Digital visitors are visitors too: How digital engagement impacts your museum's bottom line

Digital Visitors are Visitors too

W. Ryan Dodge@wrdodger #musesocial

#AMAconference2016

About Me

BA - History

MA - Museum Studies

NOT A TECHNOLOGIST

Long suffering Leafs fan

LOVES Museums

We’re going to talk about...

Digital representations are not a replacement for the real thing

Digital technology is your friend

Digital engagement builds awareness and reputation

Discussion

Digital representations ≠ replacement for the real thing

What does the top 10’s digital footprint look like?

Collections Online?

Digital Engagement Presence?

Photography allowed?

Collections Online?

3D rosetta stone

https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/beta/asset/the-rosetta-stone/DgH6pMM1guUUPA

4.3 million Mona Lisas

Arguably the most famous painting ever, in the most visited museum

Louvre link is 3rd behind two Wikipedia pages

“We can’t put it online, no one will come”

Digital Engagement

Photography?

Digital technology is a powerful tool, USE IT!

ROM New World Archaeology: Nettling point (chert); 7500 - 6000 BC

Data, data, everywhere!

The majority of your demographic is most likely female between 26-44

OR

Millennial Moms

Google Analytics - Demographics

Twitter Demographics65% Female

35% Male

85% Canadian

4% US

97% English

4% French

Your online community is Hyperlocal

63% Ontario

18% Toronto

81% LOCAL

Google Analytics - Locations

Google Analytics - Provinces

ROM Facebook Demographics

60% Female

38% Male

20% Female (25-34)

52% live within 3 hour drive

84% English

Instagram

68% Female

32% Male

Mostly 25-34

Overwhelming majority from Toronto

When your community is looking...

The ROM aims to deliver high impact content that is multi-platform, relevant, community & data driven

High Impact content: Content that stirs the emotions of our community and encourages an action, inspires our community, and has a practical impact on their lives Relevant: Content that makes a connection between our research, exhibitions, collections, and news/pop culture

Data-driven: Analyse metrics to deliver content that repeats successes and learns from failures. We don’t need to guess

Multi-Platform: Content that can be published on multiple platforms. A healthy mix of text, images, and video with an eye on limits

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1528077

We need to inspire wonder...

https://www.facebook.com/royalontariomuseum/videos/10154005166933147/

We need to make people laugh...

ROM Content ChecklistAnswer these questions before Content production: Enter Y / N

Does your content meet the Museum’s strategy/goals?

Did you sufficiently cover the topic? Is it the right length?

Does the content create an emotional response?

Is the content relevant to the community you are trying to reach?

Is it practically useful to our community?

Is it interesting and/or surprising to our community?

If you used humour, is it actually funny?

Digital engagement builds awareness, reputation, and drives visitation

#FNLROMEncourage and display user generated content

Connect physical experiences with digital conversations

Don’t be afraid to take a risk

Word of Mouth in 2016

TRAININGMORE TRAINING

TRUST

STRATEGY

GUIDELINESEVIDENCE

Lots of training

THANK YOU!wryandodge@gmail.com

ryand@rom.on.ca

@wrdodger

ReferencesWe Are Social’s “Digital in 2016” http://www.slideshare.net/wearesocialsg/digital-in-2016

We Are Social’s “Digital Yearbook” http://www.slideshare.net/wearesocialsg/2016-digital-yearbook

The Art Newspaper Visitor Figures 2015: http://theartnewspaper.com/reports/visitor-figures-2015/

Kristina Halvorson, CEO, Brain Trust: http://contentstrategy.com/kristinahalvorson.html http://alistapart.com/article/thedisciplineofcontentstrateg

User Generated content in Museums: http://www.convinceandconvert.com/podcasts/episodes/social-media-and-ugc-best-practices-for-museums/

Photo wall at Friday Night Live: http://www.rom.on.ca/en/blog/sharypic-photo-wall-at-friday-night-live

Colleen Dilenschneider - Know Your Own Bone Blog: http://colleendilen.com/

Museum ID - Creating a Social Institution: http://www.museum-id.com/idea-detail.asp?id=519

CrowdRiff: http://crowdriff.com/blog/a-lesson-in-social-anthropology-from-fnlrom/http://crowdriff.com/customer-stories/royal-ontario-museum/