AIM: Successful social media

Success Guides
Successfully
Getting Started
with Social
Media
By

Success Guides
Successfully Getting
Started with Social
Media
By
Front cover picture: Alongside AIM’s traditional
communication channels to members and the wider
world, an active website, regular Twitter feed and a new
blog are providing news and information speciﬁcally
targeted at independent museums.

Contents
Welcome ...............................................................................4
Social media essentials ..........................................................5
Managing social media ..........................................................6
Bringing your story to life…through followers .......................7
Bringing your story to life…through communities ...............10
Bringing your story to life…through words ..........................13
Bringing your story to life…through sound ..........................16
Bringing your story to life…through pictures.......................18
Bringing your story to life…through video ...........................20
Bringing your story to life…in the future..............................23
Two case studies .. using social media.................................25
Social media + traditional media =
coverage for your organisation............................................27
Conﬁdentiality and privacy settings.....................................28
Resources.............................................................................29
Tools to measure social media success................................29
Your 10 point checklist.........................................................30
Glossary ...............................................................................31
Further information.............................................................32
More about sounddelivery ..................................................32

Hello from sounddelivery
A tweet that gets your latest exhibition
positive press. A Facebook page that
engages your supporters. Blogs that
demonstrate your impact.
I founded sounddelivery because I
believe in the power of storytelling to
further the cause of organisations. And
social media offers so many exciting
possibilities to help you tell your story
– to persuade, engage, influence and
communicate with your audience.
However, don’t be fooled into thinking
that social media is the answer to all
your communication needs. Use it
alongside your other channels.
But it does provide a real opportunity
for you. Now is the time to start
looking, listening and observing what
like-minded organisations are doing in
social media. I hope this guide will help
you decide where to focus your social
media efforts.
Happy reading!
Jude Habib, creative director at
sounddelivery
4 AIM Success Guides
Successfully Getting
Started with Social Media
Many museums and heritage organisations – of all sizes –
are already learning more about their users and sharing
more of their stories with them through social media. If
you’re one of them, we hope this guide will give you
some new ideas and if you aren’t talking with your
audience through social media yet, this will give you an
overview of what’s possible and some suggestions for
getting started. Examples from museums, many of them
independents, are included throughout this guide: social
media can appear complex, but follow these simple steps
to get going.
Don’t be fooled into
thinking that social
media is the answer to
all your communication
needs. Use it alongside
your other channels.

Social media essentials
What is social media?
Social media refers to any internet or
web-based platform through which
people can share what is now generally
called ‘content’ – text, audio, video and
photographs – personal opinions,
spread news, swap perspectives and
generally communicate with other
people. Interaction is the basis of social
media. Readers interact with content
and people who make the content –
commenting, engaging, sharing,
enhancing.
Why use social media?
Half of the UK population use
Facebook. Around a third use Twitter.
YouTube is the country’s second most
popular search engine. In short, not
using social media means ignoring a
huge number of people who could be
finding out about, visiting and
supporting your organisation.
You can use social media to:
Raise awareness through
communication: People are chatting
about everything on social media,
being part of these conversations will
help you reach new audiences and also
gain a better understanding of your
visitors.
Engage new audiences: Attract more
visitors, supporters and volunteers
through interacting with people on
social media. Listen to and respond to
feedback.
Marketing and fundraising: Free
advertising space used to be hard to
come by. But social media allows you
to: promote exhibitions and events;
raise the profile of your organisation;
and, with the right approach and
compelling stories, turn an online
community into active fundraisers.
Recruit volunteers/staff: Social media
helps you to recruit new volunteers
and even potentially new members of
staff, or if you are really lucky, celebrity
supporters might come on board.
Management Successfully Getting Started with Social Media 5
Half of the UK population use Facebook. Around a
third use Twitter. YouTube is the country’s second
most popular search engine. In short, not using
social media means ignoring a huge number of
people who could be finding out about, visiting
and supporting your organisation.

Managing social media
Putting together a social media
strategy
Before you launch your social media
presence it’s useful to put together a
brief document outlining what your
aims are. This will help you figure out
which social media tools are right for
your organisation and set some ground
rules too. Questions to consider are:
• What are you trying to achieve?
• Who are you trying to reach?
• Which is the best social media
platform to achieve your goal and
reach your chosen audience?
• Could you achieve this better within
your organisation’s website?
• How much time and resources will
this take, and who will be responsible
for on-going maintenance?
• How will you brand the content to
ensure that it is credited as coming
from your organisation?
• Does this fit with the overall goals of
the organisation?
Be realistic about how long it
will take
While it is relatively easy to learn the
basics and get your organisation’s
social media presence up and running,
keeping your accounts active (regularly
updating blogs, sending messages out
on Twitter etc.) does take time.
Depending on your size at least half
an hour or so every day is not an
unreasonable time to spend on your
chosen social media applications.
That said, every tool mentioned in this
guide can be managed by more than
one person. Social media – a bit like
fundraising – should not be just one
person’s responsibility. If you can,
allocate the workload to other
museum staff or volunteers by sharing
passwords or adding moderators
(which is easily done through the
settings of most of these tools). This
not only spreads the workload it can
also show your public the full range of
activities, aspects and interesting
things about your museum.
For some more detailed thoughts about
pulling a policy together see page 28.
Every tool mentioned
in this guide can be
managed by more
than one person.
Social media – a bit
like fundraising –
should not be just one
person’s responsibility.
What is a tag?
Tags are words that describe the content of websites, blogs, photos or videos.
They contain keywords (see glossary) which provide a useful way of organising,
retrieving and finding information. They also make it easier for others to find
your content.
What is social networking?
Social networks are groups of individuals united by common:
• interests
• vocations
• passions
• needs
Before the internet these groups were more limited by proximity. Online social
networks mean that people can connect with each other instantly, regardless
of where they are.

