White Paper: Zoos and Social Media

8/3/2019 White Paper: Zoos and Social Media

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Lafayette Park Zoo

and Social MediaShould we join the conversation?

Emily Overmyer, Lafayette Park Zoo, Marketing InternOctober 2011



Introduction: Zoos and Social Media

Social Media Overview

raditionally, the La ayette Park Zoo has reliedon television and newspaper ads, billboards, and word-o -mouth advertising in attempts to raise zoo aware-ness and attendance. In this digital age, however, wemust question our strategies and look to new possibili-ties or advertising and marketing. One such possibil-ity is social media.

In this report, I will be giving an overview o social media, providing details about the zoos’ targetaudience and its relationship to social media, detailingbene ts and drawbacks o social media, and providinga general plan or the uture in order to help answerthe question: should we join the conversation?

Te terms “social media” and “social network-ing” re er to internet-based communities establishedby users that allow or the sharing o ideas, messages,in ormation, videos, and more. Some o the earliest

orms o social media include websites like MySpace,which allows users to create an online, personal pro leto share with riends. MySpace, launched in 2003, wasquickly ollowed by Facebook, a social networking site

created in 2004. Subsequently, sites like You ube andwitter were created in 2005 and 2006, respectively

(Cross, 2011, pg. xi). Te ollowing list details some o the main social media sites used today:

Facebook

According to the company’swebsite, the main purposeso Facebook or users are, “tocommunicate more e ciently with their riends, amily andcoworkers,” and to create “thedigital mapping o people'sreal-world social connections.” Trough Facebook,users are able to create a personal pro le, sharinggeneral in ormation. Ten, users can request othersto be “ riends,” increasing the social connection map.Each user has a “wall” where they can post and receivemessages and website links, allowing or ease o com-munication between riends. Other eatures include

exclusive groups, the creation o events, chat, photoalbums, games, and privacy eatures.

YouTube

Te core ocus o You ubeis video sharing. Te com-pany website states the pur-poses o You ube are, “ orpeople to connect, in orm,and inspire others across theglobe.” Anyone can searchand view videos on the web-site, and users with an account can upload original vid-eos to share. All users have a “channel,” which allows

or organization o videos. Comments can be made on videos, creating a conversation between users.

Twitter

Te company’s websitedescribes witter as, “a real-time in ormation network”allowing users to learn aboutin ormation they are most

interested in. Users post“ weets” which are mes-sages, stories, or conversationsthat can be up to 140 characters long. Individuals can“ ollow” others’ accounts and get quick updates when-ever a new weet is posted. People can also respond to

weets, give eedback, or join a conversation.

Who is Using Social Media?With advances in technology and the ability to

access the internet nearly anywhere, social media hastrans ormed the way people interact, communicate,and learn. Members o all age groups can manage asocial networking site, and the numbers are growing.

According to Nelson-Field and Klose (2011),“Te rate o exponential growth in social media sur-passes that o any media to date” (Background section,para. 1). Social networking sites have seen tremendousgrowth in a short time period. In one year, Facebook added over 200 million users, with 500 million users

Image 1: Facebook Icon (2011)

Image 2: YouTube Icon (2011)

Image 3: Twitter Icon (2011)



total on the site. Interestingly, it took around 13 yearsor the television to reach 50 million viewers (Back-

ground, para. 1). Similarly on witter, growth has beendramatic. In 2009, only 4% o surveyed individuals

were users on witter, but by March 2011, the numberhad risen to 34%. Based on these gures, social mediapopularity is on the rise.

But the question remains: who are the millions o people using social media sites? Researchers at PewInternet (2011) released a project describing the de-mographics o social media users, giving in ormationabout age groups, income brackets, income, education,and location (pg. 3-7). Tere were several importantsocial media trends discovered through the Pew Inter-net, which are particularly important or our organiza-tion to note. Some o these trends include:

• 65% o online adults use social networkingsites

• 43% o adults use social networking sites daily • Women use social media signi cantly more

than men (Figure 1)• Te age groups 18-29 and 30-49 are the top

social media users, with older generations onthe rise (Figure 2)

Figure 1: Social networking site use by gender, 2005-2011(Madden & Zickuhr, 2011)

Figure 2: Social networking site use by age groups, 2005-2011 (Madden & Zickuhr, 2011)

The Importance for Zoos

While the numbers o internet users are im-pressive, the real importance o the data is its relation-ship to zoos. According to the Association o Zoos andAquariums (AZA) (2009), the visitor demographics o zoos are primarily:

• Women/Mothers• Age 23-35• House Hold Income $50,000 – 75,000• Two out of three adults visit with a

When these demographics are compared tothe Pew Internet Research, some striking connectionscan be made. Te majority o zoo visitors are women

rom the ages o 23-35. Te top users o social mediaare predominately women, and individuals betweenthe age ranges o 18-49, there ore signi cant overlapin audience demographics is apparent. In short, thezoo’s primary target audience is actively and increas-ingly using social media. I we want to adapt with thesechanges and keep our target audience’s attention, weneed to seriously consider utilizing social media.

