Black Country Living Museum partners with #LearnonTikTok

Image: Olivier Bergeron on Unsplash

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Black Country Living Museum has partnered with TikTok as part of their #LearnonTikTok program designed to support and encourage accessible and educational videos on the app.

 

TikTok’s learning fund is a $50m investment into a range of educators, non-profit organisations and professionals to bring educational content to its millions of users worldwide. The fund was inspired by a need to reach out to communities and provide content that can engage audiences with educational content, tutorials and subject expertise during the global pandemic.

 

The Museum launched their TikTok account in August 2020, and has since produced a wide range of engaging, educational and laugh-out-loud content, designed to tell the Black Country’s, and ultimately Britain’s, national story to a younger generation.

 

In just four months, the account has reached over ten million viewers, growing from zero to over 300,000 followers in just four months, making it the most followed museum in the entire world on the app. This staggering success was made official in December, when the Museum made the official UK TikTok 100 list.

 

The Museum’s combination of well-researched trends, a deep understanding of the platform and performances by a host of the Museum’s highly engaging historic characters has become a huge hit within the TikTok community. Many of the characters have taken on their own version of TikTok fame too, from the 1920s grandad giving his reassuring brand of Black Country life advice to the 1940s girl sharing the vital roles of women in Britain during WW2.

 

The Museum has also started playful trends, creating “#MuseumBeef” in order to engage other organisations to join in and partake in educational challenges on the platform. Museums both in the UK and further afield have continued to respond, including the Museum of London, Beamish and Old Salem Museums & Galleries, North Carolina.

 

Natasha Eden, Chief Operating Officer at the Black Country Museum comments: “I am absolutely thrilled with the Museum’s success on TikTok. It’s presented us with an incredible opportunity to meaningfully engage with a younger audience and showcase our wonderful museum and historic characters. As a museum and a charity, our fundamental goal is to tell the Black Country’s story in a way that is appealing and accessible. The pandemic has made this more apparent than ever. At a time when many of us are not physically able to visit museums, being able to occupy digital spaces in ways that capture people’s attention and imagination is so important. This partnership will allow us to continue to do that in new and creative ways, and I can’t wait to see what the future brings.”

 

"The Black Country Museum have seen huge growth on TikTok since joining the platform, due to their entirely unique and entertaining video content. We are delighted to include them in the TikTok 100 and as a #LearnonTikTok partner. The Black Country Museum are a great example of how charities, museums and educational institutions are able to use TikTok to build brand awareness, reach new audiences and really get creative, as more and more users turn to TikTok for eclectic learning content every single day".

 

- Edel Flood, Media Partnerships Manager

 

Follow the Museum’s TikTok here: www.tiktok.com/@blackcountrymuseum.

 

 

About Black Country Living Museum

 

An immersive experience from start to finish, Black Country Living Museum is an award-winning open air museum that tells the story of one of the very first industrialised landscapes in Britain.

 

Set across 26 acres, you’ll explore over forty carefully reconstructed shops, houses and industrial areas that represent the Black Country’s story. You’ll learn how steam power, human ingenuity and an increasingly interconnected world transformed this region into a manufacturing powerhouse. You’ll meet our historic characters who’ll tell you stories of what it was really like to live and work during this revolutionary period of history. Most importantly, you’ll see history brought to life before your eyes - you’ll hear the clang of hammers; smell the smoke billowing from red brick chimneys; and maybe even taste the best fish and chips in the world.

 

 

About TikTok

 

TikTok is the leading destination for short-form mobile video. Their mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy.