“They’re dinosaurs. That’s WOW enough.”
I recently saw the trailer for Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and thought... "if only those dinos (and people) behaved themselves a bit better, what an incredible place that would be to work! If I worked for Jurassic World, how would I make the park's social media live up to the exceptional creatures that live there?" And so, the idea for this installment of I Were You was hatched.
For the sake of this post, Jurassic World is a real, functioning place, not in imminent danger from a volcano as it is in the upcoming movie. For our purposes, it is an immersive "zoo" experience that integrates science and history with the unparalleled WOW factor of extinct animals roaming and roaring in your midst. Social media opportunities galore!
FYI: I'll use the same format as my last blog post to outline ideas and strategy for Jurassic World, with the hope that ideas are sparked for you as well. Enjoy!
Clothesline
This is your organization's key emotional message, the spine or theme that binds your stories together. All of your content should deserve to hang proudly on your Clothesline.
Jurassic World, my first thought for your Clothesline was: We bring history to life. Not bad, but too simple. I imagine the top scientists on the planet flock to Jurassic World, not just to celebrate the past, but to glean insights into the present and future as well. Biology. Ecology. Chemistry. Medicine. There's a lot more than a history lesson going on.
If I were you, your new and improved Clothesline would be: Jurassic World is a living, breathing bridge between past, present and future. Visit us to be awed, inspired, and informed.
If we do our job right, all the content below should look dazzling hanging on your new Clothesline.
Topical Content
Connecting your brand to current events is an effective, while temporary, strategy for establishing relevance and grabbing the attention of people who aren't otherwise familiar with your brand.
Jurassic World, your hot topics will largely (r)evolve around scientific discoveries and breakthroughs, and I've taken the liberty of choosing three recent examples to get you started:
1. Just this month, a new dinosaur was discovered! Halszkaraptor escuilliei (it desperately needs a nickname) made a splash in the paleontology world because, as this Popular Science article states, "It’s basically a killer swan with flippers." You can work with this. What *should* its nickname be? What makes this creature different than the dinosaurs that already live at Jurassic World? Is there a possibility that it can one day be brought to life and find a home here? Hint: YES. What will its habitat be like? What will it look like? Share some renderings from your experts and ask followers for input.
2. Another news item to grab onto would be this one from BBC about a 99-million-year-old tick found holding a dinosaur feather, encased in amber. This discovery is a great jumping off point for teaching the public why and how Jurassic World exists. Introduce followers to your unique science of extracting DNA and transforming a drop of blood into a living, breathing animal.
3. Last but not least, meet Anchiornis. These four-winged dinos are not a new species, but a recent study shows that they can teach us a lot about the evolution of the modern day bird. How can your researchers chime in on this? I see this as a fabulous, feathered photo opportunity where you can showcase the plumage of your park's dinosaurs on social media and educate folks about similarities and differences between dinos and today's birds.
Bottom line: When there's a buzz-worthy development related to your line of work, get in on the conversation. It doesn't have to perfectly tie in to everything you do as long as you can establish your voice and prove your expertise. How do you feel about this news? What's your opinion on it? Follow the channels where this news comes from. Then, contribute to the dialogue regularly and intelligently.
UGX
User-generated content (UGX) is marvelous for many reasons. First, your fans and followers do the work for you. There is potential for a large quantity of content to be produced. And, if done well, it's engaging, entertaining and can help you identify your brand evangelists.
Jurassic World, if I were you, I would be stomping for joy. The potential for UGX in your case is off the charts, and I barely know where to begin! First, let's talk about UGX opportunities on-site at the park. These are endless, so I just picked two to get your imagination churning:
1. I would challenge your guests to an ongoing, ever-changing Photo Scavenger Hunt with rewards for the winners. Visitors to your park would receive a (physical or digital) map with clues cuing them to different locations or landmarks. They would then share their photos on the social media channel(s) of your choice, using the scavenger hunt's branded hashtag (Say, #DinoHunt2018). It's up to you to decide who to reward and how. You can reward the person who completes the scavenger hunt first, or the person who is the most creative with their photos as they relate to the clues, or the person who discovers the most amount of clues on the list.
This idea can be tailored to most businesses with a physical location. For a smaller locale, visitors won't necessarily need a map, just a list.
2. Promote silly (or scientific) themed days at the park and invite your visitors to show up in costume! They'll again use a branded hashtag, which not only alerts you to their posts, but also spreads awareness of your business to their friends and followers.
