Twitter is becoming an important communications tool for museums and galleries. Here are seven tips to help you get more out of the social media platform.
1. Tell your readers who is speaking.
Twitter is a person to person network, and the people who use it like to know who they are talking too, so even if your tweeting on behalf of an institution, you should let people know who you are.
Here is an example of how Brooklyn Museum do this on their Twitter profile.
2. Be a person, not an institution.
The big advantage of saying who is writing on behalf of your institution is that it allows you to be a human being rather then an institution. The way that people speak to each other on Twitter is very informal and if you start to send messages that sound like they have been written by the PR department, then you’ll stand out as having not taken the time to understand the way people use Twitter.
3. Tweet often, but not too often.
Getting the frequency of your tweets right is a tricky business. Remember that you’re still a museum, not my best friend and I really don’t need to hear from you three times a day.
4. Follow people
It is polite to follow the people who have taken time to follow your institution, it also means that people can send you direct messages.
5. Take twitter in to the real world
Many institutions set up a Twitter account and don’t link it to their real live venue.
Take a look at this card I noticed recently in Brooklyn Museum, are you sign posting your visitors to Twitter?
6. Show a different side of your organisation
Think about the interesting things that happen in your organisation which might interest your followers (in fact write them down). Museums are fascinating organisations, and while it wouldn’t be appropriate to post pictures of your stuffed baboon being cleaned on your corporate website, Twitter is the perfect place to share stories of what happens behind the scenes.
7. Don’t just broadcast
Twitter is a platform for conversations not just another space to broadcast information about your latest exhibition. Get involved in discussions with the people who follow you, and take the time to reply when someone mentions your institution.
