Museums and Digital Communication Audience –Content – Impact Kristen Purcell, Ph.D., Associate Director, Pew Internet Project Art Museum Marketing Association

Museums and Digital CommunicationMuseums and Digital Communication

Audience –Content – ImpactAudience –Content – ImpactKristen Purcell, Ph.D., Associate Director, Pew Internet ProjectKristen Purcell, Ph.D., Associate Director, Pew Internet Project

Art Museum Marketing Association Meeting. Baltimore, MD. May 17, 2013.Art Museum Marketing Association Meeting. Baltimore, MD. May 17, 2013.

Data presented here are based on surveys conducted by the Pew Research Center – our mission is to provide high quality, objective data to thought leaders and policymakers

Between May 30 and July 20, 2012, Pew Internet conducted an online survey of a non-probability national (U.S.) sample of arts organizations

1,258 arts organizations took the survey, representing a wide range of disciplines, organizational functions, budgets, etc.

Art museums comprised 9% of the final sample (performing groups made up the largest portion of the final sample at 22%)

Presentation slides and full report are available at pewinternet.org

Arts Organizations and Digital Technologies

Audience – Content – Impact


Guiding Questions

Who is your audience and how well do you know

them?

What digital tools do they use/have

access to?

Do digital tools broaden or

fundamentally change your audience?

How does your content shape your choice of digital tool

or strategy?

Can you give up control of your content and the

online conversation?

What is your organization’s

(digital) identity/ personality?

What are your ultimate goals in terms of impact?

How will you measure impact in

these areas?

What impacts are possible?

(Your resources + tools available + human nature)

Audience


Guiding Questions


them?

What digital tools do they use/have

access to?

Do digital tools broaden or

fundamentally change your audience?

“listen more than you ask”


them?

81% of arts organizations surveyed let users comment publicly on their websites

77% use social media to monitor what is being said about their org

65% use social media to learn more about their audience

52% use social media to get feedback from the public or “crowdsource” an idea

28% host online discussion groups

How, and how well, are you listening?

85% of US adults use the internet

2/3 have broadband at home

84% have a cell phone, including 45% who have a smartphone

24% have a tablet computer

19% have an e-reader

2/3 of adult cell phone users are wireless internet users

69% of online adults use social networking sites, 16% use Twitter

US Adult Internet/Digital Tool Use in 2013

What digital tools does your audience use?

* Based on Pew Internet Tracking Surveys

95% of kids 12-17 use the internet

93% have a computer or have access to one at home

78% have a cell phone, including 37% who have a smartphone

23% have a tablet computer

74% access the internet on mobile devices (smartphone, tablet, etc)

In July 2011, 80% of online teens used SNS, 14% used Twitter

US Teen Internet/Digital Tool Use in 2013


* Based on Pew Internet Tracking Surveys

Information is Woven Into Our LivesMobile is the needle, Social Networks are

the threadSocial Networks…

Surround us with information through our

many connections

Bring us information from multiple, varied sources

Provide instant feedback, meaning and context

Allow us to shape and create information

ourselves and easily amplify others’ messages

Mobile…

Moves information with us

Makes information accessible ANYTIME

and ANYWHERE

Puts information at our fingertips, literally

Magnifies the demand for timely, actionable

information

Makes information location-sensitive

How your patrons reflected these mobile/social trends in 2011

Currently, 74% of adult smartphone owners use their phone to get directions, recommendations or other information based on their

present location

21% use their phone to get coupons or deals to use at local businesses

2011 data


In the 12 months prior to the 2011 survey….

44% of adults had attended a live music, dance or theater performance

It was 77% among those who follow a music/dance/theatrical group or venue on SNS

35% of adults had visited a museum

It was 82% among those who follow a museum on SNS

35% of adults had attended an arts, craft or music festival

It was 55% among those who follow individual artists, musicians or performers on SNS

29% of adults had visited an art gallery, show or exhibit

It was 82% among those who follow an art gallery or other visual arts organization on SNS

Social networking is a connection with “Superfans”


It’s a chicken and egg question, but does the answer matter?

Perceived impacts of technology on the arts Based on your experiences and those of your organization, do you agree or disagree with each of the following statements?

