Social media animal magic: marketing with a conscience

Is the popularity of animal content shared online and social media animal marketing impacting the illegal wildlife trade?

For a number of months now I’ve noticed a potentially concerning trend on social media; namely, an increase in the volume of ‘cute’ animal pictures and videos posted by some of the big social media video publishers.

As humans, when we come across something cute or adorable, it stimulates the part of our brains associated with motivation, desire and reward, known as the mesocorticolimbic system. This causes a release of dopamine (also present when we fall in love) and gives us pleasure and satisfaction. In fact, the response can go so far as compelling us to rush up and touch the stimuli – we do this with babies, animals, even cute objects. In the absence of exhibiting that physical response, and facilitated by social networks, our next best option is to like or share what we see. I could go into all sorts of theories relating to social currency and our need to share things we enjoy to increase our validation and influence among peers, but I’ve already used a 17-letter word and my brain hurts!

While this may go towards explaining why we like animal content, why is it we’re seeing more and more of it? The answer is simple – engagement statistics. As a publisher, I would want as many people engaging with my content as possible so that I could command a higher price from brand advertisers for featuring in my channel. Therefore, the content I’m going to publish needs to get the maximum likes, views, comments and shares. So, although on the face of things the cute animal sensation may appear random – like a minor theme in a sea of content – some quick number-crunching may suggest otherwise.

When comparing ten posts similar with those pictured above from three of the largest social media publishers in the UK with a random sample of ten other pieces of video content published in the same time period, we see that the exotic animal content produces almost a third more engagement. On average, these types of post receive 31% more reactions per view and 32% more shares per view. These numbers are incredibly significant, especially in an industry which trades on social engagement.

Social media plays a dangerous role in growing demand for the illegal wildlife trade, sometimes acting as an inadvertent advertising campaign for a tiny, wealthy percentage of the population. However small that group may be, the impact they can have is devastating. With some large publishers reaching more than 30 million unique users per week, it is not unreasonable to suggest that a handful of individuals in that audience pool would have the inclination and the means to acquire exotic animals through unregulated trade.

For example, in the last five years, cheetahs have felt extreme pressure from the exotic pet trade, which is particularly prominent in the Gulf states. Almost all cheetahs are bought illegally, often as cubs, for upwards of $10,000 to pose for glorified Instagram lifestyle posts. Using societal sentiment analysis, researchers studying the plight of the slow loris discovered that online viral videos containing the animals showed a ‘strong desire of commentators to express their want for one as a pet’.

There are a number of other instances of wildlife affected by social media crazes, including pygmy marmosets, chimpanzees, tigers and many more.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is already calling for states to engage with ‘relevant social media platforms, search engines and e-commerce platforms to address illegal international trade’. With such a large reach and a powerful influence, social media has an important role to play in social responsibility. If managed carefully, this power could be harnessed to assist with the conservation of animals, rather than cause detriment to them.

Societal and social media animal marketing

So, how can marketers use social media as a force for good – societal marketing –  in the conservation of animals and what can marketers do to promote animal conservation?

The Center for Animal Rehabilitation and Education (CARE) acknowledges on its website the double-edged sword that is social media marketing:

‘Studies have shown that though viral imagery of ‘cute’ animals has the potential to raise awareness about conservation and animal welfare, they can also promote false ideas and animal cruelty. This type of imagery has also been shown to hurt conservation efforts and fuel public desire for wild animals as pets, potentially perpetuating the illegal pet trade.’

One suggestion is that publishers need to self-regulate better, but we also need to be offering publishers a viable content alternative to plug the hole, otherwise we risk becoming an ostracised group of pests and do-gooders, thereby losing all influence over the situation. Publishers are notoriously content-agnostic, following the trend for whatever is popular. If we’ve established that animal content has a positive effect on engagement figures for social media publishers and we can understand a logical and scientific reasoning for why this might be, all that remains is finding a way to leverage this trend in the appropriate manner.

For instance, why not provide animal video content from animal charities? There is no reason that a behind-the-scenes glimpse into a wildlife conservation or rehabilitation project couldn’t have just as much social sway as a pet otter in a dog cage.

Click image to view video on Facebook.

So what specifically can marketers do to facilitate this?

First of all, they need to embrace video content production, now. As you can see from the examples here, the final output doesn’t have to be polished TV production standard video – shaky smartphone camera footage gets as much engagement, if not more, than high production content. The important elements are context and exclusivity, which animal charities have access to in droves. The empowerment of researchers and carers in the field to create their own content (and even perhaps livestream from time to time, with the proper training) could lead to an inexhaustible content repository for many conservation-focused non-profits.

Click image to view video on Facebook.

Secondly, they need to invest time in building relationships with some of these bigger publishers. Providing them with free content that they have seen work well time and again is a win-win situation; the publisher has an engaged audience, the charity gains exposure, and unregulated animal videos from suspect sources will slowly slip away into irrelevancy.

Click image to view video on Facebook.

Ultimately, marketers in conservation organisations need to be able to tell a more compelling story than a guy with a pet monkey in a jumper somewhere in Texas. This will take time and training, but the benefits are two-fold; organisations end up with a more modern and effective marketing team, as well as potentially diminishing the presence of videos of wild animals kept as pets circulating online.

There is a clear demand for animal content in a social space; it’s up to people with access to better information to fill that demand in an ethical and educational way. In addition, I have to hold out hope that media owners will start prioritising social responsibility over engagement metrics – and ultimately lead the way for a more socially conscious online world.

Have an opinion on this article? Please join in the discussion: the GMA is a community of data driven marketers and YOUR opinion counts.

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