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Have you heard of the US government agency whose social media accounts attract millions of people?
It takes word games to a new level.
Yes, it's the Transportation Security Administration. TSA for short, although the lines at airport security checkpoints don't always seem that short. It's also serious business, as the TSA was created to prevent terrorist attacks and other nefarious actions after September 11, 2001.
At Content Marketing World 2023, Emily Bonilla-Pieton took the audience behind the scenes of the TSA's social media strategy with her presentation, “Travel Tips and Dad Jokes: How to Maximize Your Team's Performance to Get Results While Keeping It Funny.”
Injecting humor into content can surprise and delight an audience that expects boring, factual content. Emily says this strategy has paid off for the TSA, where she has worked for 15 years and currently serves as the deputy director of social media in the TSA's Office of Strategic Communications and Public Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security (apparently the TSA doesn't like short titles either).
Squeeze out the TSA dad joke
Passenger to TSA: “Can I take a suitcase full of fresh oranges?”
TSA: “Orange, are you glad the answer is yes?!”
The TSA is using this so-called dad joke to put new spin on a standard response on the TSA's Instagram AMA (Ask Me Anything), which runs in real time for about 10 hours each day.
But the TSA goes beyond the simple joke and crafts this well-written pun in this Instagram post based on a video shared by a passenger. It has received over 4 million likes in the last two years.
A ramp worker plays the children's game of rock-paper-scissors with a passenger on the plane. The caption artfully captures the essence of the video and includes a stern reminder of what is allowed in carry-on luggage:
You're in luck. With this information, you can't go wrong!
It's all fun and games until you pack your scissors that are over 4 inches long. That's true, if your scissors are too big, they won't cut it. Generally, rocks can easily go in carry-on luggage depending on their size or weight, but your paper always wins here.
We want you to travel, not take the risk! When packing for your next travel adventure, you can definitely do more than 2 of 3 things. To stay on top of things before you leave, check out our What Can I Bring? tool. Click the link in our bio for all the details.
#Rock-Paper-Scissors #Airplane #Games
🎥 Credit: @bricheeseyy
These posts are an example of the TSA's strategy on Instagram, where it has 1.4 million followers. “We entertained, we engaged, and then we shamelessly promoted, all of that,” Emily says.
“Our method for the (rock-paper-scissors) post was actually to grab their attention with a catchy video and a catchy trending sound, and then grab the audience's attention with our opening text. And then of course educate them,” Emily explains, pointing out the CTA to visit the link and bio.
The core of TSA’s social media strategy is identifiability.
“We like to talk to people like we're talking to our best friend, so it's very personal. We're encouraged to share our information and content, and we're really authentic,” says Emily.
But the TSA team can't rely on that strategy alone. While they have a long-term strategy of evergreen content, they also respond to trending topics. “We stay on top of the ever-changing algorithm,” says Emily. “Things can go viral, we're out there saying 'yes!', and the next day it can be a flop.”
Tracking comments—both positive and negative—also keeps the team on their toes. “You have a full hour (after posting) to prove to Instagram that you’re not a bot and that you’re organically driving this account,” says Emily.
Sing different melodies
However, what works for Instagram doesn't necessarily work for Facebook, X, YouTube and LinkedIn. “It would be very easy to copy and paste the same content for each platform, but we don't do that,” says Emily.
They tailor their voice and content to the age demographics and primary locations of their followers on each platform.
On Facebook, the TSA has about 98,000 followers (less than 10% of its Instagram account), and they're mostly older, so the TSA tells stories, covers hiring events, and posts job descriptions to help Grandma get her grandson out of the basement and into a nice federal job.
The TSA also uses Facebook to talk to people, typically 55 and older, about traveling with firearms without causing problems. “Our approach is, 'Oops, you may not have traveled in a while. Let's check your luggage first because you don't want to accidentally leave your firearm at the checkpoint.'”
Because the TSA is a federal agency and there is drama surrounding X, there is not a large budget allocated to managing the account. About two staff members handle over 258,000 followers and focus heavily on the TSA's existing stories and press releases.
“We build relationships with local reporters because we rely on them to tell our story (about X) since it doesn’t cost us any money,” Emily says.
The TSA's presence on LinkedIn has grown significantly in recent years and now has over 148,000 followers, targeting people between the ages of 25 and 34. While they use their page to highlight roles within the TSA, Emily says LinkedIn offers another invaluable benefit – a place to showcase agency initiatives that don't fit on other social platforms, such as news about innovative technologies.
“I can't tell you how many times someone says, 'We want your 1.2 million followers on Instagram to know about our technology. Would you be interested in that on Instagram?'” says Emily.
“We politely say, 'You know, this would work on LinkedIn.' We use LinkedIn as a scapegoat, so to speak, and when we show them our numbers, we end up with satisfied customers.”
The TSA's YouTube channel has about 95,000 subscribers. Over two dozen playlists with dozens of videos tell the story of the TSA, from employees at work and their testimonials to travel tips and items people tried to get through the TSA. The channel also features the TSA Kids series. “Kids talk to other kids about basic travel tips,” says Emily, whose children help voice some of the videos.
They also host town hall meetings and other live events on YouTube. And since the federal agency can't be on TikTok, they post their videos to YouTube Shorts the day after their Instagram success.
Peanut butter is a liquid and other team news
The TSA social media team relies on flexibility. Emily is the only team member based in Washington, DC. The other members of the remote team work from their home states, including California, Minnesota, and Florida.
It was a colleague from Idaho who texted Emily one night at 9 p.m. He wanted to jump into a conversation on X about whether the TSA considers peanut butter a liquid. She said yes, and he joined in with a resounding “Yes, peanut butter is considered a liquid.”
“This was our opportunity to show that anything that can be spilled, poured, pumped or dispensed is considered a liquid. It can't weigh more than 3.4 ounces (100 ml) to be carried, and anything over that has to be checked (baggage),” she says.
They pointed out that people have tried to hide their e-cigarettes and firearms in peanut butter, and the conversation remained a topic for a few weeks. Now they rehash it every year on National Peanut Butter Day and at other times of the year. “It's a gift that always brings joy,” Emily says.
The award-winning social media team has learned a lot more than just peanut butter on the job. Only one team member had any experience with social media when they arrived. Everyone else first worked in the field at the local airport. And they are united in their work, trusting each other when they fear burnout. “After all, social media is designed to get us addicted. It's like gambling, not always healthy,” says Emily.
But the social media team doesn't work in isolation. They act as a social listening agent for the TSA media team, distracting the media with a better story when a negative one comes along.
All that fun with content doesn't mean they don't take the numbers seriously, though. A team member reports on the numbers every week, detailing key performance indicators and the dollar equivalent of organic exposure their posts and interactions would have cost if they had purchased them.
The social media team's strategy is working in more ways than one. “For some strange reason, our leadership, the administrator and the agency really like that and they say, 'They know what they're doing. We'll just let them get on with it.'”
How to squeeze dry government information into sweet and spicy sips of content marketing.
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Cover photo by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute
Create your very own Auto Publish News/Blog Site and Earn Passive Income in Just 4 Easy Steps
