Museum Marketing to Digitally Connected Audiences

Museum Marketing to Digitally Connected Audiences by Jessica Lewis is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

• Facebook tops Google for weekly traffic in the US
• YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world
• 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations, while only 14% trust advertisements

Experimentation is crucial in this new media environment. The three museums in my study are excellent examples of institutions that constantly search for new ways to connect with their audiences. In contrast to MoMA, the Brooklyn Museum has been more experimental in using social media to create highly participatory visitor experiences, like its BklynMuse mobile initiative. You can read more about this project on a previous post, Tag You’re It!

The museum’s mission must be the cornerstone of its social media strategy. MoMA, the BM and the MF’s digital media leaders always consider the mission of their organization before embarking on a new social media project. This is especially important for museums, as they play a much broader role in the communities they serve.

Social media provide the opportunity to listen to audiences and gain instantaneous feedback from which future efforts are guided. For example, a year after launching 1stfans the BM surveyed its members to learn about their experience with the program. The museum discovered that 1stfans felt that communication could be improved, as members expressed that they would like regular updates when a new artist joins the “Twitter Art Feed”. As a result, the museum has changed its communication efforts. I joined 1stfans a few months ago, and have been receiving monthly updates notifying me about meetups and new artists on the feed.

Social media tools are building awareness and offering a platform to create participatory experiences. One example that illustrates this point is the MF’s iConfess project, which invites visitors to enter its “confessional” booth and record a video in response to the following question, “What does the Mattress Factory mean to you?” Visitors can publish their video to the MF’s YouTube channel, which allows them to share their experience with friends and other online users. This is a great example of how a museum can engage its visitors and create an opportunity for them to voice their opinions. You can click on this link to view my iConfess video that I recorded while visiting the museum.

Social media provide means to build connections with audiences. MoMA does a great job at managing its Facebook and Twitter accounts providing participants with rich content and engaging in one-on-one conversations with fans and followers.

Now that I have completed my thesis defense, I just need to finish my paper and I will be done grad school!

The Tate posted this call to action on their Facebook page a few weeks ago. They invited fans to visit the Tate Modern and share their Tate experiences by recording a video in the “confession box”. The museum plans to select the best confessionals to include in an anniversary film, which will be screened at the Tate Modern during their celebration weekend. This initiative reminds me of the Mattress Factory’s iConfess series, where visitors can enter the “confessional” booth and record a YouTube video in response to the following question, “What does the Mattress Factory mean to you?” Both initiatives are interesting ways that museums can involve visitors and give them a voice.

Today, MoMA announced the following contest on their Facebook page. Participants are required to submit a photo and write how Cartier-Bresson influenced their submission. There are some pretty incredible photos already posted to JPGMag. I think creating a photo challenge is a great way to build excitement around an exhibition and inspire people to visit your museum.

Do you have a favorite museum that you follow on Facebook? What do you like about their posts?

A few months ago the IMA announced that they were looking for a guest blogger and invited the public to submit applications. Contestants were required to write a brief description about themselves and why they wanted to be the IMA’s next blogger, as well as share a story of their museum experience. The museum choose five finalists and shared their submissions on the IMA blog.

On March 3, 2010, the museum invited their blog readers to vote for the top blogger. I read through all of the blog submissions and voted for Katie Neville and she won! She received a total of 6,652 online votes. In her submission, she shared her visit to the Art Institute of Chicago a few years ago and detailed her experience with the Torres’ installation, “Untitled” (Portrait of Ross in L.A.). Her description of this event was beautifully articulated.

I feel that So You Think You Can Blog? is an excellent example of how museums can inspire online participation and gain fresh ideas from an outsiders’ perspective. Do you think museums should feature guest bloggers or should their blog voice strictly come from inside the institution?

Earlier this week, the museum launched “Gallery Tag!”, an interactive tagging scavenger hunt. This mobile game was designed to complement the more complex BklynMuse guide. Players can select a tag, such as “nude” or “fruit”, or create their own via their mobile. Once they have chosen a tag, the application prompts them to search for corresponding artworks in the galleries. Users can enter the object number of the work and earn points and prizes. Also, participants can gain more points if they explore galleries on different floors of the museum.

Tag you’re it!

I signed up for 1stfans and attended my first meetup this month. I was able to talk to staff members Shelley Bernstein, Head of Technology, and Will Cary, Membership Manager. Sarah Giovannielo, Research Assistant at the BM, gave us a tour of the Kiki Smith exhibition. There were about twenty 1stfans at the meetup, but Cary informed me that most meetups attract around thirty people. He explained that the 1stfans membership program mirrors a typical museum membership, as some people attend events each month while others participate a few times per year. As well, some people join to gain access to meetups, while others are more interested in interacting with the Twitter Art Feed. One of the more popular events so far was the July 2009 meetup. During this event staff escorted 1stfans to the museum’s rooftop, where they were able to watch the sunset over the city. This event brought together over eighty 1stfans.

After the meetup, I explored the museum’s collection and checked out the dance party. The dance floor was packed, as visitors moved to the beat of a live DJ. Target First Saturdays attracts a large audience as visitors can participate in art programs and enjoy live entertainment for free. However, I enjoyed my 1stfans experience, as it offered me a more personal way to engage with the museum.

Are you a 1stfan?

Kickstarter offers a platform for artists to get their projects funded by their fans. The success of these endeavors relies on “groundswell” support, as a project must reach its funding goal or no monetary exchange takes place. Kickstarter allows artists to set their own project objectives, as they feel that participating artists know their audiences better than anyone else.

Etsy is an online retailer that offers handmade items such as art, jewelry and accessories. Etsy has built a strong community through online forums, which provides a space for people to talk about their company and products. The organization encourages their supporters to form “street teams” to continue spreading their message. As well, Etsy created a community council that acts as a focus group and allows the company to learn from their online followers.

Threadless sells t-shirts online that have been designed by artists and voted on by their community. The organization has 1.5 million active online community members. Threadless holds meetups, as they feel that it is crucial to interact with their supporters offline to strengthen these relationships. Their community has even initiated their own meetups to support the organization.

20×200 sells limited edition prints at affordable prices online. The organization aims to inspire their audience to collect art. Virtually, their community spreads their message, as 90 percent of online visitors have recommended 20×200 to other people.

I encourage you to check out these arts organizations, as they all have unique offerings and strong online communities that you can join.

Dance Party at the Brooklyn Museum

Don’t just show up. When attending a party you should avoid being the lonely guest sitting in the corner of the room. This holds true within the online world and Shildkret advises social media users to become active participants within their chosen social networking platforms.
Bring gifts. My mother always taught me to never show up at a party empty-handed. Shildkret suggests that you share videos, photos, links and other valuable resources with your “followers” and “fans”. These gestures show that you care and appreciate your party hosts efforts.
It’s a party! Talk to everyone. Shildkret emphasized how important it is to engage in conversation with other social media users to gain more knowledge and expand your network.
Make friends. She acknowledged that making friends takes time both online and offline, and that it is crucial to ask people questions to show that you are interested in what they have to say. Also, in order to build strong relationships you should focus on creating a dialogue.
Make plans. Shildkret cautions that it takes time to build trust with other online users, so it is important to have a long-term social media strategy.

Following these guidelines, I anticipate that my next social media encounter will be a rockin party!