Twitter
What is it?
Twitter is a free social networking and
‘microblogging’ service that allows
users to send and read messages
known as tweets. Tweets are text-
based posts of up to 140 characters
displayed on the author’s profile page
and delivered to their subscribers who
are known as “followers”.
How does it work?
Tweets are sent by logging into your
account and using the “create a new
message” option on your homepage.
You can also follow other users so that
their tweets appear on your
homepage.
If you want to send a message to
someone, use @ followed by their
username without a space (for
instance @sounddelivery) within your
tweet. All your followers will be able to
see this. But if you start the tweet with
“@username”, it will only be seen by
people who follow you and the other
account.
You can send private messages to
people who follow you by selecting
‘Direct Message’ on your homepage.
Not all stories
begin with ‘Once
upon a time...’
Museums and heritage
organisations are mostly very
good at engaging visitors in the
stories their collections and sites
tell.
Social media helps spread those
stories but also gives the chance
to go one step further. As we
know visitors, followers, or
‘tribes’ of loyal museum users
are really interested in what
goes on in the ‘backroom’, the
special events, how stuff is
looked after, how exhibitions
are set up and who are the
people who make things
happen.
Pretty well everything museums
do, from fundraising to raising
the roof, can be turned into a
story that, through social media,
really will engage people.
Bringing your story to life . . .
through followers
Pros
• Quick and easy ways to promote
exhibitions and events
• Direct access to your audience
• Build traffic to your website
• Network with other organisations,
journalists, bloggers, experts etc.
• Make events & conferences exciting
even if followers can’t be there.
Cons
• Risk of over-posting, alienating
audiences
• Your messages can be retweeted by
anyone
• You need to post regularly – ideally
more than four or five times a week
• Posts go to all of your followers,
regardless of whether you delete
them later
Why use it?

Bodelwyddan Castle –
https://twitter.com/bodcastle
Bodelwyddan Castle Trust uses twitter
daily to directly engage with followers
with new information, insight and
followers’ comments. Twitter has
become an important method of
showcasing something diﬀerent to
potential and active visitors. Rather
than duplicating content, experience
has shown that promoting
conversation encourages visitor
interaction and growth.
Roman Legion Museum –
https://twitter.com/RomanCaerleon
The Roman Legion Museum introduces
its twitter feed as “I am Quintus,
Centurion at the Caerleon fortress and
your guide for all things Roman”. They
have more than 3,000 followers
(December 2013), and this is increasing
every day as a result of a varied
approach including a Latin phrase of
the day and Roman name challenges.
Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust –
https://twitter.com/DockyardChatham
The Historic Dockyard Chatham launched
its Twitter feed in 2012 and almost two
years later has more than 3,000 followers
with about 120 added per month.
They use Twitter to support one of
their core objectives, promoting public
understanding of the Dockyard.
They also use Twitter for audience
development, to attract visitors and
sometimes to deal with customer service
issues. They measure Twitter referrals to
their website as one way of tracking the
eﬀectiveness of what they are doing.
Who else is using it?

Twitter key phrases
Follow. Similar to a “friend” on other
social networking sites. You “follow”
people so that you can see their
tweets. Ideally you want people to
follow you back and pass on, or
retweet, your messages.
Mention. Mentioning another user in
your tweet by including the @ sign
followed directly by their username is
called a ‘mention’. It also refers to
tweets in which your username was
included.
Retweet. When you find something
interesting and repost it for your
followers to see. This is how topics
become popular on Twitter. It may be
necessary to shorten the original
message because of the 140 character
limit. It’s Twitter etiquette to use “MT”,
meaning “Modified Tweet”, when you
do this. Alternatively, hover your
mouse curser over the message and
click the retweet icon which will
appear.
Hashtag. Within Twitter, a word written
with a hash symbol (#) before it is a
hashtag. Using hashtags makes
searching for comments around a
particular topic and issue easier. For
example , #AIM13 was used for AIM
conference 2013.
DM. Short for “Direct Message.” This is
a private tweet sent to individual
followers, which cannot be seen by
anyone else.
Trending Topic. A topic that is popular
on Twitter. This changes constantly, and
is usually defined by the number of
identical hashtags appearing. For
instance, if many people use the
hashtag #socialmedia, it will become a
trending topic.
Lists. A way to organise the people
you’re following on Twitter into
different groups so you can see their
posts more easily.
Twitter 10 top tips
1. Choose an accurate username. For example, sounddelivery’s Twitter
username is @sounddelivery and AIM’s is @Aimuseums This will make
it easier for your audience to find you. Make it obvious and not too
long.
2. Set up your account and complete your profile before posting. Add an
image, a link to your website and a short biography explaining who you
are.
3. Announce your arrival on Twitter on other platforms. Your website,
Facebook, blog etc. People will share this info with their contacts,
increasing your followers.
4. Use hashtags. They will increase the amount of people who view your
posts as you will turn up more frequently in Twitter searches. Possible
useful ones are: #ukmuseums, #heritage, #culture. Use them to
comment on other people’s posts.
5. Reach out and send messages to organisations you find interesting.
Respond to questions and comments from followers. Thank them for
retweeting your posts. Listen to what they say to each other.
6. Be brief. Don’t worry about using abbreviations. 140 characters doesn’t
allow for much text and carrying an update into a second tweet is
usually not well regarded. But do avoid writing as if you were
composing a text message on your phone – it looks unprofessional.
7. Include links to resources but ensure that there is supporting text. A
link which has been shrunken doesn’t give a lot of information about
what it is linking to. Share images, interesting articles, your new blog
posts, podcasts and videos.
8. Be interested in others and you will be interesting. Increase your
followers by interacting with your audience – ask questions, answer
other people’s and speak to them as real people.
9. Follow people you want to talk to. Organisations which are doing
similar work, individuals you admire and people who are interested in
what you do.
10. Be yourself. It can be hard to convey meaning in a small number of
words, informal language can make this easier. If your followers don’t
feel a connection, they will stop following you.

What is it?
Facebook is a social networking site
which connects friends, family,
business associates and organisations.
Organisations tend to use Facebook to
connect with people on a more
personal level than through a standard
website.
How does it work?
The first step to connecting with
supporters is to create your
organisation’s official presence via a
Facebook page. You can create and
maintain a Facebook page for your
organisation from your personal
account. Facebook will only allow a
‘person’ not an ‘organisation’ to be
administrator so one person must have
the ‘personal profile’ account and then
your organisation’s ‘page’ is additional
to that.
If you don’t already have a personal
profile, go to Facebook.com and
register. Your profile must be in your
personal name (it can be an
organisational email address), not the
name of your organisation. Log into
Facebook and point your browser to
http://www.facebook.com/pages. Click
on the “Create page” button to start
creating your organisation’s fan page
and choose what kind of page you
would like – a cause or community, or
organisation. From here, you can add a
description about what you do, upload
pictures to the group’s profile and post
updates.
You can create and
maintain a Facebook
page for your
organisation from
your personal
account.
through communities
Facebook
Pros
• Huge potential audience for you to
connect with
• Easy to add links and updates that
may interest the people who “like”
you
• Fan pages are made for people to
connect with their audience
Cons
• Can become stagnant if they’re not
regularly updated – ideally three
times a week
• Pages need to be moderated as
“fans” can post anything on your
wall if you choose to allow this in
your privacy settings
Why use it?

