Museums+Tech 2020: Museums in a crisis Entertaining audiences in a time of crisis Alix Geddes, One Further This is an ongoing study looking at types of content posted by museums online during the various crises of 2020, specifically humour, and how audiences interacted with it. The study consists of surveying digital communications staff at large and small museums across the UK and takes data directly from their website analytics and social media platforms. With the sudden pandemic and subsequent lockdown, museums were forced to close their doors to the public and focused on using their digital channels to share the objects, themes, and stories within their collections, albeit with different perspectives. Digital content was transformed, with accessing collections from home and children’s activities at the forefront. We also saw attempts to reach online audiences with content that would amuse, entertain, and engage. Early on during the crisis, people participated in the Getty Museum Challenge (recreating artwork with objects from home), and hashtags such as #MuseumFromHome and #CuratorBattles gained traction. What was the impact of this? What types of content did audiences flock to, and in what numbers? What trends and insights can be pulled from the data available?

1. ENTERTAINING AUDIENCES
DURING A TIME OF CRISIS
Alix Geddes, One Further
Image Credit: @tussenkunstenquarantaine

2. BACKGROUND
What content did museums post on
their websites and social media?
What was effective?

3. METHODOLOGY
Website Analytics
Google Analytics data for 4
large UK-based museums
Social Media Analytics
SocialBlade
Top line Twitter & Instagram
numbers
Survey
Current respondents:

4. FROM
ONSITE TO
ONLINE

5. VIEWS OF CONTENT
SECTIONS INCREASED
Despite a general drop in traffic on site,
during the lockdown period (1st March - 31st
July 2020) for 4 large UK-based museums
Data from 4 large museums in the UK taken from Google Analytics

6. WHAT KIND OF CONTENT DID WELL?
• Broader topics
๏ Education-oriented, related to school curriculums.
• Exhibition-related content
๏ On cancelled/postponed exhibitions. Some introducing virtual exhibitions and how to enjoy
content from home.
• Collection-related content
๏ Specific objects from permanent collection.
• Activities
๏ DIYs, children’s activities, articles giving people something to do.

7. +454%
Educational referrals increased by
year on year during the lockdown period (1st
March - 31st July 2020) for 4 large UK-
based museums
Data from 4 large museums in the UK taken from Google Analytics

8. +48%
Social media referrals increased by
year on year during the lockdown period (1st
March - 31st July 2020) for 4 large UK-
based museums
Data from 4 large museums in the UK taken from Google Analytics

9. ADAPTING IN
TIMES OF
CRISIS

10. 70%
Collections related content was posted
more frequently during lockdown.
Data from survey ran from 9th Nov 2020

11. SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT TYPES DURING LOCKDOWN
Exhibitions & events
Customer service
Games
Humour
Staff & company news
History/building/location
Museum hashtags campaigns
Current events
Collections & objects
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120%
3%
6%
6%
9%
6%
3%
9%
51%
23%
23%
23%
74%
34%
3%
43%
40%
54%
63%
66%
63%
17%
49%
34%
49%
9%
20%
37%
6%
9%
11%
60%
A lot Sometimes Never N/A
-52%
+58%
+45%
+42%
+42%
+70%
+61%
+49%
-36%
Data from survey ran from 9th Nov 2020

12. WHAT CHANGED? LESSONS FROM NEW CONTENT
ZEN/NATURE FOCUSED
CONTENT
“People really responded to sunny photos of our
creek and closeup shots on the texture of things”
“Calming images did better”
“People were looking more for happy, silly, warm
content.”
“Lots of nature love especially during early part of
lockdown.”
Data from survey ran from 9th Nov 2020

13. WHAT CHANGED? LESSONS FROM NEW CONTENT
HUMOUR
“The more reactive and humorous content played
really well”
“Fun and upbeat posts generated more engagement.”
“People really appreciated the more humorous posts
— old funny photos from our collection, nostalgia
posts etc.”
Data from survey ran from 9th Nov 2020

14. #MuseumFromHome
#MuseumsUnlocked
#CuratorBattle
#MuseumMomentOfZen
#Museums2020
#CultureInQuarantine
MOST POPULAR MUSEUM HASHTAGS
200K USES ON
INSTAGRAM ALONE
+8K FOLLOWERS FOR
THE YORKSHIRE
MUSEUM AFTER 1ST
TWEET
Data from Instagram & SocialBlade

