Promotion of the Museum in the Digital Environment (Case Study: The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts)

This paper deals with the role of digital technologies in the promotion of the museum of fine arts (case study: the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts). The study is justified by the fact that the problem of attendance is still acute for modern Russian museums, as not all of them accept the digital environment as a new opportunity to work with the audience. The objective of the research is to determine the role of digital technologies in the promotion of the museum of fine arts (on the example of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts). The hypothesis of the study is that the effectiveness of the use of digital technologies in the promotion of the museum could be increased by more attention to the permanent exhibition, rather than temporary displays, as well as systematic work with the audience starting from schoolchildren. The main empirical method of the work is expert interview with the staff of Moscow museums. We also conduct the analysis of marketing survey of visitors of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, a comparative analysis of growth dynamics of followers in social networks of the leading Russian museums and the analysis of theoretical sources on the topic. Scientific novelty is acknowledged by the fact that we developed a new version of the promotion strategy in the digital environment to the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts. As a result, the hypothesis has been confirmed as the main principles of the new media strategy are to create a community around the museum by the means of digital media, starting with the children's audience and shift the promotion strategy focus from temporary exhibitions to permanent display. Also it is important to have a clear plan of promotion and to integrate media strategy into the museum development concept, to study the audience, to enter public platforms, to develop a new mobile application, to redesign the museum website and to introduce a new approach to managing museum pages in social networks.