British Postal Museum and Archive
https://www.facebook.com/pages/
The-British-Postal-Museum-
Archive/287803765766?fref=ts
The BPMA has three physical sites at
relatively far distance from each other
and with varying open times. They
make extensive use of Facebook, and a
raft of other social media ‘platforms’, to
keep a flow of interest in their events,
collections and archives.
Their website and social media are fully
integrated and there is even a page on
the official website titled ‘Join the
conversation’ which gathers together
the pictures, messages, comments and
videos.
Pontypool Museum –
https://www.facebook.com/pages/
Pontypool-Museum-
Amgueddfa-Pontypool-Museum/
224457627568466?fref=ts
Pontypool Museum may be small, but
Facebook allows them to reach big
global audiences. As a charity, they are
reliant on donors and supporters to
help them fundraise and their
Facebook pages are where they first
promote new campaigns. Thanks to
digital channels, they now have
supporters locally, nationally and
internationally.
Facebook will only allow
a ‘person’ not an
‘organisation’ to be
administrator.

Roald Dahl Museum and Story
Centre – https://www.facebook.com/
roalddahlmuseum
As Facebook is so visual the Roald Dahl
Museum and Story Centre use it to
build up a great picture of the
museum. They always try to use
images in their posts, from workshop
craft makes to cakes in the café and
their communications are always
peppered with Roald Dahl’s distinctive
words and phrases, helping to give
them a unique feel.
Five top tips for
using Facebook
1. Post regularly. Ideally you
should be updating your
Facebook page three times
a week. Keep updates
relevant to your audience
and mention other
organisations and people
in your posts.
2. Like other pages. This will
allow you to follow what
other organisations are
doing on Facebook. Use
the search option on the
Facebook homepage to ﬁnd
the organisation you want to
follow. At the top of their
page you will see a “Like”
button.
3. Ask opinions and respond
to those of others. This will
let them know you are
listening and keep them
interested.
4. Advertise events. You can
create events that are linked
to your page by clicking on
the “Events” tab.
5. Encourage people who like
your page to add their
images/ideas etc. This helps
create a sense of
community.

What is a blog?
The word ‘blog’ comes from ‘weblog’.
It’s a personal website on which
someone regularly records their
opinions or experiences, creates links
to other sites, or material such as
images or audio.
How does it work?
Entries, displayed in reverse
chronological order, are written in a
conversational, friendly style. Readers
can usually comment on the content of
blogs and the writer can respond.
You could host your blog on your own
site, but there are several advantages
to using a separate blogging platform
(see below). For example, using an
established blogging tool means that
search engines will index the site,
increasing the number of people who
will be pointed towards your blog. It’s
very easy to link your blog to your
existing website by adding a simple
link.
Blogger –
www.blogger.com
One of the longest-established blog
sites, Blogger is a Google-owned
blogging platform. The system is free to
use, and allows up to 100 bloggers to
write on one individual blog.
WordPress –
www.wordpress.com
The most popular blogging platform
today. You can use it for free or get a
paid for version which can also act as a
content management system for your
website.
Many smaller organisations and
museums are now using blogging sites
– and the designed ‘themes’ that come
with them – as their main website. No
special language is needed to keep
them up to date and it is always much
cheaper than commissioning a website
from scratch.
Tumblr –
www.tumblr.com
Popular Twitter-like blogging platform
hosting lots of shorter blogs using
photos, quotes, links, chats, audios and
video, which can be “reblogged” or
posted again by others. Tumblr is
particularly popular with younger
people. The design of Tumblr makes it
a very ‘visual’ site and it is very easy to
post pictures and short commentaries
to it from smart phones. This can make
it a good way of recording and sharing
the excitement of events with little
extra eﬀort.
Entries, displayed in
reverse chronological
order, are written in a
conversational, friendly
style.
through words
Blogging

Shakespeare Birthplace Trust –
http://www.shakespeare.org.uk/
home.html
They use blogs to develop communities
of interest around their main areas of
activity. They work with other partners.
For instance, they set up a weekly blog
series by PhD students from the
Shakespeare Institute, looking at
Shakespeare’s World in 100 Objects
from the Trust’s collections.
They have three main blogs:
www.findingshakespeare.co.uk/
www.bloggingshakespeare.com/
www.livingshakespeare.com/
You could host your blog
on your own site, but
there are several
advantages to using a
separate blogging
platform.

Birmingham Conservation Trust –
www.birminghamconservation
trust.org/category/blog/
The Trust has a team of volunteer
bloggers who keep their blog lively, up
to date and interesting, offering
different perspectives on relevant
topics. Two photographers contribute a
regular Friday Photo and they invite
other guest bloggers to write on
specialist topics.
Getting started
• Use other social media to find blogs. Twitter, your networks,
recommendations on blogs (called “blogrolls”) and google.com/blogsearch
will help you find other blogs to read.
• Read other people’s blogs. Consider the style they use and their tone.
• Comment on other people’s blogs. It will show you’re listening. Remember
to include a link back to your blog.
Five top tips for
blogging
1. Ask questions. Blogs aren’t
just one-way
communication. Encourage
others to interact with you.
2. Think about tone. Be
personable, rather than
formal and stuffy. Use plain
English and avoid jargon.
3. Be real. Write about
experiences, personal views,
things that have made you
sit up and pay attention.
4. Share. Use your blog to link
to others, and share key
points of information
relevant to your topic.
Include pictures to bring
your words to life.
5. Diversify. Write different
types of blogs regularly:
lists, how to articles, top
tips, summaries and
reviews.

