Neptune Terminals is a bulk shipping terminal situated on Vancouver’s North Shore. As a critical link in the supply chain, they facilitate the transportation of Canadian resources to global markets. Committed to environmental preservation, Neptune prioritizes minimizing the impact of its operations on the ecosystem.
Moreover, Neptune has a longstanding dedication to bolstering the North Shore community’s strength and vitality, by supporting the well-being of its residents and workers. They collaborate with numerous community partners, supporting initiatives ranging from youth team sports to programs for seniors, environmental projects, and more.
Project Goals
Neptune’s primary aim for this project was to grow their social media presence and showcase the positive community work they engage in. Their objective for this project was to concentrate on community building through their social media platforms. The team at Neptune was introduced to Out-Smarts through the Hog Hole Media team who also played a crucial role in this project by building high-quality and engaging video content for Neptune’s social media platforms.
Social Media Audit
In the spring of 2023, we began this project by conducting an audit of Neptune’s social media performance across all platforms. We focused on engagement, audience demographics, and top-performing posts. At that time, Neptune was utilizing Facebook, X (Twitter), and LinkedIn.
We then proceeded with an overview of their content to identify successful strategies and areas for growth. We discovered that community-related content constituted the majority of their posts. High-quality, dynamic videos garnered the highest engagement and posts that humanized Neptune Terminals by showcasing team members performed well. Content highlighting Neptune Terminal’s contributions to the community through partnerships and projects was also particularly effective.
Posts discussing Neptune Terminals’ sustainability efforts, including educational and environmental infographics, were identified as high-performing, yet underutilized assets.
Understanding Neptune’s target audience was key to creating a social media strategy. We conducted research around their target demographics to understand which platforms would have the highest engagement. We developed audience personas based on our research to identify their top community members. Our research found that the majority of their audience comprises males (56%), primarily located in the Lower Mainland, specifically in North Vancouver. They are predominantly employed in the transportation sector or industrial trades. Women make up 44% of their audience, with the majority being older in demographics. We pinpointed that Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram should be Neptune’s major platforms of focus.
Social Media Strategy
From the information we gathered in the audit, we outlined the following social media goals:
- 1. Expand community reach and increase followers.
- 2. Continue building engagement on social media platforms.
- 3. Grow the subscriber base.
- 4. Generate website traffic.
- 5. Facilitate social media management for Neptune Terminals.
To increase awareness around Neptune’s business operations, while maintaining their goal of promoting their community engagement, we developed a curated content mix. This focused on a strategic breakdown of content – 20% of content will be about what Neptune Terminals does, 30% about information and education (environment, health and safety), 30% about community news and 20% about shares and interaction from the community.
We then created specific priority recommendations for each platform:
Facebook:
- Utilize different high-quality video formats and reels to engage the audience.
- Improve audience tracking to better understand and cater to their interests.
X (Twitter):
- Remove X as a major platform of focus.
- Maintain and utilize primarily for news and information capabilities.
LinkedIn:
- Produce content highlighting Neptune Terminal’s environmental stewardship efforts.
- Encourage team members to be active on the page, sharing insights and updates.
- Consider creating ads on LinkedIn to reach a wider professional audience.
- Launch Instagram as a major platform of focus (replacing X) to more effectively reach their target audience.
Finally, we recommended that Neptune Terminals add analytics to track web traffic from all social media platforms, allowing them to test different ad formats and targeting strategies. Additionally, we suggested using different platforms to engage with specific audience segments within the community and to increase overall engagement.
Launch:
After receiving approval, we accessed Neptune Terminals’ social media platforms and initiated the launch of their Instagram account. Our strategy involved consistent posting on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. To enhance community engagement, we actively interact with the North Shore community by promoting local events and sharing news from community partners. Additionally, we prioritize audience engagement by promptly responding to direct messages and engaging with Neptune’s home feed through likes, comments, and shares of relevant content. We also regularly view reels and stories to demonstrate to Instagram that the account is actively engaging with content.
Results:
Since launching the project in July, Neptune Terminals’ social media accounts have experienced significant growth. Overall, audience growth has increased by 13.8%. Net audience growth, which measures the rate of followers gained compared to those lost, has increased by an impressive 40%. The visibility of the brand has also improved, with an increase in impression count by 22%. Additionally, overall engagement has risen by 12%. Finally, the number of video views has skyrocketed, increasing by a remarkable 88K%.
Highlights:
- 40% increase in net audience growth
- 22% increase in brand visibility through impressions
- 88k% increase in video views
- 12% increase in engagement
A word from the client:
The skilled and enthusiastic team at Out-Smarts ensured this project was both seamless and efficient. They dedicated time to comprehensively grasp our business and our social media objectives – which is no easy feat when you are not embedded inside an organization – bringing them to life with their expertise. They’re always accessible and a welcome extension of our communications team. We are thrilled with the outcome of our social media growth and are confident with our ongoing collaboration with the Out-Smarts team.
Lisa Dooling | Director of People & Community
Why we enjoyed this:
Working with the fantastic team at Neptune was an absolute pleasure. We admire their outstanding contributions to the local community, and partnering with them for this project was incredibly rewarding. Moreover, collaborating with an industry we hadn’t previously engaged with added an extra layer of excitement to the experience. We look forward to continuing to support the Neptune team.
Is your business having trouble conveying its message through social media channels? The team at Out-Smarts is here to help. Book a free consultation with us today to start growing your online presence.
info@out-smarts.com
604 909 3532
