Museum staff tell trustees social media drove festival growth, plan renewed YouTube focus

Museum social media manager Zach briefed trustees on the institution’s digital strategy, saying Facebook and Instagram remain the museum’s largest audiences and that a mix of organic posts and targeted advertising contributed to steady festival and program growth.

Zach said the museum uses social media for two main goals—storytelling and driving admissions, memberships and sponsorships—and highlighted audience-targeting capabilities useful for niche programs, such as homeschool offerings. He showed historical festival-attendance trends and attributed a substantial share of expanded geographic reach (routinely drawing attendees from 50+ miles away) to the museum’s social campaigns and paid promotions.

Trustee Katherine McGuire asked about YouTube and short-form video; Zach confirmed the museum maintains a YouTube channel that has not been a formal focus since the pandemic but that staff plan to reinvest in it to reach adult audiences and to improve search visibility. Trustees also discussed sponsorships and paid posts; Zach described a sponsor post for Reptile Festival with Bright Speed and said the museum could scale sponsor-promoted content.

What to watch next: The board encouraged expanded use of YouTube and measurement practices that favor quality engagement over vanity metrics.