What is it?
Audio refers to content that you can
hear. It’s possible to record good
quality audio using your iPhone, iPod
or smartphone so for most uses no
special equipment is needed.
How can audio be used?
Audio content can be used for:
• audio tours
• audio descriptions
• interpreting collections
• oral histories
• audio slideshows
• community and education projects
• case studies or profiles
• interviews
• audio newsletters
• documenting events
• podcasts
What is a podcast and how does
it work?
A podcast is an audio file, usually
hosted on websites or blogs, which can
be subscribed to, listened to online or
downloaded to a computer for people
to play at their convenience.
Listeners subscribe to an audio feed
using a system such as iTunes, a digital
media player that lets you organise
your music, movies, TV shows etc. on
your computer and add them to your
iPod or iPhone. Once subscribed, your
computer will automatically download
any new audio added.
A podcast will usually contain an
introduction telling listeners what the
audio will be about and an ending,
telling people who they were listening
to and how to subscribe to the podcast.
Tools to help you
Audioboo
Allows people to record and
upload audio that can then
be shared via other social networks.
Audioboo is free for audio files up to
three minutes duration and then there
are various paid for accounts and
channel options.
Audio can be recorded and uploaded
straight from your phone or computer
to Audioboo. You can use this feature
to become a “social reporter” at
events, interviewing people and
uploading the audio immediately, in
effect acting as a reporter.
You can also podcast through
Audioboo. Once you’ve made your
podcast Audioboo can create an RSS
feed for you so that you can send it
straight to iTunes (see page 24).
SoundCloud
An online audio distribution
platform which allows
collaboration, promotion and
distribution of audio recordings. Their
podcast programme is currently in beta
(December 2013) so you have to apply
to use it and they are only accepting
spoken word audio at present (no
music).
http://help.soundcloud.com/customer
/portal/articles/1209292-soundcloud-
for-podcasters
through sound
Audio
It’s possible to record
good quality audio using
your iPhone, iPod or
smartphone so for most
uses no special equipment
is needed.

RAF Museum –
http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/res
earch/media-vault/podcasts.aspx
They have podcasts on a variety of
subjects from RAF history and photo
reconnaissance to the quest to find a
site for the RAF museum. They are
regularly updated and there are clear
instructions on how to subscribe.
British Postal Museum & Archive –
http://www.postalheritage.org.uk/
page/3839/Podcast
These podcasts are recordings of
museum events and lectures. Subjects
include Victorian post offices and the
Great Train Robbery. There are a
number of ways to listen to and
download the podcasts: iTunes, RSS
feed or SoundCloud.
Pros
• Creates engaging content
• Can showcase a more human side
to your organisation
• Increases accessibility, particularly if
transcripts are provided
• Content is re-useable
• Can be passed on to third parties –
newspapers, radio stations etc.
Cons
• Can be time consuming
• Can’t control what happens to the
content once it is online
Why use it?
Who’s using it?
Three top tips for
using audio
1. Get people involved. Audio
works best when it features
people talking about their
experiences.
2. Reuse content. Once you
have an audio file, make
sure you share it across your
organisation: with your
press team, on Twitter,
Facebook, your website, and
with fundraising (who could
use links on funding
applications).
3. Exploit opportunities. If
there’s a reminiscence
session being held at your
museum do ask if you can
record it and perhaps do
longer interviews afterwards
with those who have
particularly strong stories to
tell. If you have a speaker
coming to give a lecture on a
subject related to your
collection, do find out if you
can record and use the
audio for a podcast or on
your website.

What is it?
A hosting service that lets you manage
and share images and short videos.
How does it work?
Flickr allows you to give each image a
title, a description and tags, which
make it easy for people to search by
keywords. You can also decide whether
to make your images public or not.
Flickr allows you to store images in
diﬀerent folders. So you might set up
diﬀerent folders for each exhibition you
have or individual collections. You can
also create an open group to which
other users can add images. Bloggers
use it to host images that they embed
in their posts and social media.
through pictures
Flickr
Pros
• Creates an online archive that is
easily accessible to your audience
• Reach – your pictures are viewed by
people who might otherwise miss
them
• Allows you to embed and update
pictures easily on other sites, such
as Facebook
• One of the most powerful free
image storage and sharing sites
online
Cons
• You can’t control what other
photographers upload to your
group unless you restrict access to
the public
• Large groups can drift from their
core purpose without proper
moderation
• You may be tagged in photos you
don’t want to be associated with
Why use it?
Flickr allows you to
give each image a
title, a description and
tags, which make it
easy for people to
search by keywords.

National Railway Museum –
http://www.flickr.com/groups/
nationalrailwaymuseum
Public group encouraging people to
add their images of the museum. Some
of the photos uploaded are then used
on the National Railway Museum
website.
National Museum Wales –
http://www.flickr.com/photos/
museumwales/with/6346516891/
Photostream with range of photos
from war memorials and sculpture, to
coal miners’ badges. The photos are
arranged in sets so that they are easy
to ﬁnd.
Northampton Museums –
http://www.flickr.com/photos/
northampton_museum/sets/
Wide variety of photos from military
history: archive photos of
Northamptonshire Regiments at home
and abroad; to architecture.
Flickr 3 top tips
1. Grow your photo library.
Flickr groups, known as
“pools,” allow your followers
to add their own photos to a
moderated group, meaning
you can collect relevant
images that you otherwise
wouldn’t be able to.
2. Share your photo stream.
The Flickr community is not
the only place where people
can see the photos you post
to the site. Flickr makes it
easy to share photos across
all social media platforms.
3. Use tags. All images should
be correctly titled and
tagged to make full use of
the web search potential;
don’t just upload images
and leave them by the
default ﬁlename.
Who’s using it?

Video is a powerful medium. It is
attention-grabbing and stimulating,
and thanks to modern technology, it is
now relatively cheap and easy to
produce your own content.
You will need to film the video, then
edit, upload and embed it on to your
own content.
To learn more about uploading, go to:
http://support.google.com/youtube/
bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=57924
To learn more about embedding
your video, go to:
http://www.htmlgoodies.com/tutorials/
web_graphics/article.php/3480061/
How-To-Add-a-YouTube-Video-to-Your-
Web-Site.htm
YouTube/Vimeo
YouTube and Vimeo are two video
hosting websites.
YouTube
A hugely popular
website which allows you to upload
and share videos including video blogs
and short films. Most of the content on
YouTube is uploaded by individuals.
Organisations can also embed videos
onto their own website or other social
media sites via YouTube.
Vimeo
A video-sharing
website on which you can upload,
share and view videos. Useful for
uploading high quality and long videos.
through video
Pros
• Can showcase a more human side
to your organisation
• Creates engaging content
• Powerful tool for marketing and
advertisements
• Creates a huge amount of traffic to
your website in a short time
• Content is re-useable. You can share
your videos on Facebook or with
the press
Cons
• Time consuming
• Can’t control what happens to the
content once it is online
• You need to purchase some
equipment to film videos and have
the software to edit them
Why use it?
Thanks to modern
technology, it is now
relatively cheap and easy
to produce your own
content.

