Social Media Strategies that Arts and Culture Organizations are Using to Grow Digital Audiences
Without a doubt, we know that the digital transformation has changed how we see art, buy art, and share art — especially on social media. As we transition into web 3.0, content creators and artists are gaining greater flexibility in both the content they can produce and the ownership of that content. This means there is an enormous opportunity for arts and culture organizations to capitalize on the “content” they already have in their collections — or create content inspired by the art in their collections through social media.
Social media platforms already offer endless opportunities and tools like subscriptions that only help organizations add an extra layer of brand awareness and drive engagement that can eventually help nonprofits reach their membership and donation goals.
[Read: How Arts and Culture Orgs Can Use Instagram Subscriptions]
Additionally, many digital audiences are already hyper-connected to their devices, specifically social media, making great content a smart lead generation tool for arts and culture organizations. It’s here that they can ultimately can lead and curate high-value digital media to increase the accessibility of art, in turn attracting a wider audience and providing value for those unable to attend in-person events.
[Read: In Arts & Culture, Digital Channels Can Make Money — If You Know How to Use Them]
Here are some examples of successful social media strategies employed by museums, symphonies, and arts and culture curators:
Oregon Symphony
The Oregon Symphony has an active social account that does everything right— they have great production value and diverse style of content. They have aesthetic Instagram posts that tell the backstory of the musical piece they play for anyone interested in symphony. Additionally, they even connect their own team members to the social media platforms to drive engagement with typical symphony-goers — extending the conversation.
On top of that, they create theater-quality promotional videos to encourage anyone to attend. When asking them why invest so much into social media, just take a look at what their about page says: “Inspiring collaborations. Bridging art forms. Connecting lives. Sparking conversation.” The actions of the Oregon Symphony are perfectly aligned with their mission and values. The content they produce is a tool this brand has successfully used to push their mission forward to provide the best value for their audiences, evidenced by their 15.1k followers.
The Gaze by Matthijs
The Gaze by Matthijs has one of the most engaging informative social media pages that shares content about art, film, and visual culture. The quality and consistency of his videos give it a premium feel while remaining casual enough to feel included in the discussion. This platform includes satirical voice overs and unique video editing style to extend the conversation to his very active fans. The Gaze is also on TikTok and YouTube and provides a variety of reviews that help analyze and explain certain works of art that others may not understand. By digitizing his work, The Gaze is able to communicate across multiple social mediums to help the greater audience understand the greater depth of many popular works of art.
White Cube
White Cube has one of the most seamless and intriguing social media platforms. Most certainly, White Cube does an excellent job with in-depth post descriptions with the diverse range of artists that are previously or currently exhibited. On top of that, they even have great production quality IGTV videos that they have taken snippets from their Channel section of their website, which improves mobile accessibility. The immersive videos with the descriptive posts provide the online viewers the best personalized experience and connecting people through iconic contemporary art without the limitations of distance. This social strategy has been critical for the success of White Cube’s digital presence and has allowed them to increase brand loyalty and turn their users into greater advocates — long term client relationships.
The Met
The Met has been able to share 5000+ years of art from around the world on the TikTok platform. The Met Museum has integrated a vast variety of content that is best suited for TikTok’s trendier platform. As a result, they have over 224K+ likes with some videos getting over 500K+ views. Their videos include: online tour featuring a medieval filter and theme, promotional and recaps of their previous Metfest event, and a sneak peak of their fashion #metinamerica gala. The Met has always strived to “connect people to creativity, knowledge, and ideas,” but their more casual, trendy social media approach on TikTok has allowed the brand to adapt in these modern times while staying mission-oriented.
Museum of Neon Art (MONA)
The Museum of Neon Art (MONA) has one of the most inspiring, curiosity-evoking TikTok pages. With over 1.2 M+ likes and 64.5K+ followers, MONA’s TikTok provides great behind the scenes of their neon art making. Their videos range from quick recaps of their neon art classes, artists teaching how to make the neon lights, to crafting neon signs for different businesses — they cover it all. This style of content is unlike the others but is extremely unique to MONA as their main mission is to “spark curiosity and keep history aglow”. Their leadership in this industry has inspired others to learn more about neon lights. By using social media, MONA has been able to continue to teach and educate neon lights to a wider audience.
