Feature Articles
Social media and the National Arboretum Canberra Shelly Parer, Communications and Marketing Assistant, National Arboretum Canberra
Why use social media? Social media is a powerful way to connect directly with the public, targeted interest groups and geo-located demographics. Social media connects us with a broader interstate and international community not possible within traditional media. By giving instant access to your clients and visitors, social media provides a channel for immediate feedback and the ability to respond in real time. With over 2.3 billion regular users worldwide and over a million people signing up each day, social media has become an essential and central part of our National Arboretum Canberra (NAC) communication and PR strategy.
Our social media strategy The National Arboretum Canberra has active Twitter, Flickr and Facebook accounts. We recently launched an Augmented Reality app that incorporates information on points of interest, soundscapes and holograms. The NAC Facebook page is our primary social media outlet. Twitter is a secondary account and is used as an information channel. We decided not to have an Instagram account due to resource limitations, however we frequently share Visit Canberra Instagram posts on our Facebook page. The NAC’s Facebook promotes and shares information on: • upcoming events, school holiday activities and guided walks • the restaurant, cafe, gift shop and venue hire • family-friendly activities and venues such as our Pod Playground • updates on projects such as new gardens, new forests, pruning or mulching activities and seasonal changes in the forests 44
Pod Playground. Photo: Jack Mohr Photography
the botanic gardener | ISS 48 July 2017