In 2015, the Blanton's Instagram was growing—but I knew that follower growth alone wasn't enough.
To help position the Blanton favorably in the Austin Instagram community, I researched key influencers in the city who had visited the Blanton or shown interest in the museum. I invited these hand-selected guests to a private, curator-led tour of a photography exhibition, followed by photo-taking opportunities in the empty museum. The event was a success, with positive feedback from surveyed participants, while also driving a 13% increase in followers and creating lasting relationships with influencers.
Notable projects
Instameet at the Blanton
In 2015, the Blanton's Instagram was growing—but I knew that follower growth alone wasn't enough.
To help position the Blanton favorably in the Austin Instagram community, I researched key influencers in the city who had visited the Blanton or shown interest in the museum. I invited these hand-selected guests to a private, curator-led tour of a photography exhibition, followed by photo-taking opportunities in the empty museum. The event was a success, with positive feedback from surveyed participants, while also driving a 13% increase in followers and creating lasting relationships with influencers.
Snapchat
How do you make an art museum accessible to a younger audience?
Meet students where they already are: Snapchat. As one of the first museums on Snapchat, I developed Blanton's strategy to engage with university students by pairing funny captions, internet memes, and quirky text with artworks in the Blanton's collection. The result? A feature in Buzzfeed, international press attention from Brazilian Newspaper O Globo, various mentions in art world publications, and lots of love from Snapchat users.
#WheresWarhol
For six months, the Blanton's permanent collection galleries were closed for renovations—but a temporary Andy Warhol exhibition was open.
How could the museum generate visitor excitement about the show on a shoestring budget? #WheresWarhol was born. Partnering with local Austin businesses, the Blanton launched a two-fold marketing campaign. Subscribers to the museum's eNewsletter would receive special offers for partner businesses, while unsuspecting Austin residents could follow clues on the Blanton's social media to "find" a flash mob of Warhols once a week in the downtown area and receive free passes to the exhibition. The campaign generated buzz, and reminded city dwellers that the Blanton knew how to keep Austin weird.