Contagious: Why Museum Campaigns Go Viral

How-to Session
Angelica Aboulhosn, Brookings Institution, USA

In today’s digital landscape, maintaining a social media presence is par for the course. How, then, can museums leverage digital tools to reach new audiences online? The answer lies in the fabric of viral ideas. In Contagious, Jonah Berger discusses just such ideas and identifies a series of features common among the best-in-class. As Berger contends, viral ideas are those that leverage social currency, triggers, emotion, exposure, practical value and storytelling to connect with audiences on a resonant level. The same holds true for museums. It’s only those institutions that apply these principles that see an uptick in engagement on their social properties. In this how-to session, we’ll explore these principles of viral ideas in the context of museum marketing as we survey the best digital campaigns from across the sector.

Bibliography:
For more information on the campaigns discussed in this session, visit the following sites:
http://www.fastcompany.com/3005679/why-ideas-and-products-become-contagious-jonah-berger-formula
http://www.sfmoma.org/exhib_events/playartfully
http://www.geekwire.com/2015/museumbowl-seattle-new-england-art-museums-take-super-bowl-painting-bet-twitter/
http://vangoyourself.com/
https://davekrugman.exposure.co/emptymet
https://storify.com/ngadc/artatoz
http://www.metmuseum.org/mymet/whats-your-met