Black Country Living Museum –
http://www.youtube.com/user/
BClivingmuseum?feature=watch
The key for Black Country Living
Museum is to integrate their YouTube
content with their website and other
social media channels to target
different audiences across a variety of
platforms and drive visits between
them. Their most successful YouTube
video to date showcased a TV
advertisement that aired in 2010 – it’s
great that people can still view that ad
even though it is no longer on TV.
Museum of London’s Gladiator
Games –
http://vimeo.com/43537520
sounddelivery worked alongside the
Museum of London’s Junction Youth
Panel to make a video of the Gladiator
Games held at London’s Guildhall in
July 2011. The video was scripted and
planned by the young people and is
now part of the Our Londinium
exhibition at the museum.
Dance Woking –
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=V_xKSdsbHx4
Dance Woking uses their Youtube
channel in lots of different ways
including marketing, audience
development and for legacy/archiving
purposes by showing highlights of what
an event or performance will be like to
encourage attendance, celebrating
community projects, as well as teaching
people dance phrases so that they can
take part in, for example, flashmob
dances. Their most successful video
has been the ‘Traffic Light Dance Off’
which was released in July 2009 as a
viral video in order to promote their
March 2010 International Festival and
has had over 333,000 views.
Audio slideshows
What are they? A combination of still
images and an audio soundtrack
(perhaps a profile, montage of
interviews, audio diary etc). An
engaging way to get your message
across. Increasingly being used by
organisations as a lower cost
alternative to video as it is generally
easier to produce.
How do you make them? Audio
slideshows are usually created by
putting together your audio in an
audio editor, such as Audacity
(http://audacity.sourceforge.net/),
then importing it into a video editor,
such as Windows Movie Maker or
iMovie where you can add the
still images.

Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums’
Culture Shock project –
http://www.cultureshock.org.uk/
stories.html
These audio slideshows were created
by people in north eastern England as
part of a project exploring how
museums could ‘cross the barricades
between cultures’ and make museum
collections more relevant.
National Trust for Scotland:
Scotland’s Stories –
http://www.nts.org.uk/
ScotlandsStories/AllStories/
Audio slideshows form the major part of
this project which aims to give an insight
into the work of those who protect,
conserve and keep alive Scotland’s
heritage – from stonemasons, millers
and weavers; to archaeologists,
ecologists and fungi hunters.
Who’s using them?
Case Study
Mansfield Museum
http://vimeo.com/17088816
When Mansfield Museum’s Museum Development Officer, Jodie Henshaw,
discovered that one of the town’s major employers was relocating, she
knew she had to act fast to preserve a piece of local heritage. The factory,
known as the Metal Box, has been producing tins – from coffee to tobacco
– for more than 150 years, with generations of local people passing
through its gates.
sounddelivery ran a reminiscence day, interviewed Metal Box employees,
and worked alongside staff at Mansfield Museum to record the stories of
those who’d worked at the factory.
The audio we produced was used in the exhibition, along with an audio
slideshow which we made using photos from the archives and the
interviews we’d recorded.
“Mansfield Museum worked with sounddelivery on a project called
‘Factory Voices’ in 2010; it was a hugely successful project which the
Museum has since been able to build on. The original project was to collect
oral history linked to the ‘Metal Box’ factory and to use this material to
create on-line content including a slideshow and podcasts. We have since
been able to use this project model with other industries in the town, all
of this content will then be used in a new HLF funded gallery at the
museum. Working alongside sounddelivery on the original project gave
me confidence and the skills to be able to carry out audio recording,
interviewing and editing. I have since been able to use these skills to train
volunteers at the museum.”
Jodie Henshaw
Museum Development Officer, Mansfield Museum

Things change fast in social media. New
tools are emerging all the time, some
of which might help your organisation
further its mission.
Foursquare –
https://foursquare.com/
Social network where users
“check in” to locations
using GPS technology on their
smartphones to share their location
with others online. Users can leave
information and tips about the place
they visit and the person who visits one
location the most becomes ‘the
Mayor’. As the owner of a location, you
can take control of it and see who has
been checking in there and what they
are saying about your venue. There’s
the potential for museums and
galleries to offer Foursquare ‘specials’
or incentives to reward regular visitors.
Who’s using it?
Fitzwilliam in Cambridge –
https://foursquare.com/v/
fitzwilliam-museum/
4b0ecc4df964a5202d5b23e3
Google Open Gallery
In late 2013 Google launched a free
online hosting site which promises to
allow museums, galleries and artists to
upload their own photos and to create
attractive and accessible online
exhibitions.
“Easily upload your content,
create collections, exhibitions or
tours, publish a new site or
enhance your existing one”
Combining good quality images and
museum grade information in its online
‘content management system’ it could
make a significant difference to any
museum, whether it’s used within the
museum or purely online. At the time
of writing the Open Gallery is too new
to provide any examples.
Pinterest –
http://pinterest.com/
A virtual pinboard. Like
Twitter with images, this social network
allows users to post pictures for others
to share and comment on. An online
version of your collection and
exhibitions can be created and shared.
Users can comment on images and re-
pin favourite items to their own
boards. You can create collaborative
pinboards and recommend other
museums and collections. And with a
‘Gift Shop’ pinboard of images, virtual
visitors can click through to the online
shop and make a purchase.
Who’s using it?
Birmingham Museums –
http://www.pinterest.com/
birminghammag/
London Canal Museum
http://www.pinterest.com/
canalmuseum/
in the future
Other social media
New tools are
emerging all the time,
some of which might
help your organisation
further its mission.

