Museum Monetizes Media

Everyone wants to feel like a VIP.  To get past the red velvet rope.  To be recognized by the big guy at the door holding the clipboard and wearing the earpiece.  To cut in line ahead of the others because you know someone or, even better, you are someone to know.

The Brooklyn Museum has managed to do just that for it's members and is doing it through social media.  They have created a program called 1stfans that provide exclusive access and encourages members to get involved through social media.

As the Museum explains:

Socialize at exclusive events during the Museum’s monthly Target First Saturdays and continue connecting online with access to artist-created content on our 1stfans Twitter Art Feed. This paperless Membership is only $20 for the year and is fully tax-deductible!

When you become a 1stfan, you can:

• mingle  at exclusive events during every Target First Saturday
• access artist-created content  on our 1stfans Twitter Ar Feed
• receive updates  via Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, or e-mail
• skip the movie lines  at Target First Saturday

Will Cary, Membership for the Museum, explains that 1stfans is a way to increase members' involvement with the museum, get more information and get the info first.

Working in Membership means my job is to get people excited about and involved with the Museum. In that way, my job is just as much community-builder as it is fundraiser. Though our Membership base is sizable and diverse, I’ve always felt that there is a large group of Brooklyn Museum visitors that would like to be more involved with the Museum but do not view the traditional Membership structure and benefits as appealing. I wouldn’t be following the Museum’s mission if I didn’t make an effort to reach out to this group. The bottom-line part of my job (monthly income goals, budget projections, cost/benefit analysis) is important, but not as important—or as fun, I might add—as growing our Museum community and making personal connections with our Members. It is with the Museum’s community in mind that we are pleased to introduce a new Membership program at the Brooklyn Museum: 1stfans.

More and more businesses will continue to utilize social media to connect with their fans and even find ways to monetize it.  This is beginning of an exciting trend.