“The rate of exponentialgrowth in social mediasurpasses that of anymedia to date”

- Nelson-Field and Klose (2011)

Based on the graphs, the percentage o adults usingsocial media in the age range o 30-40 years old grew

rom less than 50% o adults to 70% o such adults intwo years (2009 - 2011). Interestingly, the younger gen-erations, ages 18-29, have remained relatively stable.Tere ore, we can see that social media use is on therise or nearly every age category, and remains at ahigh, yet somewhat static, level or younger users.



Now that we are aware what social media is andhow it relates to our target audience, we can examine

the pros and cons o social media use in zoo marketingto help us make a more in ormed decision.

Benefts

One o the main unctions o social mediais to start a conversation between users; in our case,the conversation would be between our zoo and ourpatrons. One article rom WARC, by G. Precourt,summed up the general idea: "Consumers value opendialogue with a company as opposed to one-sidedmessaging…people tend to respond more positively toa two-way conversation than to being bombarded by marketing messages" (Social Media Usage, para. 4). Anonline conversation allows or interactive marketing,unlike more traditional advertising, and consumersmay appreciate this new approach.

Te ollowing points, adapted rom examplesfrom Gibbon and Hawkes (2009), list possible bene tso generating such a conversation (Advantages andDisadvantages o Embracing Social Media section,para. 1-2):

• Facebook and Twitter allow people to commentand leave messages or pages they like or ollow.As a result, their riends and amily can see activity on our site, which increases awareness and interest

or our zoo.

• We can ask for feedback from our audiencon exhibits, overall experience, and new ideas orimprovements . In other words, we can determine

what is working well in the eyes o patrons, whatneeds to be improved, or what might need to beremoved.

• Social media sites can be easily accessedphones and computers, which allows access to in-

ormation (maps, questions, etc.) even while at thezoo. Patrons could use their smart-phones to look at maps, nd out about activities, and share withothers about their experience in real-time.

• Zoo patrons can ask us questions, which wcan respond to more quickly, and the answers canbe read by the public to increase awareness. Forexample, i a visitor is curious about a speci cspecies, we can provide the patron with accuratein ormation through social media, and others that visit the site can learn rom our response.

• Pictures and videos of animals can be posthe zoo and users to help create an emotional con-nection to the zoo. Tis allows users to eel includ-ed and in ormed about the zoo and its inhabitantsand makes the zoo seem personable and inviting.• By monitoring trends and requests, we canbetter analyze our audience’s needs and wants andreact through change. I many visitors make com-ments on a certain topic, or repeatedly mention anissue, we can better recognize patrons’ needs andtake action.

• Social media reaches a large audience, exp-ing our range o marketing. elevision and paperads only reach a select audience. Given the datapresented earlier in the paper, social media use ison the rise, and there is the possibility o a newaudience that will be able to learn about our zoo.

• e cost to join social networking sites isCompared to the price o creating a television ad ora print ad, setting up social media sites only re-quires a valid email address and is ree to users.

Social Media Analysis

"Consumers value opendialogue with a company

as opposed to one-sidedmessaging…people tendto respond more positivelyto a two-way conversationthan to being bombarded bymarketing messages"

- Precourt (2009)



Potential Drawbacks

Sometimes, social media seems too good to betrue. Just like any other media outlet, there are possibleissues and obstacles social media advertising aces:

• All messages posted on social media can beread by the public. I the zoo receives criticismor any type o negative comment, every membercan see it. We might not always receive the posi-tive eedback we hope or, and we must be ready tomonitor activity and handle criticism pro ession-ally.

• Because many zoos are using social media,

there is extreme competition among our establish-ments. Users might judge our zoo based on oursocial media per ormance or appearance, increas-ing criticism. Other zoos may have had more timeto develop a site, and our novelty to social mediamay be a hindrance when rst starting to create asite.

• Like any technology, errors, hacking, and mis-use can occur, and we must have a team ready tohandle such issues. Pro essionals may be needed or

workers might need training, both o which couldcost money.

