BUILDING A BRAND

François, Chloé, Nick & Lubna

CONTENTS

Summary of the Zoo  1

Opportunities  3
Brand Image  3
Objectives and Strategies 4
Social Media Strategies  5
Platforms for Strategy  6
Tactic #1  8
Tactic #2  10
Tactic #3  12
Evaluation for 2019  16
 TORONTO ZOO | SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN
Summary of the Zoo
The Toronto Zoo is home to over 5000
animals who receive more than a million
visitors every year. Its doors are open year-
round, and it regularly hosts events and
exhibits to attract guests. The goals of the
zoo, asides from maintaining operating
costs, are to educate the public about wildlife
and conservation, and to participate in
conservation efforts with other zoos.
Revenue
Close to a third of revenue comes from
visitor admissions, and another quarter from
comes from selling memberships. Members
of the zoo enjoy free unlimited visits,
discounts for stores and programs, and
a magazine subscription
among other benefits.
Other revenue sources
include parking fees, retail
and food services.
1
Audience
The zoo serves the people of Ontario, who
made up 80% of visitors in 2017. Families
with children are the primary source of
attendees. Nearly 80% of respondents to a
2016 on-site survey had at least one child
under 12 years-old in their group. Half of
the adults attending were aged between 30
and 49, the most common age for parents
of young children. These families are largely
middle class. The average size of one group
in 2016 was 5.2. A fifth of people visiting the
zoo in 2017 came for special events.
Sources: 2016 & 2015 visitor survey and
Nielsen G6 visitor survey
 TORONTO ZOO | SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN
Social Media Assessment
Facebook and Instagram are the zoo’s
most influential platforms, with 180,000
and 56,400 followers respectively. Posts
are made regularly and are mainly pictures
and videos of the animals. Education is
a major concentration. Posts are usually
accompanied by lengthy write ups of facts
about the animals and their habitats, or the
zoo’s operation. Some posts also feature
educational videos hosted by zookeepers.
The quality of these videos is amateur.
Short videos of the animals prove to
be the most popular type of content on
social media, usually garnering anywhere
from 40,000 to 200,000 views. The most
successful get over a million views on
Facebook.
2
The YouTube channel has 32,000
subscribers, but engagement with their
sporadically posted videos are low, and new
subscriber numbers are declining. There is a
deficit of quality content which can engage
a regular audience.
The Zoo does well responding to questions
and concerns on their Facebook page.
They’re eager to educate, and also appease
unhappy customers. But these interactions
are mostly lost amid flurries of comments
simply fawning over animals. The Zoo is
also heavily active on Twitter, although user
numbers are low on that platform.
 TORONTO ZOO | SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN

Opportunities
The Zoo has a plethora of good content
to draw on for social media. While it
puts effort into regular posting and user
interaction, opportunities to use the
platforms to their full potential are missed.
For example, in the average of 300 likes
per Facebook post despite a following of
180,000 people, or the lack of Facebook
event pages though events and special
exhibitions draw a significant number of
visitors every year. With the right social
media strategy, the zoo could get its rich
content in front of the eyes of thousands of
animal loving Ontario denizens, and help it
to meet its objectives up through 2019 and
2020.
Brand Image
The Toronto Zoo’s reputation for its
treatment of animals and work on
conservation is paramount to its
relations with the public and its partners.
Collaboration with other zoos accredited
with the Association of Zoos and
Aquariums is vital to ongoing work to
protect threatened species. Day to day
operations are made possible through
partnerships with businesses such as Pizza
Pizza, CTV, Coca Cola and the Toronto Star.
Maintaining a respectable brand image is
important for their continued association.
The Zoo’s primary directive is to respect and
take care of its animals. These are not
circus animals; all media campaigns must
be conducted in a manner that respects

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 TORONTO ZOO | SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN

Objectives and Strategies

Boost attendance of events Conservation of Wild Species
Events are hosted by the zoo all year round. The Toronto Zoo strives to become a
They include things like the Carnivore centre for conservation excellence. Its
Enrichment Feedings, Paint Nite at the Zoo, fundamental mission is to protect and
and marathons for the polar bear cause study wild species, especially threatened or
and day camps. They provide opportunities endangered ones. The zoo contributes to
to draw audiences to specific causes or conservation campaigns around the world,
exhibits, and a chance to offer something protecting species such as the tiger, the
exclusive for members. Events are a good black-footed ferret and the Vancouver
way to draw attention to the zoo. Island marmots. It raises funds to be used
in initiatives and participates in breeding
Increase membership programs. Fostering good relations between
the public and wild animals is an important
A quarter of the zoo’s revenue comes from
aspect of the zoo’s purpose.
yearly memberships which can be
purchased for individuals or entire
families. Memberships incentivize repeat
visits, participation in zoo programs such
as the zoo camp, and allow for collaboration
with partner zoos and aquariums. Members
get discounts at participating institutions
across North America. A strong and active
membership base is vital to the zoo’s
operations.

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 TORONTO ZOO | SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN

Social Media Strategies

Raise awareness of the zoo’s
events
Social media can be used to reach specific
audiences and tell them about upcoming
events. This will allow audiences to spread
the word to their friends and family, plan
ahead and attend the events. It allows the
zoo to gather information on who wants to
attend, and easily respond to any problems
or concerns potential visitors have about
the event. It allows for the constant promo-
tion of events over a long period of time.
Promote membership benefits
The Zoo’s daily animal pictures and videos
already draw thousands of eyes, including
an audience that might not already own
a zoo membership. Visual media should
be used to inform them about the many
benefits of becoming members. The
content could be tailored to target specific
groups in the Greater Toronto Area, who
may be drawn to specific perks such as
discounts at gift shops or becoming a
zookeeper for a day.
Educate the public
Public education, especially the education
of children, is important to fulfilling
the zoo’s conservation goals. Gaining
support for conservation efforts will
help with fundraising. Instilling a passion
for zoology in children will guarantee a
future generation of conservationists and
animal lovers, who will help campaign
for conservation efforts, a healthier
environment and who will make up future
curators of the Toronto Zoo.
With generation Z and beyond using digital
platforms from a young age, social media
is the perfect way to engage and educate
young people.

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 TORONTO ZOO | SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN

Platforms for Strategy

Facebook They also need to plan their outings around
Facebook currently stands as the zoo’s a busy schedule.
crown jewel of social media. Its 180,000 Reports from Sprout Social, derived from a
strong follower base dwarfs its other plat- Pew Research study, show that Facebook
forms. The website is ideally set up for is widely used by people in this age and
the type of content that plays to the zoo’s income demographic. Further, the statistics
strengths: cute pictures and awing videos of show that Facebook is slightly more popular
animals, wide user interaction with the zoo among women. The Zoo’s own survey has
itself as well as other zoo enthusiasts, the shown 63% of all visitors are women, and
ability for users to plan out long term events that as part of family groups, women tend
or outings, and opportunities to educate a to be primary influencers when deciding to
curious public in the comments section. go to the zoo.
The Zoo’s target audience are the parents
of children under twelve years-old. The
heads of these young families are in their
thirties and forties, they are well into their
careers and they live in the GTA. They don’t
have time for a social life anymore and
use Facebook to keep in touch with old
friends and family. They post pictures of
themselves with their spouses and children.
FACEBOOK STATISTICS