Instagram
http://instagram.com/
Artistic photo sharing tool
which allows you to
upload pictures from your smart
phone. A way to get your visitors and
supporters engaged that provides you
with good imagery. You can showcase
your museum’s collection, encourage
viewers to comment and ‘like’ the
photos; invite visitors to share their
photos of the museum; and if they tag
their photos you can see what the
most popular item on display is.
Who’s using it?
Beamish Museum –
beamish_museum
Horniman Museum and Gardens –
hornimanmuseumgardens
Google+ –
https://plus.google.com
Search engine Google’s
own social network which
allows posting and features “circles” of
friends who share information. Good
for search engine optimisation which
means more people will be able to
discover your website and ﬁnd out
what you do. Through it you can send
text messages to a speciﬁc group of
people. If you want to discuss topics
with others users you can join
‘Communities’, which can be either
public or private. Conversations on
private communities can only be seen
by those in the group. ‘Hangouts’ are
another popular feature in Google+.
You can have a private video chat with
other users or you can use ‘Hangouts
On Air’ which can be viewed by
everyone and are also archived as
YouTube videos.
Who’s using it?
lMuseums Association –
https://plus.google.com/+museums
association/posts
National Coal Mining Museum for
England –
https://plus.google.com/+National
CoalMiningMuseumforEngland/
posts
News Feeds
Even people who use the internet all
day will not necessarily visit your
website regularly . However, if you
allow them to ‘follow’ you using a news
feed, every time you post something
new it will be delivered directly to
them. Feeds are also known as RSS
(“Really Simple Syndication”). People
can subscribe to someone’s RSS feed
via an RSS reader like Feedly .-
www.feedly.com or The Old Reader –
www.theoldreader.com. Having an RSS
feed on your website means you can
easily promote content such as blogs,
videos or podcasts because links to
them are delivered directly to
subscribers when you upload them.
LinkedIn
A career social
networking site which allows you to
network with people you know and
want to connect with in your
professional life. You can join LinkedIn
Groups to connect with other museum
and heritage professionals, or create
your own group.
Pros: Good for marketing and PR,
recruitment, to drive people to your
website and to connect with
professionals you can partner with.
Cons: You can’t prevent people from
seeing your connections so if you’re not
keen to share your contacts this could
be a problem for you.
Having an RSS feed
on your website
means you can easily
promote content such
as blogs, videos or
podcasts because links
to them are delivered
directly to subscribers
when you upload
them.

Two detailed case studies
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
Jane Hartnell, Digital Media Manager, The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust:
“The Trust is an international organisation with a global reach, but most of
our resource has to be devoted to the delivery of two of our charitable
objectives to maintain and provide access to the Shakespeare houses and
collections in Stratford-upon-Avon. Digital channels give us the opportunity
to develop relationships with our existing and potential audiences, both
nationally and internationally ensuring we can extend our reach beyond
the immediate locality. Working with partners where appropriate, we’ve
embedded the use of social media and blogs across our organisation
enabling us to utilise the creativity and expertise of our staff and
volunteers. We use our blogs to build communities of interest around
our key activities – for example livingshakespeare.com tells the stories of
visitors to Shakespeare’s Birthplace.
Key learning:
• We have to engage with these technologies as they are now all-pervasive
in most people’s lives – we need to be where our audiences are. If your
resources are limited, focus on the social channels which will derive most
benefit and be aware that you’re enabling two-way conversations so be
prepared to be responsive!
• Staff and volunteers need to be trained and supported continuously.
Develop key content creators across teams who’ll lead on their team’s
contributions and ensure these activities are seen as ‘part of the day job’
rather than an extra.
• Access to the technology needed to create content can be a real barrier, as
well as the time required. Think about what resources you already have
access to (perhaps through a ‘bring your own device’ policy) or partners
you could work with to give you access.
• Collaborate with partners and other connected organisations to generate
content drawing on different areas of expertise and areas of interest.
• Organise a central content calendar that all teams can access and contribute
to. This helps identify any potential missed opportunities before they occur
and minimises the risk of duplicate posting. If there are any sector related
activities (such as #AskACurator day on Twitter) which you may overlook
one year, get them noted in your calendar for the following year.
• Creating content themes around external events, seasonal/national
activities etc for a set period of time can provide a great way to bolster
your content calendar and help your audience make connections with
your offerings.”
www.facebook.com/ShakespeareBT
www.twitter.com/shakespearebt
www.youtube.com/shakespearebt

Birmingham Conservation Trust
Suzanne Carter, Birmingham Conservation Trust:
“Here at Birmingham Conservation Trust we love social media! As we
won’t have a publicly accessible base until the Coffin Works restoration is
complete in 2014, we have long used our website, blogs, Facebook, Flickr
and Twitter feeds (2,500 followers to @BirminghamCT in December 2013)
alongside the usual print and broadcast media, to build and inform our
growing virtual community of supporters.
Social media allows us to have a two-, three- or even four-way stream, so
our supporters can easily reach us to share stories, tell us about buildings
at risk, mobilise behind our campaigns, and join in our work of inspiring
new audiences to enjoy Birmingham’s built heritage.
We have a large team of volunteers who share their knowledge, expertise
and creativity through our feeds, so our staff don’t have to do all the work.
One volunteer is researching diverse cultural approaches to funerals for the
Coffin Works feed; our contractors are blogging and tweeting about the
restoration as are the creative team behind our community engagement
projects; and we often post guest articles from experts in architecture,
community arts or history. Our visitors, supporters, and the excellent
junior journalists who run the Ladywood TNT News Team, all post films
about us on YouTube.
We use social media to advertise special events and offers like our
calendars – free web applications like Paypal, Eventbrite and Survey
Monkey make it easier for us to administer bookings and post-event
evaluation. A volunteer-led PhotoWalk around the Eastside was shared in
real time on Twitter and Flickr so that the world could see and share in
what we were doing.
We train all our contributors to make sure that we have a shared Voice and
Values – we want content that is respectful of Brum’s many communities
but is also fun, engaging and welcoming. We love getting comments and
messages and make a point of responding to everyone.
Without social media, our job of communicating the importance and
wonder of Birmingham’s built heritage to a city population of nearly 1.2
million would be nigh impossible!”
Twitter
@BirminghamCT and @CoffinWorks
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/BirminghamConservationTrust
(if this link doesn’t work when pasted into your browser please log onto
Facebook)
Flickr
www.flickr.com/photos/birminghamconservationtrust/

