In a world where people are always connected, museums have the opportunity to increase public awareness like never before, turning passive online viewers into lifelong museum advocates. In the digital age, the first time a person interacts with a museum is online, and we must expand our thinking of what constitutes a visitor. Ryan Dodge will detail how to ramp up your museum’s digital engagement presence and the ways in which increased digital activity will benefit your museum by encouraging participation and the exchange of knowledge.

1. Digital Visitors are Visitors too
W. Ryan Dodge
@wrdodger #musesocial
#AMAconference2016

2. About Me
BA - History
MA - Museum Studies
NOT A TECHNOLOGIST
Long suffering Leafs fan
LOVES Museums

3. We’re going to talk about...
Digital representations are not a
replacement for the real thing
Digital technology is your friend
Digital engagement builds
awareness and reputation
Discussion

8. Digital representations ≠
replacement for the real thing
What does the top 10’s digital
footprint look like?
Collections Online?
Digital Engagement Presence?
Photography allowed?

9. Collections Online?

11. 3D rosetta stone
https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/beta/asset/the-rosetta-
stone/DgH6pMM1guUUPA

12. 4.3 million Mona Lisas
Arguably the most famous painting
ever, in the most visited museum
Louvre link is 3rd behind two
Wikipedia pages
“We can’t put it online, no one will
come”

14. Digital Engagement

15. Photography?

16. Digital technology
is a powerful tool,
USE IT!
ROM New World Archaeology: Nettling point (chert); 7500 - 6000 BC

17. Data, data, everywhere!

18. The majority of your
demographic is most likely
female between 26-44
OR
Millennial Moms

19. Google Analytics - Demographics

20. Twitter Demographics
65% Female
35% Male
85% Canadian
4% US
97% English
4% French

21. Your online community is Hyperlocal
63% Ontario
18% Toronto
81% LOCAL

22. Google Analytics - Locations

23. Google Analytics - Provinces

24. ROM Facebook Demographics
60% Female
38% Male
20% Female (25-34)
52% live within 3 hour
drive
84% English

25. Instagram
68% Female
32% Male
Mostly 25-34
Overwhelming
majority from
Toronto

26. When your community is looking...

28. The ROM aims to deliver
high impact content that is
multi-platform, relevant,
community & data driven

29. High Impact content: Content that stirs the emotions of our community
and encourages an action, inspires our community, and has a practical
impact on their lives
Relevant: Content that makes a connection between our research,
exhibitions, collections, and news/pop culture
Data-driven: Analyse metrics to deliver content that repeats successes
and learns from failures. We don’t need to guess
Multi-Platform: Content that can be published on multiple platforms. A
healthy mix of text, images, and video with an eye on limits

31. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=152

35. We need to inspire wonder...

36. https://www.facebook.com/royalontariomuseum/videos/10154005166933147/

37. We need to make people laugh...

40. ROM Content Checklist
Answer these questions before Content production: Enter Y /
N
Does your content meet the Museum’s strategy/goals?
Did you sufficiently cover the topic? Is it the right length?
Does the content create an emotional response?
Is the content relevant to the community you are trying to reach?
Is it practically useful to our community?
Is it interesting and/or surprising to our community?
If you used humour, is it actually funny?

44. Digital
engagement
builds awareness,
reputation, and
drives visitation

46. #FNLROM
Encourage and display user
generated content
Connect physical
experiences with digital
conversations
Don’t be afraid to take a risk

47. Word of Mouth in 2016

51. Lots of training

56. THANK YOU!
wryandodge@gmail.com
ryand@rom.on.ca
@wrdodger

57. References
We Are Social’s “Digital in 2016” http://www.slideshare.net/wearesocialsg/digital-in-2016
We Are Social’s “Digital Yearbook” http://www.slideshare.net/wearesocialsg/2016-digital-yearbook
The Art Newspaper Visitor Figures 2015: http://theartnewspaper.com/reports/visitor-figures-2015/
Kristina Halvorson, CEO, Brain Trust: http://contentstrategy.com/kristinahalvorson.html
http://alistapart.com/article/thedisciplineofcontentstrateg
User Generated content in Museums: http://www.convinceandconvert.com/podcasts/episodes/social-media-and-ugc-best-
practices-for-museums/
Photo wall at Friday Night Live: http://www.rom.on.ca/en/blog/sharypic-photo-wall-at-friday-night-live
Colleen Dilenschneider - Know Your Own Bone Blog: http://colleendilen.com/
Museum ID - Creating a Social Institution: http://www.museum-id.com/idea-detail.asp?id=519
CrowdRiff: http://crowdriff.com/blog/a-lesson-in-social-anthropology-from-fnlrom/
http://crowdriff.com/customer-stories/royal-ontario-museum/