Organisation Name: THEMUSEUM
Industry: Arts
Name of contact if available:
David Marskell- CEO
Web References: twitter.com/themuseum, www.themuseum.ca, facebook.com/themuseum, linkedin.com/themuseum
Company Overview:
THEMUSEUM (formerly named the Waterloo Regional Children’s Museum) opened to the public in 2003 following eight years of planning and fundraising. It was renamed THEMUSEUM in 2010. Now focused strategically on four pillars; Family Experience, Community Stage, Exhibitions, and Museum After Dark, THEMUSEM houses a Grand Atrium (complete with a living bio-wall), permanent family exhibits and approximately 11,500 square feet of space. They work hard to deliver awe-inspiring programming and larger-than-life exhibitions to visitors of all ages.
“Whenever art and science come together, it’s a beautiful thing. THEMUSEUM brings science to life with entertaining, artistic exhibits and provides a wonderful venue for artists to express their unique view of the world.”
– Bob McDonald, National Science Commentator for CBC Television and CBC News and host of CBC’s Quirks and Quarks
THEMUSEUM focuses on highly interactive exhibitions where people can actual touch an feel what they came to see. They are dedicated to presenting fresh, relevant cultural content from around the globe in unique and interactive ways that intersect art, science, culture and technology. Exhibitions in the past have ranged fromhaving more of an art focus, like Andy Warhol`s Factory in 2009, or this year`s GETTING Naked exhibition, tothe more scientific type with Discovering Chimpanzees: The Remarkable World of Jane Goodall exhibition orOur Body: The Universe Within. They try and keep it as diverse and interesting as they can to attract the general public. They are a premier cultural destination and a hub for creative thinking and inspired play.
Measuring Social Media Metrics:
THEMUSEUM uses a variety of different platforms to spread awareness of their upcoming events and exhibits. They are frequently posting and updating on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. They have seen a 30% increase in attendance over the past year which they believe had a lot to do with their strong social media presence.
In any business knowing how to use social media to increase your bottom line and create more awareness of your brand and what you are putting out there is very important. As the world changes, people have become more reliant on technology, especially to inform them of whats happening around them. Not-for-profits like THEMUSEUM can benefit a great deal from this.
THEMUSEUM uses 3 different avenues to measure their social media impact:
1. Hootsuite: This is a social media management system that allows companies to manage their social media presence on sites like Facebook and Twitter. THEMUSEUM uses this dashboard in house to monitor the success of all their social media posts. The system also allows them to see how much activity and conversation is being had around specific posts. This tool gives them the best overview of their social media success and summary of all activity.
2. Facebook’s Metrics: Fairly new to the site, Facebook is now providing companies a wide range of metrics based on their pages hits and likes. THEMUSEUM has a very strong Facebook presence and they use this tool frequently to ensure their posts are reaching the max number of people possible. The metrics provided show companies important factors like peak traffic times, audience make-up and number of hits and likes.
3. Twitter search: Twitter has also added a feature to their site to allow companies to better follow and understand their companies impact. As Twitter has evolved, this feature has become more and more robust, which is apparently a well-liked feature of the Twitter platform since it’s the epicentre of THEMUSEUMs social media strategy. This tool helps them monitor their Twitter handle; find pictures, tweets, and events that they’ve been mentioned in.
Here is a brief audio clip from Karlee Slattery (Social Media Manager) explaining how THEMUSEUM measures social media success:
Lessons for Others:
A lot of companies are missing out on the opportunity to make a big return on using social media to increase their bottom line and brand awareness. THEMUSEUM is a perfect example of how using social media sites has increased their public participation and by actually using the tools listed above to measure these successes. Here are some lessons that can be learned from using social media metrics.
1. There is a difference in knowing what the metrics mean and knowing which metrics are meaningful. Its easy to get caught up in all the figures and numbers, but knowing which stats are the most impactful can make a big difference in future marketing plans.
2. Making sure the metrics you are using help you make decisions. Having a good clear understanding of the stats presented and what they mean for your overall success is key.
3. Knowing which measurement tools work best for your company. There are a variety of different options and figuring out which platform works best for your good or service and what your employees can use easily and navigate through is important.
4. Find out what is most important: Reach or Engagement. Depending on the brand one could be more opportunistic than the other.
Here is an interesting audio clip that speaks on measuring social media success using metrics that already exist within an organization:
Conclusion:
Not enough companies these days are using social media metrics to better understand the impact they are having online. THEMUSEUM is doing a great job at making sure they are on top of this and gearing their strategy for the best return on investment.
Submitted By: Michelle Gardiner
To contact the author of this entry please email at: michelle.gardiner1@gmail.com
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