Why the media needs your
content
With the advent of social media,
journalists have a whole lot more work
to do. They need to update their
websites with content and their social
media channels, at the same time as
doing their day job. It’s why they want
your content and need it.
Getting media coverage
Museums and cultural/heritage
organisations have traditionally used
print media, posters, advertisements
etc to publicise new exhibitions. The
communication has on the whole been
one way – from the museum to the
public. Now, with social media,
communication is two way. People
can more easily get in touch with
organisations, making comments
through Twitter and Facebook,
contributing photos to Flickr groups,
sharing content on collections through
Pinterest etc.
Museums are now adapting their
marketing and communication
strategies to suit a wide range of
social media. This also means
altering the way they write and
interact with the public. It also means
being willing to respond to audience
and visitor feedback. This is of
beneﬁt to the museum as well as
the visitor; customers can be a useful
source of information and ideas,
and can publicise the museum’s
activities too.
But how should museums decide
how much of their time and budget
to devote to traditional marketing
and how much to social and digital
media?
Two useful case studies from the
National Museums of World Culture in
Sweden describe their experiences and
what they learnt from using digital
media to promote two major
exhibitions.
To see the case studies visit:
http://www.museum-id.com/
idea-detail.asp?id=206
Social media + traditional media =
Coverage for your organisation
Your checklist for using social media to get into the media
• Use all your communication channels to cross promote your content. So if
you have a new blog post, tweet it to your network and press contacts,
update your Facebook and have a related picture on Flickr.
• Don’t forget multimedia. Media websites such as
www.guardian.co.uk/culture are looking for heritage related stories which
include multimedia ﬁles – for example audio, video and photographs.
• Use media consent forms. Make sure you get people who feature in your
content, including photographs, audio and video, to sign clear consent forms
that cover internet and media use.
• Build a database of key journalists and bloggers. Use mainstream media and
social media to do this. Many journalists and bloggers are on Twitter.
People can more
easily get in touch
with organisations,
making comments
through Twitter and
Facebook, contributing
photos to Flickr groups,
sharing content on
collections through
Pinterest etc.

Many social media channels are by
default available to the public unless
you choose otherwise. It’s therefore
vital that you only share information
that you want to be in the public
domain.
Privacy
Before you start using social media,
you should familiarise yourself with the
privacy settings so you can be sure
about who can and can’t see your
content.
Facebook: Adjust your privacy settings
and use the “Audience selector” tool to
control who you post to. The “Timeline”
format means past posts will be visible
to the public unless you amend your
privacy settings. For more advice
visit http://safeandsavvy.f-secure.
com/2011/10/27/facebook-timeline/
Closed and open groups: Many social
networks, like Flickr, Twitter and
Facebook, allow you to choose who
can see your content. Keeping groups
public opens up your content to a
wider audience but you might think it’s
appropriate to limit who can see your
content.
Copyright and permissions
Don’t forget copyright and data
protection issues that apply in the ‘real’
world also apply online – just because
an image is on your digital files, does
not mean you automatically own the
rights to use it. Ensure that anyone
who posts photos on your behalf
complies with your other policies and
that your permission forms include
using images on social media channels.
Don’t be put off using images of your
collection or snaps of families and
visitors, but when using them online,
comply with your policies for copyright
and permissions, in the same way that
you would in printed materials.
For more information:
http://www.collectionslink.org.uk/
discover/copyright/907-digital-copyright
www.ipo.gov.uk
Social media policies
It’s up to you and your colleagues at
your organisation to decide whether
you need a policy on social media. It’s
important to make sure that everyone
has agreed boundaries but also that
your social media presence isn’t bound
by too much red tape. It might be
better to outline what people should
do, rather than what they shouldn’t.
For example “Do use appropriate
language”. But some things to consider
are:
• Offensive language
• What employees say about your
organisation on their personal social
media
• Whether employees should “friend”
“follow” or “connect” with visitors
and volunteers
• How to respond to negative
comments and if you should have
some “house rules” for moderating
social networks
For more support developing your
social media policy, visit Policy Tool
for Social Media –
http://socialmedia.policytool.net/
Confidentiality, privacy settings and
copyrightDon’t forget copyright
and data protection
issues that apply in
the ‘real’ world also
apply online.

Resources that will help
Bit.ly: A tool that creates short versions
of web links that you can share through
your social media applications.
Twitter apps: Downloadable software
applications that allow you to use
Twitter without having to open your
browser. Some options include
TweetDeck and Twhirl.
HootSuite. Tool that allows you to
manage all of your social media
accounts in one place. Control all of
your accounts on the move with the
mobile version.
TweepsMap – tweepsmap.com:
Device that lets you find where your
Twitter followers are located around
the globe.
Social bookmarking: Websites which
organise pages on the internet that you
and other people mark as favourites so
they’re easier to manage, find and
share. Websites include Del.icio.us,
Diigo, StumbleUpon, Reddit and Digg.
Google alerts: Email updates of the
latest relevant Google results based on
your requested search terms. For
example, you might want to set one up
for the name of your organisation.
How do you evaluate success?
It’s important to remember that
though social media may appear to be
free, it needs investment – your time –
to make it work for your organisation.
And this should not come at the
expense of other communication
channels, such as email, which you may
have tested already and know are
effective.
Think about what social media success
looks like and how you can measure it.
This will depend on your organisation’s
overall objectives and may relate back
to exhibitions, campaigns, fundraising
and engagement.
You could consider if outcomes might
be:
• more visitors
• more e-newsletter/volunteer/
supporter sign ups
• more returning website visitors
• longer time on your website pages
• likes, mentions, shares, retweets
• comments on posts
• more followers or fans
• donations
Tools to help you measure social media success
MentionMapp: Fantastic visualisation tool that tracks who you speak to most
on Twitter, who their closest contacts are, and what they’re also talking about.
Facebook Insights: Great analytics showing who has liked your Facebook page,
including trends over time, and demographics.
Tweet Archivist: Find out who mentions you most on Twitter, and other great
visual insights.
Klout: A tool that analyses your style and influence across social networking
sites .
Twittercounter: Analyse your Twitter account’s growth of followers, following
and tweets, and compare it to that of others.
(CharityComms Guide to Social Media for Charities)
http://www.charitycomms.org.uk/articles/charitycomms-guide-to-social-
media-for-charities#viewguide

