Operational Transparency

Operational Transparency 

How sharing behind the scenes content can help you build trust.

One of my favorite community building / marketing strategies is the use of operational transparency. It is the type of content development that makes the most sense to me and feels the most organic. 

Harvard Business School defines Operational Transparency as 

the deliberate design of windows into and out of the organization’s operations to help customers understand and appreciate the value being added. — Source

Here are some examples of how my organization Isabel and the Runaway Train has used operational transparency to create engaging video content. 

  1. The Adulting with Anna YouTube Series: This is a window into the way that my brain works as I run my business. In this series I pick a small task from daily life and connect it to both an entrepreneurial concept and a musical concept. This type of communication and connection regularly shows up in my meetings with my team, so we started recording and publicly sharing these moments.

  2. The Jennifer Loves Spreadsheets YouTube Series: My technical director Jennifer Crump and I know how to lean on each other and play to our strengths. She helps me make the Isabel spreadsheets, and I help her write emails / other content. This series came from simply hitting record while Jennifer taught me to use google spreadsheets more effectively. 

  3. The Isabel Baggage Claim YouTube Series: These videos share a window into my relationships with local mental health professionals. During these videos a mental health professional and I discuss the meaning and usage of one keyword often used in #metoo support. 

These three series help our audience to see that 1) I am a person, not just a professional, 2) I have an effective team and 3) I collaborate with and learn from people outside my industry. 

Each concept came straight from things I was already doing on a regular basis. I believe that is what makes them highly engaging and trust — building to watch. 

What can you do to create Operational Transparency in your marketing? 

Anna Westbrook 

AnnaWestbrook.com

IsabelandtheRunawayTrain.org