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It’s a key part of museum’s strategy of attraction & engagement
Guest post by Alec Stern
Constant Contact
It’s an interesting juxtaposition – combining 19th century art masterpieces with the modern world of social media. One of Constant Contact‘s nonprofit customers, The Currier Museum of Art in Manchester, N.H., has developed a creative social media and email marketing program to engage with members and visitors — and, of course, to encourage museum attendance. To take it a step further, the museum even used social media to help shape an entire exhibition.
The Currier’s recent exhibition, The Secret Life of Art: Mysteries of the Museum Revealed, provided visitors with a behind-the-scenes look at how the staff cared for, displayed, and stored its 31,000 works of art when not in use. Developed as a “living FAQ,” the exhibition was meant to answer the questions museum staff receive from visitors on a regular basis.
Social media was a critical piece of promoting this exhibition and keeping visitors engaged. During the exhibition’s opening, the museum asked members and guests to tweet their thoughts about both the opening and the exhibition itself, using the Twitter hashtag, #curriersla. Encouraging the opening’s attendees to tweet and use the hashtag not only helped build buzz around the exhibition when it debuted in October 2010, it also helped generate greater awareness of the Currier’s own Twitter handle, @curriermuseum. In addition, YouTube videos, a dedicated blog, and related articles in the Currier’s monthly email newsletter were also developed to round out the physical exhibition.
Tying social media efforts to online marketing
In short, the results were astounding. Over the four months the exhibition was open to the public, the Currier grew its Twitter following by 49%, while expanding the number of ‘Likes’ on its Facebook Page by 24%. Plus, the museum added more than 760 names to its email list, a healthy 8.5% growth rate.
The new social media connections and newsletter subscribers have made it even easier for the Currier to publicize its many classes, monthly special events, and exhibitions, including Jon Brooks: “A Collaboration with Nature,” which debuted on March 19.
In addition to promoting special exhibitions, museum staff regularly share newsletter content and other articles of interest on Facebook and Twitter to keep the social media pump primed and fans engaged. They also monitor Facebook and Twitter so they can regularly engage with fans and followers, responding where necessary or offering a kind “thank you” to those participating in the online conversation.
If you are looking for some inspiration, check out the video interview above with Neva Cole, graphic designer and communications assistant at the museum, in which she shares insight about the Currier’s online strategies. I hope that you are as inspired as I was by this example of a truly integrated online marketing campaign!
The exhibit is free and open to the public. For more information on hours location and other details please call 845 338-2786..While its better known for its buildings and collections representing colonial and Revolutionary history Senate House State Historic Site located in uptown Kingston also has impressive collections of objects documents and art of the 19th Century including over 200 Currier Ives prints given to the site by the late Rutgers Ives Hurry a Saugerties resident whose passion was collecting images of the Hudson Valley made by the firm..The Senate House exhibition focuses on three themes the ideal of the 19th-century home images of New York City and Hudson River steamboats both the luxury and potential dangers they represented . The exhibition runs through October 31 and is available by appointment and for school groups after that date. Senate House is located at 296 Fair Street Kingston NY 12401. For more information 845 338-2786..Senate House State Historic Site is located at 296 Fair Street Kingston NY 12401 and is part of a system of parks recreation areas and historic sites operated by the New York State Office of Parks Recreation and Historic Preservation and the site is one of 28 facilities administered by the Palisades Interstate Park Commission in New York and New Jersey. For further information about this and other upcoming events please call the site at 845 338-2786 or visit the State Parks website at . .PHOTO AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST. .Calendar Listing .Exhibition Currier Ives Cheap and Popular Pictures on view at Senate House State Historic Site free and open to the public Wednesday through Saturday 10 am to 5pm Sunday 1-5 pm.