In this month’s edition of Performance Counts, Rachel Kassman, Marketing Manager, offers a quantitative as well as qualitative assessment JMM and social media. To read past editions of Performance Counts, click here. To read more posts by Rachel, click here.
In thinking about what to write for this month’s Performance Counts, it came to my attention that it has been more than two years (2.5 to be exact) since our last look at the Museum and Social Media. I thought it was time for an update and to share some of the new social media-related projects and campaigns we’ve been experimenting with recently.
First, some quick stats: I’m happy to report that we’ve seen growth on all four social media platforms where JMM manages active accounts (Facebook,Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram). Our biggest gains have been on Facebook, where we now count 3,232 followers (that’s over a 30% increase), and Instagram, where the number of people following our account has increased to 958 (That’s more than 1000% growth! To be fair, at last writing, we had only been using Instagram for 3 months, but I’m still pleased with our growth on this visual-focused platform!).
Moving past the numbers, I wanted to call your attention to some of the different ways we’ve been using our social media platforms over the last two years, focused on different departments throughout the Museum.
By increasing the number of photos we share from school field trips we are able to show students exploring our exhibits, using primary sources in our archival explorations, and capturing the wonder of learning through our synagogue tours, introduction to Judaism programs, and our living history characters. Paige is then able to take our various posts and share them directly with the teachers and administrators whose schools are represented, increasing the opportunity for more interaction between us and the schools. We have found a direct increase in the number of teacher evaluations received as well as deeper, more thoughtful responses within those evaluation. Teachers are also then able to share those posts with their students’ families as proof of the effectiveness and importance of the learning experiences the Museum provides.
The ease of creating Marrying Maryland led us to the second mini-site, Fashion Statement, a companion to our current exhibit of the same name. On this account, curator Joanna Church has been able to tell more stories about the individual items in the gallery and highlight items from our collections that just wouldn’t fit into the limited physical space. The Tumblr platform has proven an easy and effective way to let our exhibits grow beyond their walls and we look forward to our future creations!
Following up on that, Shop Assistant Jessica Konigsberg had the genius idea for #FrameItFriday, featuring the gorgeous photo frames available at Esther’s Place. We’re getting ready to start a new theme – #WearItWednesday, to coordinate with our two currentfashion exhibits, featuring the variety of textiles and other wearable items available. We could use some models, so we’d love for you to stop in at Esther’s Place and let us take your photo with one of our beautiful pieces!
JMM continues to present a vibrant, active, and content-rich experience across multiple social-media platforms. I hope you will follow along with us on whichever platform you like best – and if you have any suggestions for what you’d love to see, please let me know!