A Toe In The Water
Social Media at
National Galleries of
Scotland
Tessa Quinn
21 October 2010
Beginnings
nationalgalleries.org
National Galleries of
Scotland
Welcome to the National
Galleries of Scotland.
Our collection of Scottish
and international art is
among the best in the
world, and is housed in
five galleries across
Edinburgh.
We are open daily and
entrance is free.
Where We Are Now
nationalgalleries.org
Getting Social
August 2008
• AddThis
Bookmarks
• RSS Feeds
Flickr Commons
www.flickr.com/commons
January 2009
• 100 photos added
• Thousands of daily views
• Direct links to
nationalgalleries.org
• Building communities
and sharing knowledge
with enthusiasts
• Intended to build up
visible works in timed
stages – never quite
happened!
⊕
Some Positives and
Negatives
• 18th organisation to have launched a presence
there, and the first Scottish organisation to do so
• Lots of visits - in the first 24 hours of launch we
received 33,400 viewings
• Great comments from engaged audience
⊝
• Lack of click-backs to nationalgalleries.org
• No resource to reply to comments, develop
partnerships or add more images.
Importance of Dialogue
When a blogger asks for
comments but never replies
back, it's like beginning a
conversation and then
leaving a room when
someone else starts talking.
Amb:IT:ion Keynote
Jim Richardson, Managing Director of Sumo
What We Learned
• Have clearly defined aims
• Involve other departments
• Allocate sufficient staff resource
• Need a plan
HEADS UP blog
April 2009
Getting Serious
Aims of social media at NGS
• Reach new audiences and engage in a different way
with our current audience utilising the enthusiasm
our staff, fans and followers.
• Increase our online profile and reach, including
digital contacts and traffic to nationalgalleries.org.
• Engage in a dialogue/ conversation with our
audience encouraging audience loyalty,
engagement, participation and feedback.
NGS Social Media
Strategy
Initial Strategy (2010)
• Assess corporate issues of use, such as staff use of social media,
technical infrastructure and copyright considerations
• Engage staff across departments
• Establish and prioritise goals for all social media platforms
• Launch NGS Facebook by Summer 2010
• Develop operational processes for development, maintenance and
review of all social media platforms
Ongoing Strategy (2011-13)
• Promotion of social media initiatives
• Monitoring the efficacy of profiles / sites
• Integrate the development of social media and networks with overall
Communications Strategy
Facebook
• Launched July 2010 and
developed by New Media,
Press and Marketing
• Connect with both existing
and currently untapped
audiences in more
collaborative ways than is
currently possible with main
site
• Tie in RSS feeds, Flickr
images, Heads Up Blog
• 580 people ‘Like’ us
• Run on a pilot basis and, at
first, primarily used to
promote the public
programme.
Integration
Connect
Put Yourself in the
Picture
Is it working?
How Sociable?
Blog Stats
Blog Thoughts
“Thank you for keeping me and other lovers of the gallery in
the picture about developments. You are doing it in a very
imaginative and enjoyable way.”
KCB Wilkie - September 23, 2010 2:34 pm
• About 1000 visits per month and growing especially since
linking with Facebook
• Stories and information is being picked up by press
• Great opportunity to tell some of the more anecdotal
collection stories
• Frequently read by staff
• Bloggers get a buzz and a sense of pride to be able to speak
to our audience
• Good to get good comments – “Sometimes you forget that
people actually like us”.
Facebook Stats
Facebook Demographics
Facebook Thoughts
• Behind-the-scenes is popular e.g. Blog, flickr photos, youtube video
• Gives a dynamic feel to What’s On e.g. Peter Liversidge performances
• Provide an alternative ‘voice’ to nationalgalleries.org –
complementary not contradictory
• Fans have commented and ‘liked’ art from across the collection not
just modern/contemporary
• Facebook has offered the opportunity for us to see our Collection in
different ways, i.e. flagging up artists’ birthdays, specific events in
calendar, pop culture facts and relating them to our works
• We get immediate feedback from our visitors and supporters – we
have the potential to ascertain what is popular, appropriate,
welcome and necessary
nationalgalleries.org
nationalgalleries.org in last 12
months:
•4.7 million pages viewed
+12% year-on-year
•1,034,500 visits (2834 daily)
+18% year-on-year
Aims Revisited
• Reach new audiences and engage in a different way
with our current audience utilising the enthusiasm
our staff, fans and followers. 
• Increase our online profile, reach and traffic to
nationalgalleries.org. 
• Engage in a dialogue/ conversation with our
audience encouraging audience loyalty,
engagement, participation and feedback. 
The Future
• Integrate more online
• Tweet
• Partnerships – other organisations,
other digital initiatives and our
audience
• Integrate online and social with in
gallery visit
Thank You
Tessa Quinn
Head of New Media
tquinn@nationalgalleries.org