Hurricane Irma was no laughing matter, but for one police department in Florida, the big storm, and some savvy social media posts, created giggles, goodwill and Internet fame — not to mention a whole lot of swooning.
It all started with a serious-minded post on September 10, when the Gainesville Police Department posted a picture to Facebook of three of its finest (Officers Nordman, Hamill and Rengering) prepping for the coming storm. It didn’t take long for commenters to the page to start noting that the officers were, well, pretty darn hunky. Some of the comments:
“Heeeelloooo”
“I feel faint … send help!”
“Do a calender, add puppies and I’m pretty sure we can rebuild Texas and Florida.”
The comments continued on that post and subsequent updates — something the department took in stride and even had fun with. “We are dying with the comments,” read one update from the police officers. “You’ve actually made our chief blush with some of them.”
The back-and-forth—which provided some timely levity in a period of high stress— attracted attention not only on social media but also in the mainstream press, with stories in The Washington Post among many others. It also demonstrated how powerful personality and humor can be on social media, when deployed correctly.
That’s a lesson Jessica Mey of Crystal Media says floral industry business can learn from as they refine their own social media presence and work to create posts and updates that are memorable and engaging — qualities that need to exist if you want to turn your fans into customers.
Her tips on using humor in social media posts:
Think it Through. “Be sure to think about whether it’s the right time for humor,” Mey said. “The initial post about the officers was not a humorous post, but when funny comments were adding to the comments, they saw an opportunity!”
Be Consistent. “Sprinkle humor into many of your posts so it doesn’t seem out of place to do it here and there,” she said.
Keep it Clean. “As a business, keep humor non-confrontational,” Mey said. “No religion, politics or insensitive jokes.”
Look for tips and advice on how to improve your digital brand from Mey and the Crystal Media team every month in Floral Management magazine.