Your 10 point checklist
1. Agree aims. Why do you want to use social media? It’s best to be clear at
the beginning, so everyone knows what your aims are and wants to help
achieve them.
2. Think about what success looks like. You don’t necessarily need to have
targets, but do think about how you will measure your social media work.
3. Set some ground rules – or not. Decide whether you need a social media
policy and what it needs to cover. It might be better to outline what people
should do, rather than what they shouldn’t.
4. Plan your time. Though many tools are free, you and your colleagues will
need to invest your own time to use them.
5. Do some research. There are lots of tools out there that could help you to
achieve your organisation’s mission. This guide will help kick start your
research to help you decide what might work for you.
6. Think about language. How do you want to present yourself in social
media? Make sure the language you use is appropriate for the audience
you are talking to and that it reﬂects your organisation’s tone of voice.
7. Tell your organisation’s story. Social media gives you the chance to
broaden the reach of your organisation’s work – it’s a great opportunity!
8. Share content. Content can be used across social media – and don’t forget
to share it with journalists.
9. Build social media into your communications strategy. Use it to
complement what you know works, for example, e-newsletters.
10. Interact. Remember that social media should excite, engage and make
people feel closer to your organisation. Ask questions, talk to others and
respond to feedback where appropriate.
“I started to measure our social
media output in terms of a
numbers game, but I’ve begun
to value the richness of the
conversation (and hopefully
conversion) a little more. I’ve
used Twitter and Facebook to
have an open discussion around
issues. Keep a note or collection
of ‘best’ exchanges, feedback
and impact/reach to show
senior staﬀ the real impact SM
has.”
Rob Dyson, PR & Online
Engagement Manager at
Whizz-Kidz
http://www.slideshare.net/
NFPtweetup/measuring-social-
media-metrics-rob-dyson-at-
the-nfptweetup

Aggregator. Software that collects
news from websites, podcasts and
blogs and delivers them to you in a
simple format, usually by email or a
chosen personal homepage.
Sometimes referred to as a “news
reader”.
Blog. The word ‘blog’ comes from
‘weblog’. It’s a personal website on
which someone regularly records their
opinions or experiences, creates links
to other sites or material such as
images or audio.
Emoticons also known as ‘smileys’.
Graphics or combinations of symbols to
express emotions in a shorthand way in
text messages, for example A Keywords.
A word or words identifying something
on a web page. They are specific terms
used by people to search for something
on the internet.
Maintenance. In this context a word
meaning ‘maintaining the conversation
and your presence online’ ie posting
news, tweeting etc on a regular basis –
otherwise people forget you.
Microblogging. Web-based service
which allows the user to broadcast
short messages to others who have
chosen to see their messages. Twitter is
the most common microblogging
service.
New media. An older term for social
media which refers to interactive
online media such as social networks,
blogs, podcasts and bookmarks.
News feed. List, displayed in reverse
chronological order, of updates from
people/organisations you’re following
on social networking and
microblogging sites.
Old media. Traditional ways of
communicating, such as TV, radio,
newspapers etc. Also referred to as
“traditional media”.
Platform Is a term used loosely to
define the technological ‘base’ for
other things to run on. For example,
Microsoft Windows is a base on which
you can run wordprocessing software,
Android is the system for most
smartphones. It can sometimes be
used like this: ‘Wordpress’ a blogging
platform, Flickr is a platform for
publishing photos.
RSS. Stands for “Real Simple
Syndication.” A system which
automatically finds articles,
information and content from any site
and brings it to you if you subscribe.
Blog updates, new podcasts etc are
delivered either by email or to a
personal homepage.
Social media. The name given to new
ways of communicating online, such as
social networks, podcasts, blogs etc.
Interactivity – as opposed to the
passive reading of information – is the
defining feature of social media tools.
Social Network. Internet applications
such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter
which help you to connect and interact
with friends and audiences.
Spam. Unsolicited emails, blog
comments and online messages,
usually selling a product or attempting
to divert traffic to a website.
Status. An online description of what
you are doing, used primarily on social
networking sites such as Facebook, e.g.
“John is going out for lunch”.
Streaming. When audio or video files
are watched online, within a browser,
rather than downloaded to a computer.
Tags. Words that describe the content
of websites, blogs, photos or videos.
Tags contain keywords which provide a
useful way of organising, retrieving and
finding information. They also make it
easier for others to find your content.
Glossary

Further information
Digital Engagement Framework:
guidance and ideas written by Jim
Richardson and Jasper Nisser, the
people behind Ask a Curator and
Museum Next conferences.
http://www.digitalengagement
framework.com/
Social Media Knowledge Exchange:
Website with lots of useful content on
social media and museums, including
how museums are using Twitter, Flickr
etc.
http://www.smke.org/themes/
social-media-the-museum-2/
We are Culture24: useful links, reports
and resources on this website including
the Let’s Get Real research project
looking at digital impact and
engagement and how to measure
social media success.
http://weareculture24.org.uk/projects/
action-research/
Oxford Aspire blog: discussion on
social media and museums from
conference in April 2013 with examples
of how museums are using various
digital platforms.
http://oxfordaspiremuseums.blogspot.
co.uk/2013/04/museums-and-social-
media.html
University of Oxford Museums social
media guidelines for staﬀ and
volunteers: a two page guide.
http://www.oxfordaspiremuseums.org/
sites/default/files/Social%20Media%20
Guidelines%20120511.pdf
Museums-Social-Media: wiki for
anyone interested in museums and
social media.
http://museums-social-media.
wikispaces.com/
Links on the site include this useful
Storify by the London Museums Group
http://storify.com/LonMuseumsGroup/
museums-and-social-media-1sounddelivery is an
award-winning digital media
training, production and
consultancy company with a
passion for digital storytelling.
We oﬀer practical training
workshops and tailor-made
training programmes as well as
creative production, campaign
management and strategic
consultancy services.
Sign up for the sounddelivery
digital update to receive
inspiring examples of great
multimedia content and
campaigns.
You can sign up at
www.sounddelivery.org.uk
Twitter @sounddelivery
Facebook www.facebook.com/
sounddelivery
Written by: sounddelivery
Thanks to everyone who has
been involved with and given
comments and suggestions for
this guide.

AIM Association of Independent Museums
3 Chestnut Grove, Ludlow, Shropshire SY8 1TJ
Registered in England No. 1350939 | Charity No. 1082215
Copyright © 2014 Sounddelivery and Association of Independent Museums
AIM Editor – Diana Zeuner
aim-museums.co.uk

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