Kodiak Brown Bear Center
The Kodiak Brown Bear Center (KBBC) offers a once-in-a-lifetime experience: get up close with the legendary bears and rich culture of Kodiak Island. No boardwalks. No tourists.
KBBC is owned by the native Alutiiq people, who settled on the island nearly 7,500 years ago. When guests from around the world explore Kodiak, they practice adventure tourism while honoring this Alutiiq tenet: “We belong to the land. The land does not belong to us.”
Deliverables
As the only professional on this account, I played multiple roles, including strategist, copywriter, graphic designer and project manager. I produced original Facebook and Instagram content, delivered in bi-weekly social media sprints. I also created client-facing reports with data and analysis, using those findings to catalyze my approach.
Challenge and Solution
KBBC wanted to engage past international customers and attract new, American customers through organic social media. This goal presented challenges: 1) I had to increase organic reach with little dollars for ads and 2) I needed to attract people with the means and desire for an expensive yet rugged getaway.
To achieve results, I humanized the brand voice and strengthened the visual narratives on Facebook and Instagram — social media platforms with the most opportunity for KBBC. My original content blended written and visual storytelling to create brand awareness, uplift a culture-rich backstory and generate a pipeline of new business.
Strategy
I created a social media strategy to reach two audiences: 1) financially established folks who were part of the adventure tourism market in America and 2) young adults looking for eye-catching content on their newsfeeds.
My copy and visuals fit into one or more of these content buckets:
Bookings
Promoted the KBBC website, the primary sales plug
Focused on advanced reservations, exclusive packages, adventure add-ons and discounts
Transportive
Inspired the travel bug within current and potential customers
Values
Alutiiq principles
Holiday business messages
Quotes from staff and customers
Education
Increased knowledge
Piqued interest
Personal stories
Behind-the-scenes look at animals
Staff profiles
Results
Between March 2021 and August 2021, Instagram followers increased organically by 66.1%, growing from 239 people to 397 people. KBBC reached approximately 30,000 Instagram newsfeeds over six months, engaging about 3,000 of those users to interact with content through likes, comments, saves and other actions.
Between March 2021 and August 2021, Facebook followers increased organically by nearly 3%, growing from 16,162 people to 16,656 people. KBBC reached nearly 500,000 Facebook news feeds, prompting roughly 47,000 of them to interact with content through clicks, likes, comments, shares and other actions.