Louvre’s Community Manager: Social media is the “cherry on the cake”

Ask people from around the globe to name the most iconic art institution in the world, and a top reply will undoubtedly be the Louvre. Not the Musée du Louvre or even the Louvre Museum, but simply the Louvre. Opened at the turn of the 18th century and visited by more people than any other museum in the world, the Louvre stands alone.
It may be surprising to some, then, to see how the Louvre has embraced social media. The legendary museum is in ways an unlikely proponent of social channels that have sprung up in just the last dozen years. What can one of the world’s greatest cultural institutions, occupied by a small army of curators safeguarding some of the world’s greatest treasures, gain from Tweets, Likes, pins, and the rest?

ty Manager, Niko Melissano, uses their Facebook page to create narratives that help put the museum “in the life of people, no matter how far away they may be.” His posts bring the institution to life with sentimental details about the artwork or historical facts about the building. They also draw a diverse crowd. He frequently runs art quizzes with a prize of train tickets to nearby European destinations and he’s delighted that everyone from young students to seasoned historians are tuning in. And in the true spirit of social media, Melissano collaborates with community managers from art museums across Paris to give an insider’s peak behind the city’s great institutions. On Twitter, they share a closing day hash tag, tweeting details of what goes on behind the scenes on days when their doors are shuttered to the public.
TripAdvisor is a significant part of the Louvre’s social picture, as well. Though by policy the museum website does not link to other sites, they made an exception for TripAdvisor so they can display their latest traveler reviews and ratings. According to Melissano, the Louvre recognizes “TripAdvisor is very well known” and that its global reach presents an opportunity to continue to build the Louvre’s foreign visitor base. The TripAdvisor content is positioned on their highly trafficked “Hours and Admissions” page – a strategic move that puts it in front of as many prospective visitors as possible.
If you search for the top museums in social media, the Louvre comes in at #3 based largely on their Facebook following of over 1 million. That makes Melissano proud. For him, social networking “puts the cherry on the cake,” enriching the museum experience for art lovers and travelers around the world. A pretty good reason for one of the world’s legendary cultural institutions to venture into new frontiers.