Formulating a Strategy
After looking at the variety of quality museum Instagram accounts, the potential may seem dauntingly limitless. It’s important to note, however, that every museum’s Instagram account should be a distinct representation of that institution. It’s important to see what other museum are doing to spark new ideas, but the first step in creating your institution’s Instagram account is to reflect on your institution’s mission. If an institution’s approach to Instagram begins with their own mission statement, it will be significantly easier and more productive to use the various features on the Instagram platform.
For the sake of demonstrating how Instagram can be most effectively utilized by museum professionals, we will be looking at a fake museum Instagram account created for the sake of this tutorial. The Unreal Museum, like the name implies, is not a real institution, but using a fake museum as a demo will allow me to thoroughly demonstrate Instagram’s full potential as a platform for museums to engage with visitors online while encouraging more in-person visits to the institution:
One of the first steps to devising your social media strategy is to look at your institution’s mission statement. Let’s look at the Unreal Museum’s mission statement:
This mission statement lays out the museum’s focus, priorities, and approach. This seemingly short statement actually provides a way forward for the museum’s Instagram account. The statement indicates whatthe museum focuses on: the unreal, from fictitious worlds to made-up technology. The mission statement also indicates why the museum takes this approach: to help people see their world in a new way. These critical pieces of information should inform how the museum presents information online. As we saw in the earlier examples of successful and unsuccessful museum Instagram accounts, the best accounts are an extension of the museum’s identity, not merely a platform for informational updates (e.g. hours of operation).
The AGO’s mission statement is to “bring people together with art to see, experience and understand the world in new ways” and their Instagram helps achieve this through the creative display of pieces from the AGO collection. Similarly, the Unreal Museum can achieve their mission by positioning “unreal” objects/stories in relation to current events.
Not every museum has the resources to create a digital strategy, but by at least looking to the institution’s mission for inspiration, the museum is much more likely to create an Instagram that is connected to the institution’s founding principles.
After looking at your museum’s mission statement in relation to Instagram, ask these important questions:
Who are we trying to reach through Instagram? Are we trying to reach a regional, national, or international audience? Are we trying to reach people who are already engaged with our institution?
Where do we want to lead Instagram viewers? Is the account serving to direct visitors to the physical museum? Are we trying to direct viewers to our website for more information?
Why should social media users visit our account when there are so many others? Are we providing unique content? Do we have a voice or perspective that cannot be found anywhere else?
How can we use Instagram to serve our institutional mission? Are we trying to advance visitor engagement with our content? Are we trying to mobilize social action?
By answering these questions, you will find yourself with both a purpose and a plan for your Instagram account. You will answer logistical questions such as “how often should I post,” but you will also answer questions about the objective of your social media in relation to your institution.
Answering these questions and drafting a short document about your institution’s unique strategy will also allow for a consistency in your content. Instagram posts are often spontaneous, and sometimes many people within one institution have access to the account, but by setting out preliminary guidelines, you can ensure that there is a consistent tone across the various posts.
For the sake of demonstrating how Instagram can be most effectively utilized by museum professionals, we will be looking at a fake museum Instagram account created for the sake of this tutorial. The Unreal Museum, like the name implies, is not a real institution, but using a fake museum as a demo will allow me to thoroughly demonstrate Instagram’s full potential as a platform for museums to engage with visitors online while encouraging more in-person visits to the institution:
One of the first steps to devising your social media strategy is to look at your institution’s mission statement. Let’s look at the Unreal Museum’s mission statement:
We focus on all things “unreal” to help people discover new truths about the real world.
Unreal means lacking in reality, and yet, the term is almost solely used to describe the real
Unreal means lacking in reality, and yet, the term is almost solely used to describe the real
world. The village was so pretty it looked unreal. His skateboarding skills seem unreal. Our
museum focuses on all things fictitious to help people see the current state of affairs in a
new lens. From mythical worlds to fictitious technology, these “made-up” things are
created through careful observation of the real world, and we exhibit these creations to
encourage introspection about our world today.
This mission statement lays out the museum’s focus, priorities, and approach. This seemingly short statement actually provides a way forward for the museum’s Instagram account. The statement indicates whatthe museum focuses on: the unreal, from fictitious worlds to made-up technology. The mission statement also indicates why the museum takes this approach: to help people see their world in a new way. These critical pieces of information should inform how the museum presents information online. As we saw in the earlier examples of successful and unsuccessful museum Instagram accounts, the best accounts are an extension of the museum’s identity, not merely a platform for informational updates (e.g. hours of operation).
The AGO’s mission statement is to “bring people together with art to see, experience and understand the world in new ways” and their Instagram helps achieve this through the creative display of pieces from the AGO collection. Similarly, the Unreal Museum can achieve their mission by positioning “unreal” objects/stories in relation to current events.
Not every museum has the resources to create a digital strategy, but by at least looking to the institution’s mission for inspiration, the museum is much more likely to create an Instagram that is connected to the institution’s founding principles.
After looking at your museum’s mission statement in relation to Instagram, ask these important questions:
Who are we trying to reach through Instagram? Are we trying to reach a regional, national, or international audience? Are we trying to reach people who are already engaged with our institution?
What are we trying to achieve through our Instagram posts? Are we simply using the platform to update visitors about the facilities? Are we trying to provoke critical thought about current events? Are we trying to spark curiosity that will lead potential visitors to our collection?
When are we posting new content? Are we trying to position our institution as a must-visit account with daily content? Are we posting more sparingly and spending more time planning the posts?
When are we posting new content? Are we trying to position our institution as a must-visit account with daily content? Are we posting more sparingly and spending more time planning the posts?
Where do we want to lead Instagram viewers? Is the account serving to direct visitors to the physical museum? Are we trying to direct viewers to our website for more information?
Why should social media users visit our account when there are so many others? Are we providing unique content? Do we have a voice or perspective that cannot be found anywhere else?
How can we use Instagram to serve our institutional mission? Are we trying to advance visitor engagement with our content? Are we trying to mobilize social action?
By answering these questions, you will find yourself with both a purpose and a plan for your Instagram account. You will answer logistical questions such as “how often should I post,” but you will also answer questions about the objective of your social media in relation to your institution.
Answering these questions and drafting a short document about your institution’s unique strategy will also allow for a consistency in your content. Instagram posts are often spontaneous, and sometimes many people within one institution have access to the account, but by setting out preliminary guidelines, you can ensure that there is a consistent tone across the various posts.
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