15. RECREATE ART CHALLENGE ON INSTAGRAM
Data from Instagram & SocialBlade
@tussenkunstenquarantaine
Within 1 month of
existence, reaches
228K followers
272K followers
8K avg. likes per post

16. RECREATE ART CHALLENGE ON INSTAGRAM
36K LIKES 19K LIKES 33K LIKES
Data from Instagram & SocialBlade

17. FINDING
NEW TYPES
OF CONTENT

18. WHAT MUSEUMS DID DIFFERENTLY
10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
6%
13%
40%
44%
47%
47%
50%
59%
72%
Participated in social media challenges and trends
Posted more regularly
Partnered with/Tagged/Spoke with other institutions
Developed new types of interactive content
Posted new categories of content
Replied to users more
Used more content tools
Something else
Did the same as usual
Data from survey ran from 9th Nov 2020

19. WHAT MUSEUMS DID DIFFERENTLY
10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
6%
13%
40%
44%
47%
47%
50%
59%
72%
Participated in social media challenges and trends
Posted more regularly
Partnered with/Tagged/Spoke with other institutions
Developed new types of interactive content
Posted new categories of content
Replied to users more
Used more content tools
Something else
Did the same as usual
Data from survey ran from 9th Nov 2020

20. WHAT MUSEUMS DID DIFFERENTLY
10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
6%
13%
40%
44%
47%
47%
50%
59%
72%
Participated in social media challenges and trends
Posted more regularly
Partnered with/Tagged/Spoke with other institutions
Developed new types of interactive content
Posted new categories of content
Replied to users more
Used more content tools
Something else
Did the same as usual
Data from survey ran from 9th Nov 2020

21. WHAT MUSEUMS DID DIFFERENTLY
10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
6%
13%
40%
44%
47%
47%
50%
59%
72%
Participated in social media challenges and trends
Posted more regularly
Partnered with/Tagged/Spoke with other institutions
Developed new types of interactive content
Posted new categories of content
Replied to users more
Used more content tools
Something else
Did the same as usual
Data from survey ran from 9th Nov 2020

22. 81%
of museums surveyed saw more
engagement after doing something
different on social media.
Data from survey ran from 9th Nov 2020

23. WHAT DID PEOPLE LIKE TO SEE?
Interacting with others
Data from survey ran from 9th Nov 2020
“Our photo contest was the most
successful, #19daysofsuffrage, we have
also had success with "fun" history or
cases that were tried at our court.”
“Guess the object, quizzes, posts
about virtual tours, history and fun facts
all worked really well particularly at the
beginning of the first lockdown and
through the summer. Joining in with
hashtags really helped our reach.”

24. WHAT DID PEOPLE LIKE TO SEE?
Escaping from negative news through zen, nature,
positive & humour content
Data from survey ran from 9th Nov 2020
“People loved the nature
shots and videos, didn't like
the games and coloring
pages”
“People seemed to still enjoy
the local history-related
posts that we had been
sharing prior to lockdown. The
news-related posts and some
of the activities did not get as
much engagement as we
thought they would.”
“Old photos were very
successful. Worksheets and
coloring pages were not as
successful. Shorter videos (5
minutes or less) did well while
longer lectures did not."

25. WHAT WAS ‘HIT & MISS’?
Participating in trending hashtags
Data from survey ran from 9th Nov 2020
“Targeting for the audience that used to
come through the door to our physical
sites don't seem to be the audience that
are engaging with us. Refine who our
online audience are is something we
are looking into.”
“Copying viral museum trends didn’t
work (Getty museum challenge),
community specific and BIPOC focused
messages worked well.”

26. SO WHAT SHOULD YOU
DO NOW?

27. your audience
• See what content
worked for you
• Tailor it to your
institution
• Don’t copy what others
do blindly
in useful content
• Solve user needs
• Focus on your museum
& collections, but with a
different spin
with varied topics
• Usual CTAs are
currently irrelevant
• Listen to what followers
like and how they
respond to it
• Do something different,
test things out
•
ANALYSE INVEST EXPERIMENT

28. THANK YOU!
@AlixGeddes
Alix Geddes
alix@onefurther.com
Alix Geddes, Digital Analyst at One Further
CONTACT ME SURVEY
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