The San Diego Zoo Got 48M Views on One TikTok
I talked to Taylor Moore, Senior Social Media Manager for San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, about Twitch, capybaras, and more.
As someone who has been sucked into zoo-tok many times, I am personally very excited for today’s interview. I chatted with Taylor Moore, Senior Social Media Manager for San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance where her and her team manage the San Diego Zoo and San Diego Zoo Safari Park channels.
In the interview we talk about:
Which animals get the most engagement (“Last year was all about capybaras and elephants”)
The zoo’s Twitch strategy
How this post with 48M views came about
The team’s caption writing process (“Dik-dik posts practically write themselves”)
Why the internet loves capybaras so much (“To see capybaras as these oversized coconut dogs enjoying a swim and being cool with other animals just feels comforting somehow.”)
It’s a fun one!
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Rachel Karten: First can you tell me about your current role and any previous social (or not!) roles you've had?
Taylor Moore: My current role is the Senior Social Media Manager for San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. My team and I manage the San Diego Zoo and San Diego Zoo Safari Park channels which totals to about 12 accounts across all platforms and channels.
Before working for SDZWA, I was the Social Media Coordinator at Georgia Aquarium and worked at a boutique PR agency in Atlanta before that.
Growing up, like so many other kids, I wanted to be a marine biologist. But organic chemistry and I couldn't get along and communication was a much stronger skill for me. My current role marries my love of wildlife and conservation with a knack for posting fun stuff on the internet.
RK: How would you describe the San Diego Zoo's social media strategy?
TM: Our social strategy changes frequently. We have our staple channels like Facebook and Instagram but we also strongly incorporate X and TikTok.
We have a video-first strategy at the moment—and with wildlife, how can you not? We try to use our channels to give our audience a sense of what it feels like to go to the Zoo rather than leading with marketing and discounts and ticket sales. By having popular videos or staying on-trend, we keep ourselves in mind for animal lovers and anyone thinking of visiting San Diego.
RK: I'd imagine it can be somewhat tough to set your zoo apart from other zoos on social media. What are some of the unique social media approaches you take at the San Diego Zoo?
TM: We lead face-first meaning that we try to help our audience feel connected to wildlife and nature—to feel like you're there with us looking right into the eyes of a giraffe or a rhino. People inherently want to feel close to nature and experience that bond between humans and wildlife. It also opens up a great opportunity for education and to build a lasting empathy that makes a visit to the Zoo more than something to do while you're in San Diego.
You won't see a lot of on-grounds promotions or ticket sales on our channels which helps us appeal to a more global audience and to continue to follow us when your trip is over. We try to be value-added in every post.
RK: I'd love to learn a little bit about your Twitch strategy! It's one of those platforms that I think a lot of brands are curious about but don't know where to start.
TM: Twitch was really something our friends at Monterey Bay Aquarium dove (pun intended) into first. With our impressive suite of animal webcams, we thought it was a unique and natural fit for us. We tried to start by just establishing a consistent calendar for when we were live and made the time to be in the chat, talking and building connections.
We then dipped our toes into actual person-to-person live streams where the social media team interviewed animal experts. As all social experts know, it takes a while to build brand new channels and in 2024 we've had other initiatives that have taken our time so Twitch has taken a back seat for now, but we look forward to working on it again.
RK: I feel like half the fun of all of your posts are the captions. What does your brainstorming process for writing captions look like?
TM: The brainstorming process is a fickle thing. Some days, the captions flow naturally based on the visuals and the subject.
Dik-dik posts practically write themselves.
We also have days we call our "single brain cell" days where you may be feeling uncreative or lost and some of our more wild captions come from those. For me, my "no brain cell' content was a poem I wrote for TikTok about an armadillo named Armando.
We also have accounts that we love and feed off of their style or ideas when we may be feeling less in the zone. My team is great at working together and throwing out ideas until something sticks. We aren't afraid to push a post down the calendar if it doesn't feel right yet.
RK: How do trends (specifically on TikTok) play a role in your strategy?
TM: We're always on the lookout for the latest trends and sounds. Not every trend is a fit for our brand—it may have explicit lyrics or just not be right for a family-friendly and nature-based organization. That being said, trends are some of the most fun content for our team to make.
We try to approach trends like you would art: if you had fun making it and you think it looks great, let's give it a shot. The best part about TikTok in my opinion is that you can try several ways of approaching a trend with multiple videos and see what resonates.
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RK: I've noticed you work with Creepy Dave on a handful of your posts! How did that relationship come about?
TM: Erin on my team works with our celebrity and influencer program and had a dream of Ze Frank coming to film with us. She reached out to him on social media and ended up meeting with him and his team and giving him a tour of the Safari Park.
I can't say enough great things about Ze. He's a joy to work with and had the team cracking up all day as he broke into various characters at a moment's notice. We found a few ways we could make a partnership work and it was a really fun and fulfilling opportunity as someone who is a huge fan of his "True Facts" series.
RK: Can you share a post you're particularly proud of and the process behind creating it?
TM: My most proud was actually from when I first started with a Zoo as a contractor. They had started the TikTok account shortly before I came on board and we were still learning where a Zoo fits on this emerging channel.
At the time, there was a trending audio that went something like "Apparently the people on TikTok like this. You walk into a room and boom, puppy." I thought how funny it would be if instead of a small puppy, we showed our giant male hippo Otis.
With help from one of the wildlife care specialists, we filmed the video and it still has the most views of anything we've ever posted at 48M.
RK: What does your influencer marketing strategy look like at the San Diego Zoo?
TM: Influencer marketing is a beast we're still learning how to handle. With our world-renowned brand, amazing location and our proximity to LA, we received at least five influencer requests each week.
We have a decision tree that looks at follower count, engagement rate and topic to determine who we work with and what we can offer them so that we don't overwhelm ourselves and our internal teams.
For bigger and more targeted campaigns, we establish a budget and then reach out to creators that fit our parameters and target audience. In total last year, we hosted over 100 celebrities and influencers.
RK: Are there any animals that always perform well?
TM: It's always funny to me what animals our online audience is interested in and how it fluctuates with trends.
From 2019-2020, red pandas were all the rage. We could post them and get a guaranteed hit post.
2020-2022 it changed a lot with hippos, beavers, red pandas and some birds like parrots or secretary birds were our top performer.
Last year was all about capybaras and elephants.
This year so far seems to be capybaras getting pushed out and aardvarks, okapis, and echidnas are in.
The only constant is cats. The internet will always love cats.
RK: What do you love about your job?
TM: I'll start with the obvious—filming the most incredible wildlife I've ever seen.
The less obvious is the behind-the-scenes component of working with a team of people who have a common love—conservation and our planet. No matter their job, the people here are so invested and care so much about our planet and the plants and animals that we care for. It's so inspiring to be surrounded by this feeling of working for something bigger and more impactful. If one person loves nature just a little bit more, maybe they plant a garden for pollinators or don't buy that souvenir made from animal parts, then that's what it's about.
RK: Finally, why does the internet love capybaras so much?
TM: My personal take is that nature can be very cruel as we humans perceive it. To see capybaras as these oversized coconut dogs enjoying a swim and being cool with other animals just feels comforting somehow. They're not very threatening, they're a prey species so they can be skittish but are otherwise just really cute and cool. It's refreshing in a lot of ways.
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Okay that’s all! Talk again on Tuesday!