Open Forum

Hello everyone!

I've just started working at a small local museum and so far it has been a great experience and big step in my museum career. One of my many duties at the museum has become managing the museum's social media, particularly facebook and twitter. I have had relative success on both, increasing the percent of views and likes of posts on facebook and, according to hootsuite analytics, nearly doubling the amount of followers on twitter. That being said, I know I can continue to improve.

I was hoping to know what other museums are doing on social media, particularly smaller museums. I do follow several museums on twitter, try to post often, and follow/friended members of our community to spread our posts. Is there more I should be focusing, specific things I should be posting about, any tips from more seasoned museum staff would be extremely beneficial!

Thank you for your time.

Hello everyone!

I've just started working at a small local museum and so far it has been a great experience and big step in my museum career. One of my many duties at the museum has become managing the museum's social media, particularly facebook and twitter. I have had relative success on both, increasing the percent of views and likes of posts on facebook and, according to hootsuite analytics, nearly doubling the amount of followers on twitter. That being said, I know I can continue to improve.

I was hoping to know what other museums are doing on social media, particularly smaller museums. I do follow several museums on twitter, try to post often, and follow/friended members of our community to spread our posts. Is there more I should be focusing, specific things I should be posting about, any tips from more seasoned museum staff would be extremely beneficial!

Thank you for your time.

Hi Brandon,

Social media (SM) can be really engaging and a great way to get the word out for small museums, so kudos for taking this on, and hope you are enjoying it too, as honestly, that will make sure you do it as often as you can. There's nothing worse than a museum starting on a platform and then giving up a few weeks into it as it takes momentum and time to build and engage.

There are a few other things you can do, in regards to looking at how other museums of different sizes use SM, such as:

Try to be on the major platforms--FB and Twitter are great, but Instagram is pretty big now too. Try and split duties with other staff if they are interested in it. Different voices help spread the word.

Have conversations and engage with your audience--it may sound like crickets at first, but the more often you do it, the more likely your followers will see you are open to discussions and sharing. Participating in large events such as #askacurator or #askanarchivist helps raise your profile too, in the field if not just in your region.

Post pix on all platforms--and give tidbits about your collex and history, and not just your programs. You are providing a service of knowledge and not just PR for your institution, so people will get tired if all you are doing is PR. Of course all SM is PR, but as an educational institution, people expect information they might be interested in.

Be polite. If people share your information on Twitter, particularly, thank them for it. Everyone appreciates good manners, especially when you're starting out.

Share what you are doing with the staff that is not doing the SM. The more they know that it is effective, perhaps THEY will do their bit and share your posts to their followers.

Good luck!

p.s. you can find the Everhart on FB, Twitter, Instagram too.

Hello everyone!

I've just started working at a small local museum and so far it has been a great experience and big step in my museum career. One of my many duties at the museum has become managing the museum's social media, particularly facebook and twitter. I have had relative success on both, increasing the percent of views and likes of posts on facebook and, according to hootsuite analytics, nearly doubling the amount of followers on twitter. That being said, I know I can continue to improve.

I was hoping to know what other museums are doing on social media, particularly smaller museums. I do follow several museums on twitter, try to post often, and follow/friended members of our community to spread our posts. Is there more I should be focusing, specific things I should be posting about, any tips from more seasoned museum staff would be extremely beneficial!

Thank you for your time.

Hi Brandon,

Congrats.

There is a Facebook group called International Social Media Managers. All sorts of great questions are are asked, and topics discussed, in that group. Here is the link, but because it is a closed group, if you need an invite, let me know....

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1393573360885904/

Also, I would say that as wonderful as social media is, it can quickly become a beast that needs to be fed constantly. Therefore, you don't have to jump on every platform right away. Someone shared that wisdom with me at an AAM conference many years ago. Better to do a few platforms well, than many poorly. Identifying what your social media goals are up front can help.

All the best!

--
Tamsen Young
Museum Digital Media and Strategic Initiatives Manager
The Museum at FIT
New York City
212.217.4547
www.fitnyc.edu/museum

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Hello everyone!

I've just started working at a small local museum and so far it has been a great experience and big step in my museum career. One of my many duties at the museum has become managing the museum's social media, particularly facebook and twitter. I have had relative success on both, increasing the percent of views and likes of posts on facebook and, according to hootsuite analytics, nearly doubling the amount of followers on twitter. That being said, I know I can continue to improve.

I was hoping to know what other museums are doing on social media, particularly smaller museums. I do follow several museums on twitter, try to post often, and follow/friended members of our community to spread our posts. Is there more I should be focusing, specific things I should be posting about, any tips from more seasoned museum staff would be extremely beneficial!

Thank you for your time.

Hi Brandon,

Please join our FB group for Museum Social Media Managers. You can find the group at "International Museum Social Media Managers" and request to join. It is a private group where museum social media managers can share ideas, upcoming projects & campaigns, and the general hilarity that goes along with our jobs. Hopefully a catalyst for more interaction between our fabulous orgs on the web and on social.

Thanks,

HQ

Heidi

Thank you for the comment! I will join the group as soon as I can, I look forward to seeing all the ideas others have come up with!

I just saw that Tamsen beat me to it. :) Sorry to post the group twice.

HQ