Social Media at Historic Sites

Building a strategy, connecting with visitors, sharing events, and more!

SARAH HEFFERN, NATIONAL TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATIONLIZ WILLIAMS, GADSBY'S TAVERN MUSEUM DIANE BARBER, WOODROW WILSON HOUSEMAY 20, 2015

Social Media at Historic Sites

Social Media Strategy BasicsSarah Heffern, Social Media StrategistNational Trust for Historic Preservation

@smheffern | @SavingPlaces

Strategy Basics: Audience • Your new favorite

website: pewinternet.org

• 74% of online adults use a social networking site of some kind

• 52% use multiple sites

Strategy Basics: Audience

• Pew also offers channel-by-channel demographics

• User breakdowns vary from channel to channel

• Think about both your current and desired audience

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Strategy Basics: Audience

• 70% of Facebook users visit daily, 45% more than once per day

• Twitter is popular with a larger percentage of African Americans (27%) and Hispanics (25%) than whites (21%)

• 53% of internet-using young adults aged 18-29 use Instagram

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Strategy Basics: Channels

• Don’t feel pressured to be on every site

• Each channel has its own vibe

• Repurpose content thoughtfully – don’t automate

• Everything won’t work everywhere – and that’s OK

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Strategy Basics: Conversations

• Listen before you speak• Ask questions• Be responsive• Share resources• Help your fans/followers connect with each other• Stay positive• Don’t feed the trolls

Strategy Basics: Conversations• Hashtags are for both talking and listening.

• Jump on existing trends:– #SavingPlaces

– #ThisPlaceMatters

– #TDiH or #OTD

– #MuseumSelfie

– #TrustSites

• Learn from colleagues:– #musesocial

– #nptech

Strategy Basics: Goals• What does success look like?

• Tons of social data available:– Facebook Insights

– Twitter Analytics

– Iconosquare (for Instagram)

– Google Analytics

• Be proactive!

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Strategy Basics: Goals• Look for positive trends:

– Are my followers growing?– How about my mentions, clicks, and re-tweets?

• Look for negative trends:– Are you losing followers?– Are topics not resonating?

• What is the data trying to tell me?• What are my followers trying to tell me?

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Organize Content & Connect to Offline EventsLiz Williams, Assistant DirectorGadsby's Tavern Museum & Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum

@wizzerfly | @JohnGadsby

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Gadsby’s Tavern Museum

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Twitter• Established 2010• Person vs. Institution• What we Tweet

– His Happenings– Things in Town– Current Tavernkeepers– Anything else that I can

connect

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ContentResearch FilesTraining PacketsPrimary DocumentsCollections Files

DO NOT RE-CREATE THE WHEEL

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Corralling your Content• Move content from files to a usable form – a database!• Use Microsoft Access to coral your content• Perfect Intern project

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Socials

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How to host a Tweetup• Idea• Plan• Registration

Key's ManuscriptMaryland Historical Society

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@ErinBlasco

• Swag• Data Collection

@Museums365

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Connect Social To Events

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Live-Tweeting• What we Tweet:

– Information– Toasts– Living History

“Characters”– Food– Q&A

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Live-Tweeting

Case Study:Woodrow Wilson HouseDiane BarberMuseum Guide and Social Media CoordinatorWoodrow Wilson House

@Dbarber92 | @WWilsonHouse

Topic Points

• Prioritizing• Events• Ask for help

Anniversary Objects

• The photo was used for the recent Lusitania anniversary.

• Photo Courtesy of Diane Barber

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Reposting Visitor Photos

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Social Media & Events

• Other priority: Use Social Media to help with events– Create event pages on Facebook– Generate content to attract new audiences – Keep current audiences interested

• Examples– Vintage Game Night– Annual Garden Party

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Vintage Game Night

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Vintage Game Night

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Annual Garden Party

Annual Garden Party

• Spring Hat Competition

• Share how to make a Garden Party Hat

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Ask the Staff

Shameless Plug• Please participate!• Download sign at

http://savingplaces.org/thisplacematters

• Ask visitors (and staff!) to take a pic and share on their own channels

– Tag to site location– Use hashtag

• #ThisPlaceMatters

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Questions• Can sites share news from the National Trust?

• Is it encouraged to share news of other Trust sites, particularly ones nearby to encourage cross tourism?

• Should I have a closer affiliation with like-minded sites?

• What particular messaging would you like to come across, more preservation? More on tourism? More on programming or a balance of all of the above?

• Do you encourage sites to share local news and events, even if followers live far away and can’t attend?

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Questions?