Blog Consulting, LLC - as an amateur photographer, the Desert Botanical Garden has been a magnet for me. However, as you will see, this Phoenix, Arizona landmark has quite an active social media strategy as well.
From an Internet perspective, it is likely that your relationship with the Desert Botanical Gardens will begin at their website, which is rich with desert gardening helps, educational opportunities, a thriving research department, and much more.
This from their "about us" page:
"Nestled amid the red buttes of Papago Park, the Desert Botanical Garden hosts one of the world’s finest collections of desert plants. One of only
44 botanical gardens accredited by the American Association of Museums, this one-of-a-kind museum showcases 50 acres of beautiful outdoor exhibits. Home to 139 rare, threatened and endangered plant species from around the world, the Garden offers interesting and inspiring experiences to more than 300,000 visitors each year."
As with most organizations of this type, my ongoing relationship with the Desert Botanical Garden (DBG) began as a member of their e-mail list. Each e-mail was full of inviting information welcoming me back to another visit to the botanical collection, and along the way, deepening my relationship, and passion for the organization.
Further still, the DBG has invested in various other social media channels to create exposure, and deeper relationships with their patrons.
Here are samples of their social media outposts:
- Facebook Page - it appears as they are using this as a blog of sorts. Currently they have 891 fans.
- Flickr site - there isn't a whole lot of activity here. I think they have huge opportunity here to build community with the valley's photographers. A walk through the gardens will quickly reveal that this is a favorite spot for photographers. Simply create a way for photographers to show off their works, and they will come!
- MySpace - they have one, but in my opinion, a waste of time. They must agree, there isn't much happening there.
- Twitter - they are building a community on Twitter with garden events, contests, and more.
- YouTube - they are also building an entertaining, and informative collection of short videos that bring a wonderful human element to the gardens. A recent favorite of mine is Can You Fry an Egg on Pavement? I recently had my own "Myth Busters" video on my personal Facebook page concerning the same subject.
All in all, I would say that the Desert Botanical Gardens has a very nice beginning to their social media strategy. If I had any encouragements, it would be these:
- Keep the name of your organization consistent across all social media platforms, if possible. Although all social platforms offer search, it is much easier for your patrons to communicate one easily remembered address.
- Consider building a blog as the "mother-ship" of your social media strategy. Currently your relationships are subject to the whims of the social media world. If, for example, Facebook were to ever attempt to charge an annual fee to its 250 million members, there would be a mass exodus, and your labors would have been in vain. With your own social media channel (blog) this can't happen. You should consider Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc., as outposts, and not primary properties.
- Be careful with simple social media icons in your social media invitations. I suspect a great many of your patrons are not savvy enough to understand that the little blue "f" is an invitation to your Facebook page. The simple addition of a little text, with the icon, will remove this confusion. I would recommend that your website, for example, have a drop down list, at the top, inviting people to your social media outposts, rather than relying on the small icons, at the bottom of your website.
It has been fun watching the Desert Botanical Garden experiment with social media. I have been a huge fan of theirs, have been subscribed to all their various channels, and love to visit whenever I can.
Marketing Take-away: I recommend that you spend a few minutes and poke around all their various channels. Be on the lookout for ideas about how you can use social media to better communicate with your patrons to deepen the relationship, earn their referrals, and share the story of your organization.
Just to help you understand my passion for the Desert Botanical Garden, here is a slide-show with a sample of a few of my personal photographs from the garden:
