100 content ideas for museums
Let’s face it, coming up with a constant stream of content ideas for social media is exhausting and time-consuming.
Here I’ve set out 100 content ideas across nine themes to provide some inspiration, along with a few examples. Not all will be relevant to every museum but hopefully they will at least help get those creative juices flowing.
Behind-the-scenes content
A Day in the life series, showing what different people do in the museum
How to videos – eg how to clean different types of object, how to store objects not on display, how to catalogue and label objects (eg this video on The art of cataloguing from the Henry Art Gallery on YouTube)
A series where staff/volunteers/trustees each share their favourite object and explain why
A series where they share how they got started in their career path
A series where they each share a book recommendation (related to the museum/from the museum shop)
Behind the scenes of your work with the sector, eg this LinkedIn post from Trish Thomas, Head of Digital Innovation at London Museum, on how the museum’s new website is using AI to power content relationships
A time-lapse of object restoration or cleaning
A time-lapse of event preparation or capital works such as this video of the new Mary Rose Museum being built
A look inside museum storage
An object before and after conservation
Historical content and from the archive
Images from the archive
Bust historical myths eg this TikTok video from the Royal Armouries Museum showing that knights in armour can in fact get up off the ground!
Photos of the museum over time
On This Day – relevant events and facts from history related to the museum’s collections
Old museum advertising, leaflets, logos
Then vs Now comparison photos/drawings/objects eg a streetview or a household object from 100 years ago and today (eg Oxford University Museum of Natural History on Facebook)
Share interesting quotes from documents in the museum’s archives
‘A Day in the Life’ of a historical figure related to your museum (eg this YouTube video on A day in the secret annex from Anne Frank House)
Did you know videos with interesting or quirky facts
Trends and topical content
Make a meme or adapt a meme to your museum. The Museum of English Rural Life created The Absolute Unit, arguably the most viral museum meme back in 2018
Celebrate or acknowledge national days and holidays, whether quirky or serious eg (Sacramento History Museum on TikTok share from National Ferret Day and International Waffle Day to Museum Advocacy day and Black Press Day)
Use trending audio – viral sounds, music and voiceover
Use a trend eg Let Gen Z write the marketing script (See Beamish Museum’s TikTok that’s had over 1m likes to date) or Tell me you love ___ without telling me
Highlight a news story that’s relevant to your museum/collections
ASMR – capture sounds from the museum eg of an object being cleaned (the V&A has a whole ASMR at the museum series on YouTube
Join in with relevant hashtags, (eg York Museums Trust’s #CuratorBattle, popular during the Covid-19 pandemic)
Mythbust or comment on the accuracy of relevant historic objects, themes, language, actions and so on depicted in TV and film
Objects
Tell the story of an object (like this summary of the iconic Swedish Dala häst (horse) from Visit Dalarna on Instagram)
Our most popular/famous/rare/smallest/largest object
Tell a story about an object’s previous owner(s)
Explain key features of an object and provide up-close access eg The Tank Museum on YouTube
The conservation or cleaning of an object (examples from Historic Royal Palaces without a voiceover, and with a voiceover on Instagram)
Explain why an object is significant, interesting, unusual
Tell a story about how an object was acquired
Link objects from the collection – pair or compare two seemingly unrelated items from the collection with a shared connection
Unbox an object (see the V&A’s Unboxing series on YouTube)
An object timeline – show an object’s journey through time from creation to the present day
Quirky facts about objects
Relate objects to seasons, the news or other topical themes
An object of the week/month
Exhibitions
Top/Must-see 5/10 objects in the exhibition
Time-lapse of exhibition installations or breakdowns (eg the Australian National Maritime Museum on YouTube)
Unbox an object for display
Create and share a Spotify playlist with music relevant to or inspired by an exhibition (eg MoMA’s Art Tunes playlist for songs about works of art)
Insights into the development of a new exhibition
Interview with a curator
Interview with an exhibition designer
Interview with an artist(s)
Share challenge(s) with the exhibition and how they were overcome
Virtual tour or video walk-through of the exhibition
A carousel of images of the key objects in the exhibition and why they are relevant/significant
Share media/influencer/stakeholder/visitor reviews of the exhibition
Run a giveaway for preview tickets, exhibition tickets or merchandise
Last chance to see temporary exhibition
Staff/volunteers pick their must-have object for an exhibition on a certain topic (eg on women’s history from Chau Chak Wing Museum on Instagram)
Audience engagement / participation
Encourage, respond to and share user-generated content
Simply reply to audience questions and comments
Encourage creativity (eg the #GettyMuseumChallenge encouraging people to recreate art from their collections was a huge success and even became a book)
Ask me/us anything
Show (with permission) what participants have made in creative workshops
Polls or surveys inviting opinions, whether light-touch and fun, or more substantial market research
A giveaway or competition for a membership, event tickets or merchandise
Guess the object images and reveals
Live Q&As
Share fun ways to engage with objects (eg Barnsley Museums shares free, timed online puzzles of paintings from its collection)
Encourage sharing of memories eg around museum visits, museum objects
Ask audiences fun questions linked to your museum and its collections eg Would you rather… / Two truths and a lie / Caption this image … / Which object is older?
Enable a social media takeover (eg from an artist or young people as part of Kids in Museums’ Takeover Day)
Organisational news
Funding announcement and how the funding will benefit the museum and its audiences
New hire announcements
Celebrate award nominations and wins
Special visitor milestones eg 100,000th visitor
Share building renovations and accessibility improvements
Celebrate and thank long-serving staff and volunteers
Announce new partnerships and collaborations, or simply partner with other stakeholders in a social media post such as this one from London’s museums, galleries and libraries to celebrate #InternationalMuseumDay
Share green initiatives and sustainability work the museum is undertaking
Feature new research relating to the museum such as this TikTok from the American Natural History Museum about volcanic ash
A year in review looking back at highlights from the year
Infographics bringing to life key stats from the museum and its annual report
Promotion
Announce new events, exhibitions, workshops etc
Previews and teasers for what’s coming up
What’s on this weekend / this week / Coming up this month updates
Share fundraising drives and updates
Celebrate a museum milestone or anniversary
Announce new café items
Announce new shop stock or share key shop products in fun ways such as this Reel from the London Transport Museum showcasing its range of socks in tube carriages with matching moquette seating patterns
Themed gifts lists for upcoming events eg Valentine’s Day
Share limited edition items
Share sale offers
A countdown to a new exhibition launch or other big museum event
Share membership benefits
Showcase images from events
Share positive visitor reviews
Visit us
Must-see objects or spots in the museum
Themed visit guides eg A visit for history lovers / for families / for a 30-minute visit / for second-time visitors
Share a visual story so visitors know what to expect
What’s new this month/season? Whether events, exhibitions or seasonality eg The National Trust’s spring #BlossomWatch
Signpost to what else visitors can do in the area
Share accessibility information and improvements (for example the Vagina Museum on Bluesky)
Share café/menu improvements and additions.