For example, during the holidays, you can host a #SantaSaurusDay where people come dressed in their best combo of dinosaur and Santa Claus. You can reward your favorite costumes with prizes, or just use the day as an opportunity to gather and share a lot of UGX. Tip: Save some of your favorite photos for later posts, like #ThrowbackThursdays or to get people excited about the same event the following year.
Not all businesses have a physical location that customers visit, and that is not a problem. Off-site UGX can be just as effective and go just as viral. Here are two ideas for off-site UGX that should create a good amount of buzz:
1. People seem to get very excited about naming things. From boats to pandas, the power to bestow a title upon a creature or an inanimate object seems to rile people up. So, ask your followers to name some baby dinos via a social media contest, building up the contest before they even hatch. If you don't want to end up with Dino McDinoFace, you can provide options for people to vote on.
2. As all zoos and theme parks do, Jurassic World sells branded merchandise. I would invite your followers to post photos of themselves in their hometowns all over the world with their Jurassic World swag, say a dinosaur plush toy. The idea can be something like you want to see your followers natural habitats. You can then share your favorites regularly, encouraging a growing amount of brand awareness and UGX.
PLANNED CONTENT
The news changes every day, but there are things that happen seasonally or annually that you can plan content around in advance. I appreciate this type of content because it's so easy to build into your calendar.
If I were you, I would look into national and international "holidays" that celebrate science. April 25th is DNA Day. While it's devoted to the human genome right now, it's fair to say that Jurassic World has a right to join the party! Then we have National Fossil Day, recognized in the United Stated every October. This is *your* day. Make it bigger than a brontosaurus - hype it on social media in advance, post photos and live videos throughout the day, invite social influencers to share your content, ask followers to celebrate with you all over the world.
Another thing I would plan at Jurassic World is live video streaming. Every week, a different employee can "take over" your social channels and give followers a glimpse into his or her daily duties at the park. Create your schedule based on when various employees are doing the most interesting, entertaining and educational things. Instagram Stories and Snapchat are the best channels for this strategy these days, and there are many ways to bring your content to life.
EVERGREEN CONTENT
Evergreen content never goes bad. You can share it any day, any season. I highly recommend stocking up on evergreen content so you have something in your back pocket during slow content periods.
Fun facts are terrific go-to evergreen content. Put together short nuggets featuring the most fascinating facts about dinosaurs and the times in which they originally lived, pair them with gorgeous visuals, and throw them out there whenever you want! You can put together 50 - 100 fun facts so you have enough for 1 - 2 a week if you need them.
I'd also stock up on Jurassic World's version of employee favorites or recommendations. These can be brief videos in which Owen Grady says, "Make you sure check out the velociraptors! I raised Blue, Echo and Delta since the day they hatched, and they imprinted on me. You can find their enclosure next to the gift shop in the southwest corner of the park!" and the camera pans over to the enclosure where the three raptors are feeding. You can also create branded images with similar content, like an Instagram story featuring a photo of Owen and a brachiosaurus with text that says, "This is Owen's friend, Betty the brachiosaurus, and she eats more than 850 pounds of plant matter every single day. You can watch Owen feed Betty on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Swipe up to learn more!" and include a link to the brachiosaurus feeding schedule.
DAMAGE CONTROL
Last but not least, we come to damage control, an unfortunate but necessary aspect of social media for many businesses. Most businesses mess up sometimes. Most businesses don't put prehistoric, carnivorous animals in direct contact with thousands of people every day. Frolicking around a tropical island with real-life, genetically modified dinosaurs... what could go wrong?
If someone has a bad experience at Jurassic World and shares it on your Facebook page, in most cases I would recommend not deleting the comment, and addressing it publicly, graciously, and as promptly as possible. It can be uncomfortable to have negativity out there for all to see, but if you show the highest level of compassion and customer service, it makes your business look much better than if you don't address it at all or try to cover it up. Think of a nasty Yelp review or complaining Tweet as an opportunity for proactive PR.
HOMEWORK
There are undoubtedly people out there who are nervous about the creatures that inhabit your park, and they probably don't think they would enjoy visiting. How can you use social media to assuage their concerns and show them that conquering their fears will be well worth the trip? Think of the people who *don't* want* be your customers and strategize how bring them over to the Jurassic side.
That's it for this edition of If I Were You - thank you so much for reading. Feel free to contact me with any questions or suggestions at scscseattle@gmail.com.
Happiest of New Years!
SARAH CLISE, SOCIAL MEDIA CONSULTANT