Knowledge bank

For this video guide, Tate’s Digital Communications Manager Jesse Ringham talks to Charlotte Frost about how to set up and tailor your Facebook page, plan your content, establish your voice and engage with your audience. Plus Jesse offers his top tips on how artists and organisations can build a fan base and use Facebook as part of their social media strategy.

Video co-produced by:
Charlotte Frost www.digitalcritic.org | twitter.com/charlottefrost
and Jared Schiller jaredschiller.co.uk | twitter.com/jaredschiller

Contributor: Jesse Ringham. Digital Communications Manager, Tate

Tate's commitment to digital marketing is led by Jesse Ringham, Digital Communications Manager for Tate. Jesse leads on the strategy and seeks to embed good practice across the organisation. This is a relatively new role in the museums environment and has completely challenged the way Tate communicates with its many audiences. Jesse joined Tate from the retail sector and has helped the organisation reach a far broader audience with his accessible style, two-way communication and use of statistical evidence. Fans and followers on Facebook and Twitter have each increased by over 800% since Jesse started, and the email bulletin list has grown by 39% in the last four months alone. Jesse is helping departments across Tate adapt to this more personalised and participatory style, which incorporates both Tate and visitors' views, photos and opinions.

Tate is at the forefront of museums and galleries in the UK in its innovative use of digital marketing media. New technologies make it much easier to communicate with broad audiences on a regular basis, and help fulfil Tate’s brand mission of further democratising access to art.

Tate’s strategy is based on provoking dialogue between artists and audiences, opening up conversations between art, artists and visitors. Many people these days, and particularly younger people, expect to be able to participate in projects, so Tate’s media and audiences strategy is based around contributing and sharing information and asking people to take part. Tate now sees its social media presences as an interactive platform for engaging people with art rather than just being a broadcast mechanism.

www.twitter.com/jesseringham
www.twitter.com/Tate
www.facebook.com/tategallery
www.tate.org.uk

Top tips

1. Get a Social Media strategy in place - question yourself why Social?

2. Be prepared - it's so important to have a content plan.

3. Listen, respond and update - it’s important to regularly update your account, listen and respond.

4. Be open - be prepared to respond to any questions or comments, for as long as there are comments coming in.

5. Be conversational -friendly and informative, and by actively responding to questions from fans, you’ll build greater trust and following - gain a voice for your brand.

6. It is critical that you establish a two-way dialogue with your audience and are active because new followers will be put off by an inactive or one-way account.

Look out for

www.facebook.com/ASOSOfficial (revenue f-commerce)
www.facebook.com/jamieoliver?v=app_4949752878 (awareness - tone of voice)
www.facebook.com/porsche?sk=app_73697663718 (applications)
www.facebook.com/Starbucks (sheer volume)
www.facebook.com/pages/Percy-Pigs/65577148616 (natural fan page)

Charlotte Frost

Charlotte Frost is a writer/researcher in art and technology, focusing on digital and new media art forms and post-internet critical strategies. Her specialism is the impact of internet technologies on the history and criticism of art. She writes the 'Digital Practices' news column for a-n and was formerly the co-ordinator of a-n Collections.

www.digitalcritic.org

First published: a-n.co.uk March 2011