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 TORONTO ZOO | SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN
YouTube
The days of YouTube-glory are long gone
for the zoo. In 2015, their polar bear videos
drew millions of views. Today, they’re lucky
to get 3000, with paltry engagement by
users and a sad, empty comments section.
There exists opportunity to save this
channel and leverage its 32,000 subscribers
to meet the zoo’s goals. YouTube is set up
to encourage regular video uploads and a
loyal audience. The current output of low-
quality, meaningless animal clips does not
satisfy the needs of the platform. The Zoo,
by nature, has great video content at its
disposal: 710 acres split between seven
zoogeographical regions and over five
thousand videogenic creatures. With higher
production quality and a better planned
content output, the zoo could easily use its
YouTube channel to its full potential.
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Behind Facebook, YouTube is the most used
social platform in the world. The audience
on YouTube is broad, with older generations
becoming increasingly sucked in in recent
years. By making family-appropriate content
that is both entertaining and educational,
the zoo could target young parents and
also their children, who have proven to be
a vital factor in visits to the zoo. Fostering
an interest in wildlife and nature at a young
age would both encourage visitation and
membership, and also fulfill the zoo’s
mission to educate the public.
Video content on YouTube can also be
cross-published on to Facebook, allowing
it to reach an even wider audience while
primarily concentrating on growing the
YouTube following.
YOUTUBE STATISTICS
 TORONTO ZOO | SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN
Tactic #1
Using Facebook Events to promote zoo events
Current Situation
The Toronto Zoo currently does not use the
‘events’ feature enough on Facebook. On
their website, they have a calendar showing
events that are coming up in the next two
months. Currently, the Toronto Zoo only
has two of their upcoming events posted to
Facebook. Those two event pages are not
effective as there is no event description on
either of the pages.
One of the current event pages has nearly
600 people listed as ‘interested’ and nearly
90 as ‘going’. Each person who attends is
likely to bring at least one to three other
guests, as most visitors are families. So
far, this event page proves it’s effective at
increasing exposure and gaining interest.
This event page does include most
necessary information, as there is a link to
buy tickets as well as the time, date and
location. However, the event should have
a description so that users do not have to
click on another link to learn more about the
event. This particular page also had a typo
in the title.
8
Suggestions
The Toronto Zoo should make a public
event page for every event two months in
advance. All event pages should have a
time, date, a photo banner and a description
of the event. Any additional information that
guests should know in advance (a schedule,
extra fees, registration information) should
also be shown on the Facebook event.
While the Toronto Zoo already has some
events that they advertise, they should
consider adding birthday celebrations for
popular animals. They could create an event
and advertise free cupcakes, a photobooth,
a decorated exhibit area and a time when
everyone sings happy birthday. This would
be a cheap, easy way to increase the fre-
quency of events.
 TORONTO ZOO | SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN

Justification
Posting events is a good way to get people
who have ‘liked’ the Toronto Zoo Facebook
page to come to the zoo more often. It
may not occur to people to check the zoo
website for upcoming events. Facebook is
a good way to increase exposure to people Sample
who follow the Toronto Zoo page, but do
not actively check the website for upcoming
events.
When a person indicates they are
‘interested’ in or ‘going’ to a public event,
that event shows up on their friends’
timelines. By having event pages for all of
the Toronto Zoo events, the zoo will gain
free exposure that reaches people who
aren’t following the Toronto Zoo Facebook
page. That free exposure is a key reason it
is important for the Toronto Zoo to create
Facebook events.
A facebook friend’s interest in an event is
an effective use of social proof. People
are more likely to go to an event if they see
other people that they know going. A parent
may decide to take their young family to the
Toronto Zoo because their friend’s young
family also plans to go.
Ultimately, creating event pages for Toronto
Zoo events will increase the number of
people coming to events.

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 TORONTO ZOO | SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN

Tactic #2
New and Existing Membership Promotion
Current situation There should be a series of posts highlight-
Toronto Zoo offers ten different types of ing different perks, which are accompanied
membership packages that come with a by a compelling Call to Action (CTA). The
long list of perks such as unlimited free tone of these posts will be heart-warming
admission, discounts on zoo gift shop and will paint a picture of a wholesome
items and restaurants, invitations to special family experience that children will enjoy.
events and exhibit previews.
Their last post about membership was a
Justification
Member Appreciation Month promotion that The primary audience for memberships
invited members to bring a guest along for is parents of six to 12-year-olds. These
free and enjoy the perks that came with the parents are in the age group of 35-49.
membership package. The aim of this tactic is to give parents
an opportunity to enroll their kids in an
Toronto Zoo does a poor job at letting
enriching experience that is enjoyable for
people know about membership on their
the whole family. By informing where the
Facebook page. Their existing social media
membership fee is allocated, the zoo will
efforts fail to highlight the perks of becom-
touch on parents’ philanthropic side. The
ing or being a member.
tactic communicates the great number of
benefits, and thus value, parents get out of
Suggestion this one time payment.
The Toronto Zoo should use special dates,
holidays, animal birthdays and the addition
of new animals to promote the sale and
renewal of memberships. They should do
a special promotion where they provide
discounts on membership fees or offer
additional perks to the existing ones.
The Zoo has a good collection of content
at their disposal, such as endearing animal
photos and clips, and videos of zookeepers
interacting with animals. These materials
should be used for the special promotions.

