Best Social Media Practices:
A Guide for Archbold Biological Station’s Instagram
I used to be an intern at Archbold Biological Station in 2018. Before I wanted to become a communications specialist, I wanted to be a researcher. Oddly enough, this internship is where I found out that I enjoyed communicating science on social media. I am first going to assess their Instagram profile present day, some posts that I did for them back in 2018, and ways I think they can improve on their Instagram profile. A little background, Archbold Biological Station is located in Venus, Florida. Their Instagram bio pretty much sums up who they are:” Non-profit research-conservation-education org dedicated to protecting the life, land, and waters in the Headwaters of the FL Everglades.” Active research is conducted at ABS and visiting researchers, renowned figures in conservation, and famous wildlife photographers often frequent the station. Though they do all of this great research, not many people follow their Instagram. They have 2,597 followers and probably average ~100 or fewer likes per post. Their current posts lack consistency when it comes to quality. Their captions are also way too many words. An Instagram caption should be no more than ~150 characters. However, this post below is over 1200 characters. Another issue with this post below is that it has a link in the caption. Instagram has not yet made links in captions accessible (meaning the link is just words and will not take you to the website). A way that brands have been able to use links in posts is by advising people to “click the link in the bio for more info.” ABS should start this practice as it would drive more traffic to the link and or website.
The first thing I would advise Archbold to do is to create a content calendar. I want ABS to create content following the guidelines below and schedule it out a month ahead. This way, the process is more streamlined and there is no pressure to create a post and schedule for that same day.
To increase engagement, followers, brand awareness, and overall have a successful Instagram the following is suggested:
- Post at least once a day at Instagram prime times. Midday engagement during weekdays is the best time to post around the 11 a.m.–2 p.m. range (Arens, 2021).
- Post engaging high-quality creative content (Blitch, 2021). Instagram is all about great visuals and content. Videos do really well.
- Create Instagram stories. I think it would be beneficial for ABS followers to get a “behind the scenes look” into the conservation work that is being done. I think an Instagram takeover series following researchers and employees at the station would be a great way to connect with followers.
- Use relevant hashtags (Blitch, 2021). Relevant hashtags can be but are not limited to #archbold biological station #biology #research #conservation #florida #endangered species
- Post-user-generated content. Repost pictures or videos were taken by people who visit the station. Try to find photos where ABS has been tagged (or the location has been tagged).
- Increase overall social media presence. Reply to comments, repost relevant research on Instagram stories, interact with brands with similar interests.
- Keep captions short. 150 characters max
- Start tracking social media stats (Newberry, 2021). Figure out what works and doesn’t work in terms of content, track post performance measure audience engagement, monitor Instagram trends, and stay up to date on the latest updates.
Some posts that I created back when I was an intern are good examples of what their posts should look like again. High-quality photos, short captions, use of hashtags, tagging other organizations in the post, and adding the location to the post. These posts below have around the same amount of likes and engagement that posts in 2021 are getting. With these suggestions, Archbold Biological Station has the potential to reach a larger audience and more importantly educate about the conservation work they do.
References
Arens, E. (2021, May 10). The best times to post on social media in 2021. Sprout Social. https://sproutsocial.com/insights/best-times-to-post-on-social-media/.
Blitch, K..(2021, June). Week 5 Lecture: Best Practices on Platforms. Lecture.
Newberry, C. (2021, June 4). The 8 Best Instagram Analytics Tools (And Metrics to Track). Social Media Marketing & Management Dashboard. https://blog.hootsuite.com/instagram-analytics-tools-business/.