Did you know that the Los Angeles Zoo is one of the only places in the world where humans can get up close and personal with over 270 species of creatures living in diverse ecosystems?
To some, marketing such an impressive environment would seemingly be easy, but we learned differently when Kait Hilliard, the LA Zoo’s Vice President of Marketing & Communications shared the creative approach and strategy behind how her team connects audiences to the environment through meaningful and creative visual storytelling.
Kait talked through the changes they made as the Zoo was forced to close (COVID, of course) during the busiest time of the year. The team collaborated remotely and created new ways of maintaining awareness in the absence of regular event programming and traditional in-person visitor experiences.
Kait and her team knew it was important to develop new strategies for staying top-of-mind as patrons were no longer allowed on the premises. She said, “We changed our goals from driving foot traffic and ticket sales, obviously, to driving reach and engagement on social media.”
They saw a wave and they caught it.
Over a three-month period, the LA Zoo saw tremendous engagement rate growth across their social channels—a 325% increase in impressions on Instagram and a 81% increase in engagements on Twitter.
“All this content we have created…has helped us rebound,” explains Kait.
In this session, Kait breaks down their creative file workflow and the tools that were key to the Zoo’s successful content marketing strategy pivot.
Watch the full session now or read the highlights below.
Streamlining Workflow for Increased Engagement
#BringingTheZooToYou was a national campaign the team launched to connect with audiences at home and grow their following. They supported this campaign by sending out an email newsletter, creating new downloadable content like coloring books, and of course, published cute videos of their favorite animals.
Most importantly, they launched Operation PhotoShelter. They called on their dedicated animal handlers and trainers to upload videos and images of the animals straight to PhotoShelter.
“We sent out a call to our keepers…we needed them to share their images of animals doing interesting and funny things and they really came through for us. And we were able to do this because of PhotoShelter.” – Kait Hilliard
The result of this new, streamlined workflow? Record-breaking social media engagement.
When a new gorilla was born in January, her handlers worked to share intimate moments with the marketing team via PhotoShelter. Those moments were shared on social media and #LAZooGorillaBaby quickly became the Zoo’s best performing content of all time.
Check out baby Angela going for a ride on mom’s shoulders:
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To see how the LA Zoo creative marketing team continues to evolve their content as new creative mediums get discovered, follow them on Instagram and Twitter. Plus, you’ll find plenty of cute animal videos…because we know you need more of those in your social feeds!
As Kait says, “Let’s be honest, our audience looks to us for cute animal videos,” and with a new, streamlined creative workflow, they deliver.