutes to kill it. [laughs]
Gabby: And honestly if you just happen to already be a social butterfly, this is great news for you because it could mean that all that time you’re spending on social media might actually pay off in the long run, get you some work.
Anne: I’d like to give a great, big shout-out to our amazing sponsor, ipDTL, that helps Gabby and I become close even when we’re not close. Sounds like we’re in the next room even though I just left you, Gabby. Ahhh I miss you, but I feel like I’m in the same studio.
Gabby: Kevin Leach at ipDTL, he’s such an influencer, he doesn’t even know it. He doesn’t, he doesn’t realize. [laughs] And we also want to give a big helloo to our newest sponsor, of course, Voiceovers.com. Big launch, just very recent. They’re getting off the ground. It’s happening, guys.
Anne: Great stuff.
Gabby: Efficient, fair, transparent, Voiceovers.com, “your voice, your way.”
Anne: Give them a try. All right, guys. Have a great week, and we’ll see you next week.
Gabby: Bye!
Anne: Bye!