Social Media in action with the Houston Zoo

http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/16638697@N00/272814244/ http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/cybertoad/3224699416 Houston Zoo Social Media Case Study: When Online Marketing goes WILD!! Ed Schipul // Schipul - The Web Marketing Company // eschipul@schipul.com

What we’ll talk about: •Storytelling •Real World meets Virtual World •Online Community (isn’t for the birds) Find this presentation: www.slideshare.net/eschipul http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/sulla55/3305169516

1.6 million visitors / year 4,500 animals Established in 1922 http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/gsloan/1279044167 www.houstonzoo.org // www.houstonzooblog.org // www.ﬂickr.com/houstonzoo // www.twitter.com/houstonzoo

Markets are Conversations www.cluetrain.com // 95 Theses from 1999 www.ﬂickr.com/photos/herselfsphotos/945412753

http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/cybertoad/3211981392 Social Media to tell a Story

4 Elements of Storytelling 1. Message 4. Plot So my point is... 2. Conﬂict 3. Characters

Mac the baby elephant (2006 - 2008) •Mac naming contest (7500 entries) •Mac’s birthday card contests •Elephant adoption packets (thousands sold and increased awareness) Celebrating the life of Mac, the baby elephant www.houstonzooblog.com

Embeddable pics and videos http://www.youtube.com/user/houstonzoo Research Fund Drive 1000’s of personal Stories Helping a Community heal after a tragic loss www.houstonzoo.com/mac http://www.houstonzoo.org/herpesvirusresearch/

Conservation Blog Calls to Action Frog videos to share Combining Online Storytelling with Real World calls to action 2008: Year of the Frog

Houston Zoo Frog Blog www.houstonzooblog.com/frog_blog

Real World meets Virtual World

Strong fan following Visual announcements Fan photos Houston Zoo on Facebook (www.facebook.com) www.facebook.com/pages/Houston-Zoo-Inc/15008187525#

37 ‘Yes’ 36 ‘Maybe’ Planning an Online Fan Photo Day at the Zoo http://www.houstonzoo.org/photographyday/

Children’s Museum of Houston (www.cmhouston.org) Facebook Ads - A big bang in a small package • Integrated newsletter sign up campaign • Hundreds of email adds / Overs one million impressions • Under $400 in paid ads

The power of visualization on Flickr (www.flickr.com) Harnessing the User Generated Content madness http://www.flickr.com/houstonzoo/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/sulla55/3402883279/ http://www.flickr.com/groups/houstonzoo/ http://www.flickr.com/groups/houstonzoophotooftheweek/

http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/imelda/1317211500 Online Community Building

Houston Zoo on Twitter: www.twitter.com/houstonzoo Twitter includes others in ongoing dialogue

Continuing the Mission and the Online momentum Houston Zoo pals growing their own networks www.twitter.com/krussohzg www.twitter.com/RhinosIRF www.youtube.com/user/ http://intlrhinofoundation.wordpress.com/ IntlRhinoFoundation www.ﬂickr.com/photos/rhinosirf/

Let’s review: •Pick your characters and tell your Story •Combine online and ofﬂine events and promotions •Pay attention to your online relationships Find this presentation: www.slideshare.net/eschipul http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/billtex48/2178056762

Can we help you? Let us know! Ed Schipul // CEO Email: eschipul@schipul.com Personal blog: www.eschipul.com Flickr: www.ﬂickr.com/eschipul Twitter: www.twitter.com/eschipul

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Social Media in action with the Houston Zoo

by Ed Schipul on May 05, 2009

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Social Media in action with the Houston Zoo — Presentation Transcript