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 TORONTO ZOO | SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN

Samples
Penelope’s first Christmas
(members only event)
Image text: Give Penelope the gift of love,
life, and a bigger family this Christmas.
Make Penelope a member of your family
this holiday season and celebrate her first
Christmas with her.
Caption: When we say family, we mean
it. Our Christmas Special Membership
package includes adoption of the cutest
pygmy hippopotamus you’ve ever seen.
To make things official, you get a ‘parent’
certificate. We also invite ‘parents’ for
exclusive interaction events with Penelope,
and send them a timely update on how your
baby pygmy hippo is doing.
Sitcom-style happy family video
for New Year’s
Description: A movie made up of short clips
of all the popular animals with a text overlay
that introduces them by their name. A nice
sappy yet upbeat song about family plays in
the background. Movie ends with an invita-
tion to become a part of the family and win
a special behind the scenes tour with all the
animals in the video. Sign ups are done by
buying a membership.
12 days of Christmas video
Description: Video of animals enjoying
treats bought for them using membership
money.

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 TORONTO ZOO | SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN

Tactic #3
Webseries
Current Situation
The Toronto Zoo’s Facebook page currently
includes videos in some of its posts, but
they tend to be a minute long at best. The
video usually showcases an animal per-
forming an activity ranging from playing
with toys to eating its lunch, or even just a
few seconds of the animal walking on loop.
While these are consistently the most pop-
ular posts on the Toronto Zoo’s Facebook,
they still reflect an underutilization of videos
as a marketing medium. Suggestions
The Toronto Zoo should create longer-
format videos with an informative focus.
The general structure would be reminiscent
of nature shows such as Kratt’s Creatures,
Planet Earth and Crocodile Hunter. Unlike
those shows however, there would still be
an impetus to promote the Toronto Zoo and
build its brand.
Videos would frequently be focused on
especially photogenic and cute zoo animals,
and build the animals and hosts themselves
as characters – the kind they can meet
in-person at the zoo. There would be only
one to two hosts, and the tone of the videos
would cater to parents and their young
children.

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 TORONTO ZOO | SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN

Justification Sample
The main attraction of a zoo is getting to Below is a sample script for one of these
see animals from far-off places go about longer videos. Bearing in mind the age of
their daily lives. Because the main draw is the target demographic and fundamentally
seeing living, breathing, and sometimes shaky attention span of the average
sleeping animals, videos are more enticing internet-goer, the duration is intended to be
than pictures alone. between four and five minutes. The video
itself focuses on the darling of the Toronto
While Facebook does provide video hosting
Zoo’s social media, Penelope the pygmy
options, they tend to be shorter in format.
hippopotamus, and a zookeeper playing the
YouTube is a better platform for in depth
role of host named Lou.
videos that attract regular viewings. Linking
the Toronto Zoo YouTube channel to While the information about pygmy hippos
Facebook is very easy, and that the Toronto provided is diverse and in many cases
Zoo already maintains a YouTube account specific, it is presented in simple language
makes this even easier. Internet users will to be understood and remembered better by
follow their impulse to share videos of cute the young intended audience.
animals, and the zoo will gain free exposure
as a result.
These videos would also be in line with the
Toronto Zoo’s organizational objectives. In
addition to outright promotion of the unique
experiences the zoo can offer, the videos
would also educate the public about various
species and raise awareness of threats to
their conservation. Showing fantastic or
adorable animals in video is far more likely
to drive home the notion that their existence
is worth protecting, as well as educating
viewers in a more engaging way than a
block of text.

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TORONTO ZOO | SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN

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TORONTO ZOO | SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN

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TORONTO ZOO | SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN

Evaluation for 2019

Revenue and Attendance
10% increase in revenue from membership
20% increase in attendance
10% increase in revenue from fundraisers
15% increase in attendance at Zoo programs

Facebook Engagement
5000 new page likes per month

User engagement on event posts

Average number of likes per post: 30,000

Average number of comments and shares per post: 10,000
Number of people “Interested” in an event: 10,000
Number of people “Going” for an event: 7000

User Engagement on videos

Average number of likes in the first week of upload: 30,000
Comments and shares in the first week of upload: 10,000

YouTube Engagement
An average of 250 new subscribers every month
Average number of views received in first week of uploading: 7500
Average number of shares per video in the first week: 5000

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