--- title: "Social Media Marketing Lessons: The Met's Sree Sreenivasan #BRITEConf" description: "The Met's Sree Sreenivasan offers social media marketing lessons during #BRITEconf 2015 about the Metropolitan Museum of Art's use of online content." image: https://www.simplemarketingnow.com/hubfs/images/The-Met-twenty20_ig-529200466088651929_17868034.jpg --- [![simple-marketing-now-logo.png](https://www.simplemarketingnow.com/hs-fs/file-2223845170-png/Simple_Dec2014/logo/simple-marketing-now-logo.png?width=180&name=simple-marketing-now-logo.png "simple-marketing-now-logo.png")](https://www.simplemarketingnow.com) ![Simple Marketing Now is HubSpot Certified](https://www.simplemarketingnow.com/hs-fs/file-2208007916-png/Simple_Dec2014/img/img-hubspot-certified-partner-badge.png?width=85&name=img-hubspot-certified-partner-badge.png "Simple Marketing Now is HubSpot Certified") - [Services](https://www.simplemarketingnow.com/services) - [Services](https://www.simplemarketingnow.com/services) - [>> Strategy & Direction](https://www.simplemarketingnow.com/services/strategy) - [>> Systems & Tools](https://www.simplemarketingnow.com/systems-tools-infrastructure) - [>> Execution, Content & Programs](https://www.simplemarketingnow.com/execution-content-programs) - [Case Studies](https://www.simplemarketingnow.com/case_studies) - [Case Studies](https://www.simplemarketingnow.com/case_studies) - [Website Redesign](https://www.simplemarketingnow.com/case_studies/website-redesign) - [Complete Redesign on HubSpot](https://www.simplemarketingnow.com/case_studies/website-redesign/complete-overhaul) - [Business Blogging](https://www.simplemarketingnow.com/blog) - [Blog](https://www.simplemarketingnow.com/content-talks-business-blog) - [Content Talks Business](https://www.simplemarketingnow.com/content-talks-business-blog) - [Flooring the Consumer](https://www.simplemarketingnow.com/blog/flooring-the-consumer) - [Social Flooring Index](https://www.simplemarketingnow.com/blog/social-flooring-index-blog) - [About](https://www.simplemarketingnow.com/about) - [About Us](https://www.simplemarketingnow.com/about) - [Meet the Simplifier](https://www.simplemarketingnow.com/about_us/christine_b_whittemore) - [Testimonials](https://www.simplemarketingnow.com/about_us/testimonials) - [News](https://www.simplemarketingnow.com/news) - [Resource Library](https://www.simplemarketingnow.com/resources) - [Customer Experience Articles](https://www.simplemarketingnow.com/About_Us/Christine_B_Whittemore/customer-experience-articles) - [Contact](https://www.simplemarketingnow.com/contact-us) - [Contact Us](https://www.simplemarketingnow.com/contact-us) - [Subscribe to Newsletter](https://offers.simplemarketingnow.com/join-our-monthly-enewsletter-list) ![Flooring The Consumer Blog](https://www.simplemarketingnow.com/hs-fs/file-2356801856-jpg/Simple_Dec2014/backgrounds/flooring-consumer-blog.jpg?width=1600&name=flooring-consumer-blog.jpg "Flooring The Consumer Blog") - [Content talks business blog](https://www.simplemarketingnow.com/content-talks-business-blog) - [Flooring the consumer blog](https://www.simplemarketingnow.com/blog/flooring-the-consumer) - [The social flooring index blog](https://www.simplemarketingnow.com/blog/social-flooring-index-blog) # Flooring The Consumer Blog ## [Social Media Marketing Lessons: The Met's Sree Sreenivasan #BRITEConf](https://www.simplemarketingnow.com/blog/flooring-the-consumer/social-media-marketing-lessons-the-mets-sree-sreenivasan-briteconf) Posted by [Christine B. Whittemore](https://www.simplemarketingnow.com/blog/flooring-the-consumer/author/christine-b-whittemore) on May 13, 2015 **This is a 6 minute read.** **![Social Media Marketing Lessons: The Met's Sree Sreenivasan #BRITEConf](https://www.simplemarketingnow.com/hs-fs/hubfs/images/The-Met-twenty20_ig-529200466088651929_17868034.jpg?width=487&name=The-Met-twenty20_ig-529200466088651929_17868034.jpg)** When's the last time you visited the Met - virtually or in person? There are social media marketing lessons to be learned from those interactions as Sree Sreenivasan shared during #BRITEconf 2015. ## Placing the Met Into Digital Perspective The Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC is an amazing institution. It has history, remarkable works of art, endless cultural icons in a setting that brings ancient worlds to life, helps you understand context and generally elevates the soul. However, the Met has also had to figure out how to translate all of that culture in a way that captures people's attention and engages them.  (This bridging of old and new fascinates me. Here's an article on the topic: [Museum Innovation To Connect With Customers](http://flooringtheconsumer.blogspot.com/2009/03/museum-innovation-to-connect-with.html). I also love [Gazing into the Future of Content Marketing, Social Media Marketing](https://www.simplemarketingnow.com/blog/flooring-the-consumer/bid/156027/gazing-into-the-future-of-the-customer-experience-11-observations)...) Sree Sreenivasan formerly Columbia University Digital Media Professor at the School of Journalism and first Chief Digital Officer, now Chief Listening Officer (aka Chief Technology Officer) for the Met, shared highlights from his first year there in **Digital, Mobile, Social Lessons from a year at the @MetMuseum: what every business should know** during #BRITEConf 2015. ([Here's how to access his slides](https://bit.ly/sreebrite15).) ## The Met's Commitment to Social Media Marketing  It's serious! According to Sreenivasan, there are 12 photographers at the Met to help capture all the wonders that happen there. The social media marketing team includes 70 people who handle blogging, email, podcasts, video (including flyapp.com to shorten videos). Luckily, the Met also has lots of images online that can be accessed and shared online. At the heart