Source: Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project. Conducted May 30-July 20, 2012. N for respondents who answered this question=1,207.

Broad impacts of digital technology on the arts

Do digital tools broaden or change your audience?

“Because we do a lot of work in rural areas, with senior citizens, and low income areas, social

media only works for a portion of our audience…A heavy reliance on social media, though convenient, can exclude many people.”

93% of arts orgs say social media help them

reach a broader audience than they would

otherwise be able to

Content


Guiding Questions

How does your content shape your choice of digital tool

or strategy?

Can you give up control of your

content and the online conversation?

What is your organization’s (digital) identity/personality?

99% of arts organizations surveyed host a website

On those sites, 94% post photos

81% post or stream video

57% post or stream audio

50% maintain a blog

20% present online exhibits

---------------------------

86% have increased the number of online events and exhibits they host over the past several years

24% use mobile apps to provide content to the public

No two organizations (or digital strategies) are the same

How does your content shape your organization’s choice of digital tools and

strategies?


strategies?

97% of the arts organizations surveyed have a profile or page on a social media site

69% have employees with professional social media profiles they use in their capacity as a representative

of the organization

56% of the orgs that use social media have a profile on 4-9 different social media sites

10% of the orgs that use social media are active on 10+ platforms

No two organizations (or digital strategies) are the same


strategies?Among arts orgs that use social media, the top sites used are…

Reflects where the audience

is, but…

Does it reflect the best

platform for YOUR content

How often arts organizations post content on social media…

Source: Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project Arts Organizations Survey. Conducted between May 30-July 20, 2012. N for respondents who answered this question=1,131.

Infinite uses of social media…

• 82% use social media to engage with audience members prior to, during, or following an event

45% of arts orgs that use social media post daily


strategies?

“We solicited ideas for how to name our "signature cocktail" at an upcoming benefit, based on the theme of the

benefit. Facebook fans wrote in with lots of ideas, we picked our top favorites, and then released a poll so fans could vote on the name we ended up using. It generated

awareness of the event (which was a record success) and allowed those who might not have been able to attend the event a way to engage with the party.”

There is no one-size-fits-all digital tool or strategy


strategies?

“When SB1079 passed in Arizona, our organization (who specializes in Mexican music and dance), in the matter

of days, was able to write, record and make a video of a song that directly addressed the issue. The video was

posted on YouTube and got hundreds of hits in the matter of days. It was a way for us to execute our

mission to a large audience in a short amount of time.”

“After seeing that a patron has checked into our venue or has been talking about how good our show was, we thank them publicly and

invite them back. This gives us the ability to create a personal interaction with them and create a connection that encourages

them to come back. Sometimes our actors will join in when they see us thanking a patron, and send a personal thanks from the cast.”

Personal

TimelyReleva

nt

How well does your content lend itself to digital dissemination?


strategies?

What is the VALUE of your content?

What is the NATURE of your content?

How much DEPTH is there to your content?

Can your content be MORSELIZED easily and in a meaningful way?

Is your content easily SHAREABLE?

5 key questions

to ask

Patrons likely already expect free + open access to your content, and at least partially digital immersion

90% of the arts orgs surveyed let patrons share their content via email, SNS and Twitter

48% strongly agree and 26% agree that “the internet and related technologies have created an expectation among some audience members that all digital content should be free”

Just 3% strongly agree and 19% agree that “the internet and digital technologies are hurting attendance at in-person events”

Can you give up control of your content?

“Access will be good for educational purposes and to increase awareness of the arts, especially historical material in

performance of all types. However, issues of copyright and payment for that material, such as in apps and in streaming or

downloading, are murky and hard to navigate for artists themselves as to value and fairness of payments to the artist

for original content.”

“As the realism of participatory digital entertainment and the immersion ability of non-participatory digital entertainment

increases, it threatens the elements that make the live arts unique—the sense of immediacy, immersion, and personal interaction with

the art. We've long hung fast to the belief that there's nothing like a live experience, but digital entertainment is getting closer and closer

to replicating that experience.”

“The audience has already moved from ‘arts attendance as an event’ to ‘arts attendance as an experience.’ This desire for a full-

range of positive experience from ticket purchase, to travel, to parking, to treatment at the space, to quality of performance, to

exit – this will only increase over the next 10 years.”