• Pictures and videos posted by users couldbe used inappropriately and must be monitoredclosely. I we open up photo albums to the public,we risk misuse, and we would not want this to tar-nish our image.

• Attracting attention to social media sites toincrease ollowers may be challenging. Getting theword out to customers may require a separate cam-paign, changes in our website, or word-o -mouthto visitors. Tere are many social media sites seek-ing support, and we need to nd a way to make oursite stand out.

• Social media will change how our zoo appearsto the public. Some patrons may pre er our tra-ditional style and will be against a technologicaladvancement. We risk losing some customers in

avor o new customers, and we must decide i thisis a risk worth taking.

The Next Steps

• While social sites are free to join, they rrequent attention and maintenance. I not kept

up to date or monitored, the site will not serve its

purpose e ectively. Tis task will likely result in aull-time sta member, which increases the overallcost o social media.

While both sides o the social media argu-ment should be considered be ore making a decision,it is also important to understand what the next stepshould be i we adapt social media.

Choosing the Right SitesFirst, we should decide which sites to use,

taking into consideration o some o their unctions.Tere are a wide variety o social media sites avail-able online, but there are some sites that have becomeclear rontrunners. Facebook, You ube, and wit-ter, the three sites described at the start o this paper,are among the most popular sites. According to thewebsites o each company, Facebook now has over 800million current users, over 3 billion videos are viewedeach day on You ube, and 100 million active users on

witter create 230 million weets per day.

Businesses can opt to use primarily one site, ora combination o sites. Colleen Dilenschneider (2011),a zoo and aquarium blogger, came up with severalways to use social media in Zoos. able 1 providesexamples o how each o the three major social mediasites could be used speci cally or zoos using Dilen-schneider’s ideas and some o my own original ideas.

Facebook has over 800million current users, over 3 billion videos are viewedeach day on YouTube, and100 million active users onTwitter create 230 millionTweets per day



Site Development and ManagementOnce we establish which site(s) we want to use,

the next question is: who will be in charge? Currently in our marketing department, we have workers thatare not skilled pro essionals in social media use. As aresult, we have a ew options or site development and

management.One option would be to teach a current group

o workers or interns how to set up and use socialmedia sites. Tis could be done by workers conduct-ing research on the topic, or possibly hiring a pro es-sional to conduct a workshop to help us get started. Forexample, on witter’s website (2011), there is an entiresection dedicated to businesses that want to learn moreabout witter as an advertising or marketing tool.While these techniques would prevent us rom hiring

Facebook YouTube Twitter

• Ability to create a public page or thezoo

• People can “like” the site, leave com-ments, post pictures rom their visit, ask questions

• Polls/questions can be made to gainaudience opinions or interact with users(e.g. animal un act questions, ask visi-tors which exhibit is their avorite, helpname a baby animal)

• Can act as an extension to the web-site, including maps, coupons, linksto other sites, general in ormation,etc.

• Create/advertise zoo events andinvite all ans o the page

• Create contests and sweepstakes thatrequire online participation (e.g.zoo animal photo contest to win reeadmission or a day)

• Show our support or other causes

(conservation e orts, non-pro torganizations, etc.)

• Create an exclusive zoochannel

• Create videos or users (e.g.behind the scenes, animalbiographies, new babies, newexhibit previews, chat withthe keepers, etc.)

• Comments can be posted on videos

• Video contests or zoo pa-trons to increase awarenessand activity

• Educational material on con-servation e orts and animal

acts• Video tour o the zoo or

new guests to help themnavigate

• Live zoo-cams that showanimals in their enclosures at

all times o the day

• Quick updates on happeningsat the zoo as they occur (e.g.“Te dolphin show starts in20 minutes!”)

• Links to other websites, likeconservation e orts or ouradvertisers

• People can ollow our site andpost comments or share our

weets with others• Links to pictures can be

posted quickly • Active conversations with us-

ers and answers to questionsin real time

• Show support or other causes(especially other witter us-ers).

• Daily un- acts about animalsor the zoo

• In ormal advertising or theon-the-go visitor

Table 1: Examples of Social Media Usage by Site (Adapted from Dilenschneider (2011)

additional sta members, current workers will have toshi their goals, learn new skills, and the process couldbe lengthy. Also, depending on which service we use totrain our current workers on social media ( ree pod-casts, blogs, hire a pro essional, etc.), there may still bea slight cost. However, this would be an excellent-portunity or the sta to widen their breadth o knowl-edge and make us a more competitive organization inthe eld o technology.

