How #Museums Use #Niche

Networks For Content Marketing

Likeable U

May 15, 2012

Niche (nich): noun, adjective, verb

1. an ornamental recess in a wall or the like, usually

semicircular in plan and arched, as for a statue or other

decorative object.

2. a place or position suitable or appropriate for a person or

thing: to find one's niche in the business world.

3. a distinct segment of a market.

4. Ecology . the position or function of an organism in a

community of plants and animals.

Dictionary.com

Niche Small

Pinterest 104M

LinkedIn 86M

Google+ 61M

Tumblr 42M blogs

Foursquare 20M

Flickr 15M

Instagram 15M

Source: Various

Tumblramnhnyc.tumblr.com

Why Tumblr?

• An active, passionate community where

sharing is encouraged

• Tumblr loves photos

• AMNH has tons photos taken by our

talented, in-house Photo Studio

• Could we engage with this community and

generate excitement and awareness of the

Museum through great photography?

Goals

Become a go-to channel for science content

Goals

Represent the complexity of the Museum and

what goes on behind the scenes

Goals

Foster a community of followers and ambassadors

Results

In one year, we’ve:

• Gained over 16k followers

• Seen steady growth each week

• Named one of the “10 Must-Follow Tumblrs for

“Science Lovers” by Mashable

• Featured in Tumblr Spotlight: Science and Museums

• Consistently featured under “official” science tag

Find us on:

Twitter @amnh

Facebook facebook.com/naturalhistory

YouTube youtube.com/AMNHorg

Tumblr amnhnyc.tumblr.com

Pinterest pinterest.com/naturalhistory

Ustream ustream.tv/user/AMNH

Google+

Flickr

flickr.com/photos/themuseumofmodernart

“Official” MoMA group on Flickr

Joined Feb 2009

1,997 members

6,678 photos

Andy Warhol’s Screen Tests

Thank you!

Pinning Beauty:

Sharing 5,000 Years of Art on Pinterest

Pinterest.com/metmuseum

Why Pinterest?

• A visual platform is suited to visual art

• The network's growth allows us to reach new

audiences

• We have a wealth of content to share

• Allows users to discover more on our website

A Thematic Approach

Theme-focused boards allow users to enjoy works of

art from a variety of cultures and time periods without

feeling overwhelmed

Selecting Objects by Type

Striking Swords: The Deadly and the Delightful

Selecting Objects by Motif

The Radiant Peacock: Associated with royalty and

symbolizing beauty, immortality and exoticism, the

peacock has long been a favorite motif of artists

Novel Ways to Highlight Content

Museum staff were invited to share personal perspectives

on works of art in the 100-episode series Connections.

This program translates beautifully to Pinterest

Beyond Images

• Pin videos from YouTube and Vimeo

• Share blog posts and essays—keep it visuallycompelling

• Start conversations. Use @[user name] to reach a specific person

• Take advantage of hashtags

• Use Google Analytics and look into the growing arsenal of Pinterest-specific tools

• Have fun! Frankly, it's difficult to avoid

Find us on:

Facebook facebook.com/metmuseum

Twitter @metmuseum

YouTube youtube.com/metmuseum

Flickr flickr.com/groups/metmuseum

Flickr flickr.com/photos/metmuseum

Foursquare foursquare.com/metmuseum

Contact

@srhalligan: Susan Halligan, Halligan Consulting

@vsamra3: Victor Samra, MoMA

@amnh: Jessica Ulrich, American Museum of Natural History

@jennettem: Jennette Mullaney, Metropolitan Museum