Can you give up control of the online conversation?

• Credibility and reputation are assessed through multiple filters

–Trusted information sources (including search engines)

–Personal beliefs/experiences

–Social networks

–Aggressive fact checking

• Bad information hangs around, but it can be attacked in several ways

–Directed response

–Recanting (by you or others)

–Better information, especially from multiple sources

• Just 5% of the arts orgs surveyed say that “social media creates more risks than benefits for our organization”

“Any time you engage in social media, you open yourself up to negative feedback. An example of this would be announcing our

summer concert series, and having someone not like one of the many guest artists we

bring in. However, for every negative comment, there is usually someone with a

different opinion.”

“We were the subject of comments concerning funding and donations from a

local political organization and our patrons responded in full with comments, examples and telling our story in a stronger and better

way than even our staff would have been able to do. We were proud that we did not

have to, in any way, defend our value to the community, our audience did this for us.”

52% of organizations not on social media say that lack of control of what is said in these spaces is a reason they

don’t use them

Surveillance – powerful watch ordinary

Sousveillance – ordinary watch powerful

Coveillance – peers watch peers

Can you give up control of the online conversation?The reality is that all organizations face more scrutiny

Transparency and openness are new markers of trust

Signal your audience that you trust them with your content AND with your reputation

“We provide grants and an organization who

was unhappy about not receiving a grant posted some negative stuff on

Twitter. While we responded and kept it professional, it did put negative comments out there associated with our profile, potentially damaging our brand.”

What is your organization’s digital identity/personality?

• 76% of social media-using arts orgs have full-time paid staff tending the sites

• 29% use part-time staff

• 16% use volunteers, 8% use paid contractors

• Altogether, 13% use a combination of full-time and part-time staffers to manage social media

• Just 27% have a staff member whose position is dedicated to social media management

• 73% use staff to oversee social media who also have other responsibilities

• 70% agree (including 38% who strongly agree) that “Younger employees in our organization have a more positive view of social media”

“Before we put policies in place, one of our employees, who was a great social media user, kind of merged his own

identity on Facebook with that of our organization. Therefore, when he also

would party and post about it – it became an area of discipline. And he didn't understand the need for

separating these things out, keeping his personal life off of our public profile. That was several years ago.”

Social media is a top-down activity, not bottom-up

Who will you be online, and who will speak for you?

Impact


Guiding Questions

What are your ultimate goals in terms of impact?

How will you measure impact in

these areas?


(Your resources + tools available + human nature)

% of arts orgs who say the internet is very or somewhat important for…

Source: Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project Arts Organizations Survey. Conducted between May 30-July 20, 2012. N for respondents who answered this question=1,212.

What are your organizational goals vis a vis impact?

Perceived importance of the internet and digital tools among arts orgs, both external and internal

Internal

Education, Collaboration, Curation

• 56% see major impact on boosting org’s public profile

• 53% see major impact on engagement with public

• 48% see major impact on increasing traffic to website

• 45% see major impact on event promotion/ attendance

• 41% see major impact on audience building and stakeholder engagement

----------------------------------------------------

• 27% see major impact on audience engagement w/content

• Just 13% see major impact on professional collaboration, or on fundraising


Promotion (increasing

awareness, public image, attendance)

Engagement (with organization,

with content)

Education

Fundraising

Collaboration

Actual impacts arts orgs see from their internet/social media efforts

91% say social media is worth the time their organization spends on it

Promotion

•74% maintain an online calendar

•72% sell tickets online

•34% make info available through RSS feeds

•31% offer discounts through services such as Groupon or LivingSocial

Fundraising

•86% accept donations online

•47% sell merchandise online

•15% use apps to sell tickets, products or services

•5% accept donations or gifts via SMS or text messaging


Promotion (increasing

awareness, public image, attendance)

Engagement (with organization,

with content)

Education

Fundraising

Collaboration

Internet/social media efforts geared toward specific goals

What are your organizational goals vis a vis impact?Engagement with an organization can mean many different

things

At the bottom, communications and

relationships are tech-centric and automated. At the top, they are personal and labor-

intensive.

