Florida Aquarium Dives into Social Media Waters

Bernie Borges Interviews Tom Wagner of The Florida Aquarium on Social Media Marketing [ 19:03 ]
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Podcast Interview with Tom Wagner

Public Relations Manager at The Florida Aquarium

When Tom Wagner joined The Florida Aquarium in 2006 there was no social media in place, just a website. They used traditional media channels for marketing including print advertising, billboards, local radio and television. In 2008, Tom attended a one day workshop on social media where he got inspired to get started.  Tom decided to get started with a focus on three social media channels: Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. They concentrate all their social media communication efforts in these three channels.

Expanded Target Audience

The Florida Aquarium is located in downtown Tampa, FL. They are a destination for families by offering a diverse offering of education, conservation and good old fashion fun all centered around marine life and marine eco-systems. The traditional target audience has been families. They wanted to expand into younger demographics and attract them to the aquarium. Tom speculated that perhaps by using social media they could expand their reach to a younger demographic audience.

Convincing senior management to experiment with social media wasn’t too difficult. The biggest question Tom had to answer was how much of a commitment it would take and at what cost. The only cost was Tom’s time. But, of course it was on top of his current workload.

The first thing Tom did was to start up their Twitter account. At first he sent out fun and interesting information about the marine environment. His goal using Twitter was to help people become better stewards of the environment. People responded well. Their Twitter follower count started to grow rapidly. Tom also created a Facebook business page.

Social Media Experiments

Tom convinced his boss to sponsor a Tweetup at the Florida Aquarium. Normally, free attendance events were limited to media. The Tweetup allowed anyone in the local Twitter community to attend and experience the Aquarium for free. Tom’s goal was to create buzz about the Florida Aquarium and have people talk about it on Twitter.  Over 200 people came out to the Tweetup. The top 10 attenders had a combined following of over 125,000 people. Attendance at the Florida Aquarium over the next 10 days increased by double digits over their forecast.

Early Mistakes

While the Tweetup was successful, they learned a valuable lesson. Since they didn’t create coupon codes, they couldn’t track ticket sales results directly from the Tweetup.  But, the quick increase in attendance after the Tweetup was still good evidence that it helped create buzz resulting in higher ticket sales.

It’s valuable to learn from your mistakes when experimenting with social media. Going forward all social media related activities use a coupon code. For example, they now create coupon codes for Twitter and for Facebook to track which channel drive more ticket sales. Recently, they used Facebook and Twitter exclusively to promote a show of the infamous Wiki Wachee mermaids. This event was a unique, one time event. They created unique codes for Facebook and Twitter. They didn’t use any traditional media. The local traditional media picked up on the event. They attended and took pictures which drove photo and television coverage. Many people talked about it on Twitter and Facebook.

What’s Next?

More of the same. Tom is continuing to tweak their social media plan but will continue to create buzz around Tampa Bay about upcoming events. The buzz around Tom’s office is their plan to hire another staff person to help him create more buzz on social media. Apparently, their social media plan is going swimmingly enough to increase headcount. Looks like the Florida Aquarium is keeping its head above water quite well as their social media plan continues to evolve and drive ticket sales.

Tom’s Advice to Local Businesses

Tom advises local businesses to start a social media plan by providing useful information to your target audience. Deliver on the three E’s (as I call it). Ask what information do we have that people would want from us so that when they need what we offer, they’ll think of us….That’s good advice.

If you’re in or near Tampa, you will enjoy visiting the Florida Aquarium. For the rest of you, check them out online. You’ll want to listen to my podcast interview with Tom Wagner to hear of other experiments and successes.

If you are a marketer in need of a social media strategy, check out my book, Marketing 2.0 or contact us to explore our social media strategy services.