Our Work

Invest Victoria wanted to use the 2010 BIO Convention to raise awareness about Victoria, Australia, as a biotechnology hub. Nyhus proposed a comprehensive social media strategy to help achieve that goal.

Challenge

At a show with a large international delegation, Victoria had struggled to stand out in the past. Nyhus was tasked with establishing Victoria as a key player in the international biotechnology community and expanding the breadth of communications about the State of Victoria through strategic use of social media.

Solution

Nyhus identified and employed various social media tools, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and an Invest Victoria blog, to generate excitement and awareness about Victoria’s participation in the BIO Convention prior to the event. As the centerpiece of the initiative, the “Countdown to BIO” blog presented cutting-edge biotech research and business news several times per week as the countdown to the show progressed. Additionally, Nyhus leveraged Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to build an international online community for Victoria from the ground up. Combined, the blog, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn pages ensured that news and updates from Victoria were accessible to an extremely broad and influential audience.

Results

In the weeks leading up to BIO, 18 entries were posted on the Countdown to BIO blog, and the site received more than 1,000 views. Twitter and Facebook pages generated more than 600 biotech-related followers and fans, including key biotech companies, research institutes, executives, universities and media. In addition to the Victorian BIO Facebook fan page, Nyhus also created a Facebook ad campaign, which received 169 click-throughs and more than 1.3 million impressions.

Overall, the campaign resulted in an extremely successful BIO show – Victorian delegates met with eight members of the media – creating relationships that continued to result in coverage long after the conclusion of the show – and Victorian announcements received international media coverage.