Using tech to automate interactions at the bottom helps scale engagement to

reach lots of people (websites, databases, email, social

networks).

Automated communications become less effective above level three, where personal

relationships become increasingly critical.

Borrowed from Gideon Rosenblatt’s “The Engagement Pyramid: Six Levels of Connecting People and Social Change”

Where bulk of social media impact occurs


What is the next level of engagement?

• 56% of arts orgs surveyed said internet and digital media have a MAJOR impact on organization’s public profile

• 53% say dig tools have a MAJOR impact on engagement with the public

• 48% see major impact on website traffic

• 45% see major impact on event promotion/ attendance

-------------------------------------------------

• 27% see a major impact on public understanding of/engagement with artistic content

• 16% see major impact on public education

A concern of orgs surveyed was that while social media encourage engagement with the organization, they do not

always encourage a deep engagement with/

understanding of artistic content

___________________

Is it the tool?

Is it how the tool is used?

Is it something unique about arts content?

Is it the social media audience?

Has this always been the case with arts outreach?

Is this true for all kinds of organizations?

Engagement with an organization or engagement with content?

How will you measure your impact?

Measuring impact is a 3-step process:

1)Decide which metric/tool to use to measure impact

2)Learn how to use it

3)Make decisions based on its output

Metrics can 1) help improve online presence, 2) provide data for funders, 3) inform decision-making

• 55% of arts orgs surveyed use Google Analytics to measure web traffic and campaigns

• 8% are not using any web analytics

• Generally, the bigger the overall budget, the more metrics an organization uses

• Online metrics (page views, unique visitors) v. measurable outcomes (ticket sales, museum

visits, membership, donations)

• Smaller organizations in particular note that measurable outcomes are very important

to funders

• Online metrics v. measurable impacts v. immeasurable impacts

(public education, collaboration may be less measurable impacts, not less common)

This may be the million dollar question!


• 49% of arts orgs surveyed have sought funding

specifically to expand their organization’s use of the internet or other digital

technologies, such as apps and social media (mostly

unsuccessful)

• 36% have conducted research to learn more

about how their audiences use technologies

• 35% agree that “the internet is shifting the

focus of many arts organizations from artistic

creation and curation to promotion and marketing”

Possible Impacts = Your Resources + Tools Available + Human Nature

Among arts organizations that do not currently have a social media presence…

Source: Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project Arts Orgs Survey. Conducted May 30-July 20, 2012. N for respondents who answered this question=1,117.


Not everyone is on board the social media train, mainly because of resources not desire


A new way of thinking about SCALE

Borrowed from

Michael Edson

Web and New Media Strategy for the

Smithsonian

@mpedson

Full version of his talk

“The Age of Scale” is available on

Slideshare

http://www.slideshare.net/

edsonm“A global ‘audience’ of collaborators (individuals, learners, fans, community) was not

imaginable to an organization 30 years ago” – Michael Edson

• New tools = a new approach to organization’s mission


• National Gallery has 4.6 MILLION visitors

• 108.4 million viewers for the 2013 SuperBowl

• 1.3 BILLION views of Gangnam Style (and counting)

• In November 2012 TEDTalk reached its ONE BILLIONTH video view

• Wikipedia has 1.8 BILLION edits and growing

• On KICKSTARTER in 2012, 2.2 MILLION people from 177 countries pledged more than $319

MILLION to support 18,000+ projects

• Canadian Astronaut Chris Hadfield’s rendition of “Space Oddity” had 1.8 million views on

YouTube and more than 3,000 Reddit comments Monday afternoon, one day after it was posted

Parts borrowed from Michael Edson

Web and New Media Strategy for the Smithsonian

Full version of his talk “The Age of Scale” is

available on Slideshare

Chris Hadfield understands SCALE

A new way of thinking about SCALE

Kristen PurcellAssociate Director for Research, Pew Internet

Project

[email protected]

Twitter: @pewinternet

@kristenpurcell

THANK YOU!!Data and report available at

pewinternet.org

Documents

Museums and Digital Communication Audience –Content – Impact Kristen Purcell, Ph.D., Associate Director, Pew Internet Project Art Museum Marketing Association