of all of the social activities and interactions is respect for human attention. Human attention is the most precious of human resources as @BenParr highlights in his writings. In his new role, Sneenivasan considers himself Chief Listening Officer for the Metropolitan Museum of Art and he listens online and off. The Met must not lose sight of how important it is to capture attention:  - For example, the Sal Khan pilot project at the Met – take content and put it on the Kahn platform. See [Khan Academy to Carry Extensive Content Created by Metropolitan Museum Based on Its World-Renowned Collection ](https://www.metmuseum.org/about-the-museum/press-room/news/2014/khan-academy)[New Partnership Will Extend Free Online Learning Opportunities Globally](https://www.metmuseum.org/about-the-museum/press-room/news/2014/khan-academy). - The Met offers free wifi via a simple form to capture emails. Visitors can skip it. Most don't. - Sree's boss Thomas Campbell is on Instagram. He chose that over Twitter because it's more intimate and enables him to really connect with the Met's audience. - The Met is on lots of social media platforms. The numbers aren't what matter; rather it's about providing the platforms that are right for the Mets' different audiences. - Every exhibit now has a hashtag so visitors can tweet about it. Some insights:  - Although the audience is changing for everything, it remains curious. - People love a peek behind the scenes. The Met has started to blog about new painting aquisitions, and how those will be fixed or prepared for viewing. - Mobile is even more important than ever. - Useful, simple, delightful = principles for apps and mobile. (To put things into perspective, the New York TImes Now app only offers 30% of the NYT content. It doesn't try to do everything, yet is hugely popular.) - Although new projects are wonderful and important, it's even more valuable to bring alive what is already done. Are there ways to get people to understand what you're already doing? How might you get them to see what you're doing? That's valuable to share via social media marketing. ## Takeaways From The Met's Social Media Marketing Lessons The lessons I consider valuable to creating a customer experience that captures attention: - How can you tell stories to bring your product to life? - Share the insider and behind-the-scenes perspectives that communicate the work-in-progress nature of your product - Tell stories from different perspectives - in words, with pictures, with video, in different formats - Understand what's relevant to your audience. - Have fun - Experiment - Make your audience feel special and inspired. - Make sure that there's substance behind what you share socially.  To put all this into perspective, look at how the Met uses its social platforms to share content, and look at the kind of content it shares on each platform.  ![Met-Social-Media-BriteConf15](https://www.simplemarketingnow.com/hs-fs/hubfs/images/Met-Social-Media-BriteConf15.jpg?width=801&name=Met-Social-Media-BriteConf15.jpg) ### The Met on Facebook Established on November 7, 2007 - 1,116,000 likes - Artwork of the day - Artists' birthdays - Exhibitions - Sweepstakes - Events and programs - Blog posts - Museum announcements and initiatives - Promote other channels such as Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter ### The Met on Twitter Twitter established on November 6, 2008 - 747,000 followers - Exhibitions - The permanent collection - Artists' birthdays - Relevant current trends - Events and programs - Blog posts - Museum announcements and initiatives - Press coverage - Twitter Q&A - Live tweeting from events such as Met Gala, Fiesta, Membership's 82nd and Fifth event, TEDxMet ### The Met on Pinterest Pinterest was established in March 2012 - 557,199 followers - Highlight the permanent collection through thematic boards - Exhibition boards - Watson Library Digital Collections Board - Cloisters anniversary board - Boards for Museum projects including 82nd & fifth and select Connections Episodes 25 boards and 1516 pins to date. Pinterest is the third highest social referral behind stumbleupon and facebook for the Met. ### The Met on Instagram Instagram was established on January 29, 2013 - 169000 followers - Permanent collection - Exhibitions - Gallery views - Throwback thursday historical images - Architectural details - Photos from events - #emptymet - Campaigns, i.e., #everydayepiphanies ### The Met on YouTube - Recorded talks and performances - Exhibition-related videos - Teaser reels - Online initiatives (ie., 82nd and fifth/connnections) - Director's Messages - Historical videos ### The Met on Flickr  - Main photostream: photographs from Education, MEmbership, MADI events - Group Pool: user-submitted photos >> See [Social Media Networks Roundup: Which Ones Matter to You?](https://www.simplemarketingnow.com/content-talks-business-blog/social-media-networks-roundup-which-ones-matter-to-you) for perspective on Flickr and other social media marketing networks. ### The Met on Foursquare - Tips by museum staff, visitors, and others, e.g., WSJ, TimeOut New York, the Onion, the New Yorker - 12 Locations: MDR, Nolen Library, The Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, Metropolitan Museum Steps, The Cloisters, etc. - Met Lover Badge when you check in twice and follow the Met. ## What's Next for the Metropolitan Museum of Art and its Social Media Marketing Networks: - Highlight user generated content across channels - More involvement from curatorial and conservation staff - Launch new channels - Increase presence within the Museum - Access to behind the scenes content I love how inter-related the content is from one platform to another and appreciate how it is customized to suit the individual networks. 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