Your website is the basis of your online presence, and the showcase for your museum on the web. To increase the efficiency of that showcase and keep close to your various audiences, social media are invaluable tools that are easily available. Used in addition to your website, they will allow you to have a complete and dynamic online presence. You do not know where to begin? Don’t worry, the tips below should help you get started!
Find inspiration in others
Start by looking for ideas by looking at what others are doing! Draw up a list of museums that you can expand by including, for example, concert halls or cultural institutions, and see how they communicate on the social media. On which social networks are they present? What types of content do they publish and how often? What is the size of their community? Do they reply direct to users who contact them via the social networks? This will give you a panorama of their practices and help you identify the most successful.
Set realistic goals and choose the right platforms
Think about your goals and prioritize your expectations by being realistic. Using social media takes time and it is better to start modestly on one or two platforms rather than dispersing your efforts on all of the networks without having the time to publish content regularly and properly follow up.
You can build your approach by asking simple questions: which audience (s) do you want to target first? What content (s) do you plan to share (videos, news, blog posts, offers, etc.)? What budget do you want to allocate to the work involved?
Your answers will allow you to select the platforms best suited to your aims since each platform has its own specific features. While LinkedIn may not be the most advisable if you wish to address the general public, it can be useful for contacting certain sponsors. Twitter will be relevant if you plan to share news, while Instagram will allow you to focus on visual information, if you want to highlight photographs of your collections for example.
Develop a publication schedule and publish at the right time
Posting frequently is the key to success on social networks! A Facebook page that is out of date will give the impression of being abandoned and could even be detrimental to the image of your museum. Develop a publication schedule that fits your goals by identifying the content you will share in advance. You will save time and be sure you can regularly publish content.
Also choose the right days and slots to publish in order to engage your community as much as possible. Depending on the platforms chosen, find out their audience peaks in order to schedule your publications in advance.
Test and measure the effectiveness of your operations
Rather than planning your publications for the next 6 months and dedicating your entire budget to one or two operations, we advise you to test and adapt your strategy according to your results. For example, test certain types of content and see which gets the best results. Sponsor a few posts and watch the traffic they bring to your museum’s website. Social networks make it easy to track results and effectively manage even a small budget.
Watch what is said about you
Internet users regularly express their opinions on the social networks, sometimes directly on your page, but not always. A simple search will allow you to find the publications where your institution is cited. It is a good barometer for monitoring the satisfaction of your community. For example, an Internet user may express his or her satisfaction after visiting your exhibition and recommend it to a friend. Another may have been disappointed or found the queueing time too long, and say so. Our advice is to never neglect user comments, whether they are positive or negative.
Take the time to respond to comments, questions and opinions: you will create greater proximity and trust, and show your community how much it means to you!
