Being an astronaut or working for NASA is inarguably among the most popular ambitions for youngsters across the country, but NASA’s strong social media presence goes a long way in maintaining that cool in the eyes of the public, from daydreaming kindergarteners to deskbound adults.
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Here are four examples of how NASA takes social media strategy to a whole new level:
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1. NASA’s Win During the Oscars
Congrats to #Gravity for another win at the #Oscars2014 for best director! Here’s a #RealGravity look at sunset pic.twitter.com/Innj6UAlAC— NASA (@NASA) March 3, 2014
Another man’s win can be yours, too! When the space-themed sci-fi thriller “Gravity” became one of 2013’s most talked-about films, you bet the real-life space experts were watching! NASA cleverly tweeted their congratulations to #Gravity (note the well-placed hashtag) upon their wins at the @OscarCeremony – and didn’t forget to add that trending hashtag for #Oscars2014, either! With that series of tweets, NASA put their name out where highly-searched terms were prone to be found by using appropriate hashtags, tags, and stunning photos. A tweet congratulating Gravity on its Best Director Oscar win was retweeted some 13,261 times and favorited by 7,200 accounts. Thirteen thousand NASA fans – or hashtag-searching Gravity fans – voluntarily promoted NASA!
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2. NASA Scores During the World Cup
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As the world watched Germany take on America in the Brazil World Cup, so were the German and U.S. astronauts in the International Space Station, and they didn’t keep their excitement to themselves! An Instagram video of floating astronauts gleefully somersaulting with a soccer ball was “liked” some 80.6k times. The hashtag for #worldcup would have led at least two countries’ worth of soccer fans right to their page.
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3. When NASA engaged with William Shatner
@WilliamShatner Good day, Captain. #ISS is in standard orbit and Commander Swanson has the conn. Hope you’re having a great weekend! — NASA (@NASA) August 2, 2014
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In early August, a tweet from Star Trek’s “Captain Kirk”, actor William Shatner, was wittily responded to by the NASA twitter account, a move which should rightly earn the social media coordinator over at NASA a big pat on the back after all the media attention that the short exchange with Shatner garnered.
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4. When NASA Uses Vine to Make Being a Nerd Cool
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Engaging in social media is a two-way exchange, and often the best and most effective strategies involve interaction between the brand and the target audience. NASA did this right by showing they care about forwarding knowledge. Astronaut Reid Wiseman shot “the first Vine from space” and a short tutorial on how to create your own space-themed or solar cycle video was posted on the NASA website.
Clearly, NASA has the advantage of sharing many firsts from space–a plus to any campaign!
What are some of your favorite NASA social media posts?