And along with this physical change, the zoo has found a secret sauce for creating vibrant social media growth and presence as well.
According to Andrea Hennings, social media manager for the zoo, this change has come from involving the staff at the zoo in its social media efforts; especially the zookeepers.
“We didn’t want to post anything on social media then out of fear, staff-wide,” she said of when zoo first started seriously focusing on social media around eight years ago. “Now we are comfortable staff-wide and we are having fun sending out information that people will understand.” And the community is paying attention.
“Our team of one is actually the entire zoo with the keepers up front,” Hennings said.
Because the keepers are the ones who know about the animals, the births, and have a focus on a conservation mission, they now attend monthly meetings with the marketing team. Together they plan social media promotions, calendars and schedules.
The zookeepers also post pictures on their own of the animals, and of behind-the-scenes photos.
“We share their photo credits so people can see they are coming from keepers; it puts a different spin on our content. Keepers are the celebrities of the zoo,” said Hennings.
The zoo’s very engaging presence social media presence is found on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, a mobile app, and the zoo’s website. According to Hennings, each app has a slightly different focus but all are well received.
March 7, 2020 was the second busiest day of the year so far at the Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium. Annual visitation reaches more than 2 million each year, making the zoo Nebraska’s top tourist attraction. Zookeepers Christine and Amanda head to feed the sea lions amidst the 15,000 visitors they expected at the zoo on the first Saturday of March.Zookeeper Christine feeds a male sea lion. According to the zoo’s marketing department, “Keepers are the celebrities of the zoo!”Amanda also feeds a sea lion Saturday afternoon. The keepers are in touch with the animals, and know what is happening in their lives. “Keepers have that wow factor!” says the marketing department. Social media experiences are found all over at the zoo. Here, Miranda takes a selfie after watching the giraffes galloping. The millennial crowd visits the zoo’s Instagram site most often where the zoo features fun and creative photos with a conservation message.Raesha and Riley are avid hobbiest photographers who sometimes share their photos on the zoo’s Facebook site. According to the marketing department, the zoo’s “buying audience” —people who financially support the zoo ages 35-50 — mostly are engaging with the zoo on Facebook.Jayden, 19 months, shares a moment with a baby gorilla in the gorilla house. At the zoo, every exhibit is a viral sensation ready to happen. Fans of the sloth bear caught every one of his dramatic moves Saturday afternoon. “We have a very active base on social media, and it’s very overwhelming because everybody is paying attention to the zoo,” said Andrea Hennings, director of social media at the zoo. Maddy and Delaney Snapchat friends who they discovered were also at the zoo from social media. While the zoo is not currently active on Snapchat, staff members are monitoring and exploring its value. The zoo’s social media scheduling calendar now comes directly from input from the zookeepers. Andrea Hennings, social media manager for the Omaha Henry Doorly zoo, demonstrates the importance of the size and direction of videos for apps used on smartphones.
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