There's no time to panic: digital engagement tips for heritage institutions

Sian Shaw is digital learning manager at London's Westminster Abbey. He published his tips on digital engagement for colleagues tackling digital engagement for the first time during COVID-19. If "do something digital" is your current task,  DO NOT PANIC. Here are 8 top tips to get you started.

1. YOU DON'T HAVE A DIGITAL AUDIENCE - you have many different audiences who use digital in different ways. Use the audience knowledge you have onsite and apply it online. "Home parent" is a new audience, but it's not the only one!

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2. CONTENT IS KING - this is even more important in the current climate. What do you want to say? Why do you want to say it? Why would (one of your) audiences want to hear it? How could (one of your) audiences get involved? Ask yourself key questions.


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3) PICK YOUR TOOL - "doing digital" is not a thing, as every digital colleague will tell you. Time to work out which tools work for YOUR org - is my website infrastructure good enough for what I need? Is social best for us? And if so, which one? 

4) BE PRACTICAL - don't make your digital colleagues cry by bringing ideas that require huge budgets, whole restructures of websites and things that cost money. Be creative but also work with what you have. 


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5) STRATEGY - You've got an idea & it can practically work - but does it fit into the bigger picture? In this time of panic, come back to your org's mission/values and sense check new ideas. After all, TIME is as big a resource as any! 

6) TEST & LEARN - my friends, this is your new get out of jail free card. If it fits in your strategy to start new things and experiment, make sure you understand if they are working. If they do, great. If they don't, test & learn is all you need to say... 

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7) COPYRIGHT - I know you're excited but remember there are legal restrictions to what you can do. AN IMAGE ON GOOGLE ISN'T YOURS TO USE. Ok, I've got that out my system. Check everything you didn't create yourself!

8) SECTOR HELP - believe it or not, there are lots of us out there that do the thinking you do EVERY DAY, we even have careers out of it! Try to shut me up about digital literacy! Ask us and embrace up-skilling.


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