- which of the TOP art galleries and museums do well on Facebook
- which do much better than their GLOBAL ranking for visitors
- How many followers the top art galleries and museums have achieved on Facebook to date?
Below you can find:
- which TOP art museums and galleries:
- do well on Facebook relative to their global ranking for visitors
- which do much better on Facebook
- which need to work out why they perform less well
- my suggested explanations for the differences between actual and virtual visitors
- how all this relates to how you as an artist who markets your art online
How Museums and Art Galleries Rank for Visitors and Facebook Likes
This table compares how Facebook Likes compare to the actual number of visitors an art gallery of museum had in 2015. Below it I add some comments as to the 'quirks' of this data - and another table to show you which are the top 10 museums on Facebook.
[Note: Visitors Figures in 2015 come from the annual survey conducted by The Art Newspaper and associated report; Facebook Figures come from my Insights Page re the other Pages I follow from my Making A Mark Facebook Page]
Museum
Visitors in 2015
|
Museum
|
Location
|
No. of Facebook Likes
|
|||||
2015
visitors
|
World
Ranking
|
Rank on
Facebook
|
Total
Page Likes
|
|||||
8,600,000
|
1
|
Louvre
|
Paris
|
1
|
2,300,000
|
|||
6,820,686
|
2
|
British
Museum
|
London
|
5
|
1,300,000
|
|||
6,533,106
|
3
|
Metropolitan
Museum of Art
|
New
York
|
3
|
1,800,000
|
|||
6,002,251
|
4
|
Vatican
Museums
|
Vatican
City
|
18
|
202,500
|
|||
5,908,254
|
5
|
National
Gallery
|
London
|
8
|
788,600
|
|||
5,291,797
|
6
|
National
Palace Museum
|
Taipei
|
|||||
4,712,581
|
7
|
Tate
Modern
|
London
|
6
|
1,000,000
|
|||
4,104,331
|
8
|
National
Gallery of Art
|
Washington
DC
|
7
|
795,800
|
|||
6,338,031
|
9
|
State
Hermitage Museum
|
St.
Petersburg
|
26
|
38,900
|
|||
3,440,000
|
10
|
Musee
d'Orsay
|
Paris
|
9
|
703,800
|
|||
Commentary
- The top three are way ahead of every other museum and art gallery which ranks well for visitors. This suggests diverse strategies for marketing their museums and art galleries in terms of traditional methods and newer methods associated with virtual visitors.
- Yet again the Louvre is way ahead of every other museum - there is a very significant margin on Likes just as there is on Visitors. There has to be an explanation for this that goes beyond the content of the museum. Smart marketing perhaps? It's certainly worth watching how the Louvre posts on Facebook.
- If a country is not Facebook friendly it's unlikely a museum located there will get a lot of likes. Museums and art galleries in parts of the world which might not be so Facebook friendly (eg the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg) are doing less well on Facebook
Which Museums are Missing from the Table?
- I started with the top ten museums and art galleries in terms of the recorded attendance of annual visitors they attract.
- Missing from this top ten of museums and art galleries I follow are those that are ranked numbers 2, 4 and 10 in terms of Facebook Likes.
So here's the table again - except this time it's based on which art museums and galleries rank in the top 10 for Facebook Likes - and below I highlight some of the key facts indicated by this table.