3 Simple Social Media Lessons from the Bronx Zoo Cobra

There’s a reason the phrase “corporate stiff” exists.

On our way to the social media party, we in the corporate world have to make pit stops at the legal department, the best practices office, HR, and get frisked by the brand police.

After that, it’s no wonder we’re a little tense, a little stiff.

And on our Twitter accounts it shows. 

Now, I’m not advocating for social media anarchy, but I am saying we could use a little loosening up. But where to learn from? Forget the snake-oil salesman, let’s go straight to the snake. The Bronx Zoo’s Cobra, to be exact.

The backstory:

On March 26, 2011, the Bronx Zoo informed the public that their reptile house was closed after a venomous adolescent Egyptian cobra was discovered missing from its off-exhibit enclosure on March 25. Zoo officials were confident the missing cobra would be found in the building and not outside, since the Egyptian cobra is known to be uncomfortable in open areas. The missing snake quickly sparked a popular Twitter parody account, @BronxZoosCobra, which narrates the daily hi-jinks of the Egyptian cobra.

This account didn’t hatch from the official brand – it came from an anonymous source – but there’s no reason brands can’t take note and learn how to be a little less stiff, a little less formal, and a whole lot more engaging.

In fact, we can learn a lot about being less stiff and more engaging in social media from the Bronx Zoo’s Cobra.

The lessons?

1. Be less formal and more conversational

People connect with people, not with logos. Create social media content that feels more like a conversation and less like a press release.

2. Tap into existing pop culture references

People identify with themselves as a consumer first, regardless of their occupation. Acknowledging that can only help your social media efforts. Even if the subject matter of your industry is somewhat dry, you can use social media to spice things up a bit and relate to your audience as the movie-watching, iPod-listening, sit-com-laughing people they are.

3. Play along with those who choose to interact

You ever notice how you don’t see people talking to billboards on the side of the road? It’s because there’s no way the billboard could possibly talk back. If people think your Twitter account is the same way, you’ll notice that people don’t talk to it, either.

You don’t have to be a snake to pull this off, either. You just need to be willing to stick your neck out a little bit and give it a chance.

[image: kalpurush]

Related articles

• Cobra That Escaped Bronx Zoo Now On Twitter as @BronxZoosCobra (laughingsquid.com)
• “Bronx Zoo’s Escaped Egyptian Cobra Found” and related posts (dvorak.org)
• Bronx Zoo’s missing cobra ‘speaks out’ on Twitter (seattletimes.nwsource.com)