Another option would be to hire a new sta member, already trained in social media market-ing, and willing to work part-time or ull-time. Forexample, a job description posted by the San DiegoZoo (2010) lists credentials or a social media planner,including: a degree in journalism, communications orrelated eld; knowledge o social media trends, con-tent development, and photography; ability to write,



Judging Our Success

A er establishing our social media and de-ciding on management o the sites, our next step ismeasuring the sites’ success. Because social media isrelatively new, there has been little research done onhow to accurately measure its impact. Tere are obvi-ous ways to try and judge success, such as number o

ollowers or ans, activity on the site (conversations,message posts, etc.), and an increase in zoo attendance,but research is currently being done to try and ndmore reliable methods.

One method that can be used or measuringwitter success is the Klout Score. Te o cial websiteor Klout, Inc. (2011) describes the Klout score as a

measure o online infuence. Te score is on a scale

With the recent development and growth o social media, we are orced to examine our market-ing strategies and question our uture endeavors inattempts in increase zoo awareness and attendance.Tere are both bene ts and drawbacks rom imple-menting social media into our system, and the deci-sion to commit to social media can be di cult. Pow-ered with the in ormation in this report about types o social media, our target audience, and possible plans

or the uture, we can assess our organizations needsand develop a realistic and e ective plan o action.

Concluding Thoughts

Image 4: Klout, Inc. (2011)

conduct computer programs, communicate e ectively (verbal and written), ollow social media trends anddevelop strategies to enhance the social media expo-sure. Hiring a new employee may also be a challengingand lengthy process, but the hired specialist will beable to create our sites more e ciently and will already have a deep understanding o social media.

o help us decide which path to take, we couldstart researching and contacting other zoos usingsocial media and ask them how they got started, whattools they used, what works best, and what they wishthey had done di erently. Currently, based on in or-mation rom the AZA (2011), “o the 221 institutionsthat are members o the Association o Zoos & Aquari-

ums, at least two-thirds are using social media o somekind, and the number is growing continually.” Tus, wehave extreme variety and many experienced zoos thatcould potentially help us decide what is best or ourown zoo.

Whichever method we decide to use (outsourc-ing or training current workers), we have to take intoconsideration who we put in charge. Klose and Nelson-Field (2010) explain that, “social media champions aredirectly responsible or public interaction, and as suchshould be o high quality and should understand yourbusiness’ goals” (Enable Employees, para. 1). So, who-ever we chose to run our social network sites needs tobe trustworthy, committed, and knowledgeable aboutour purpose, goals, and needs.

o 1-100, and is a measure o how many people youinfuence ( rue Reach), how much you infuence them(Ampli cation), and how infuential they are (Net-work Score) (Te Klout Score, para. 1-4). Te company

ocuses on witter and Facebook activity, but may expand to include additional sites in the uture. Whilethis technology is mainly used by large companies, itcould give us a general idea o our success i we estab-lish social media.

Because the overall goal o using social mediais to increase awareness and attendance at the La ay-ette Park Zoo, our marketing sta would likely pay close attention to zoo sales i social media is created.Although other actors may play into an increase inzoo attendance (season, special events, promotions),we could supplement our in ormation with surveysasking individuals about their social media use in rela-tion to the zoo.

With social media, judging success may proveto be a challenge, but active research and key tools may could help us realize our reach.



Association o Zoos and Aquariums (2009).Visitor Demographics. Retrieved from http://www.aza.org/visitor-demographics/

Cross, Mary (2011). Bloggerati, witterati: How Blogsand witter are ransforming Popular Culture.Santa Barbara, Cali ornia: ABC-CLIO, LCC.

Dilenschneider, C. (March 2011). 38 Ways Zoos andAquariums are Engaging Audiences TroughSocial Technology. Retrieved from http://colleendilen.com/2011/03/10/38-ways-zoos-and-

aquariums-are-engaging-audiences-through-social-technology/

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con.png

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Madden, M. and Zickuhr, K. (August 2011). 65% of online adults use social networking site:Women maintain their foothold on SNS useand older Americans are still coming aboard.Retrieved from http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/Social-Networking-Sites.aspx

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aspx?MasterContentRe =3b160d0e-d00c-4ec1-a3a2-cd7 22a3b 64&q=precourt

San Diego Zoo (2010). Job itle: SOCIAL MEDIA PLANNER. Retrieved from https://www.hrapply.com/sandiegozoo/AppJobView.

jsp?link=3478&page=AppJobList.jsp&op=reset

witter (2011). witter is the best way to discover what’s new in your world. Retrieved from httptwitter.com/about

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White Paper: Zoos and Social Media