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at 21st In this century, social media is an essential tool that can be used to promote your brand or business and create and nurture your community. This is especially true in the art world, which is often accused of being too elitist and unaffordable. what if social media specifically hashtags and social media videos, were the key to making art institutions more widely accessible? And how can entrepreneurs and start-ups leverage these tactics? do you want?
1. Create your own thematic hashtags and invite your audience to post
Some institutions are ahead of the game when it comes to social media tactics and generating engagement online. You’ve probably seen the #mygirlwithapearl hashtag floating around.The campaign is dedicated to Vermeer’s most famous work of art at the Mauritshuis in The Hague. girl with a pearl earring, left for an eight-week exhibition in Amsterdam. The concept is very simple. The museum is soliciting new versions of paintings to be exhibited as stand-ins for famous paintings from the public. This creative opportunity has amassed his over 4900 entries which are skyrocketing in terms of reach.
The museum took advantage of the less-than-ideal situation (the most famous painting is absent for two months) and used it to generate interest and publicity. If they can do it, so can you.
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2. Make videos of them and keep them short, sweet and fun
Another museum that generates a lot of engagement on social media is London’s Victoria and Albert Museum. Despite being one of the UK’s most respected museums, the museum hasn’t taken it seriously on social media, especially on his TikTok. The V&A’s social media team took a bold, hilarious and irreverent approach to its collection by sharing short, informal videos that perfectly packaged the Gen Z sense of humor.
One video, infamously titled “The Burns of the V&A,” takes viewers into the museum and showcases the best butts of the facility’s many statues. This particular video has nearly 40,000 likes. His TikTok account at the museum has a staggering 81,000 followers and over 2.3 million total likes.
3. Maximize your content opportunities: Show us behind the scenes!
Similarly, Madrid’s Prado has over 400,000 followers on TikTok. The museum mostly posts behind-the-scenes videos and short educational clips. It has over 3.8 million likes. Museum staff, including curators and conservators, appear in videos to answer questions or simply showcase their skills. The fact that the museum has managed to create such a huge community and generate so much engagement is incredible, especially since its videos are mostly in Spanish. It proves the power of social media when it comes to connecting people. This is the same for any business.
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4. Create memes and even post pets (yes, it works on business accounts too!)
Not many museums harness the power of social media. But the numbers are staggering. Take the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), for example. The museum has launched the #DogsOfLACMA campaign. It features a photo of a visitor and their dog in the museum’s outdoor area. This encouraged visitors to add hashtags and post their own photos, resulting in great engagement with the museum.
LACMA currently has 873,000 followers on Instagram with #DogsOfLACMA hashtag Used over 1,400 times. LACMA’s social media accounts are also famous for using memes featuring artwork from the museum’s collection. One Instagram post reads, “I’m risking my entire career and my future just for five more minutes of sleep.” Cupid sleeping with Venus (1810) has over 12,000 likes. Their “meme” posts are much liked more than regular photos featuring pieces from their collection.
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5. Let’s make a reel!
A final example is MOMA in New York City. The world’s most followed museum on social media, he has over 5 million followers on Instagram alone. This number is pretty staggering. But MOMA’s engagement rate is actually pretty low. Likes are stagnant for him below 1000, which isn’t much for an account with over 5 million followers. Posts that generate the most engagement tend to be reels. This shows that the more personal the post, the higher the engagement. This is true for any industry or business. Posting sterile, color-coded photos may look great on your feed, but it doesn’t drive engagement and build community. It is important to let your originality, sense of humor shine.
Perhaps it’s controversial for public arts institutions such as the V&A and LACMA to post art memes, but these tactics work. Memes are friendly, funny, and more likely to be reshared than other posts. The best way for museums to generate engagement on social media platforms is to adopt an informal tone that is educational yet relevant. Like these historic institutions, new companies in the cultural sector need to experiment with more creative, less traditional socials to remain authentic and connected with their audiences.
