Finding the WW&F on Facebook

[Stewart "Start" Rhine]

Here's a quick report of how the museum's Facebook page has done with viewers during the month of September:

* People following the WW&F Railway page:  11,521
* People who have made comments or posted a "like" for a post:  31,033
* People who have read our news / event posts and viewed our photos:  54,148

[Mike Fox]

Thanks for the update Stewart. FB has become a very valuable asset to us. Thank you and all other FB contributors for the behind the scenes efforts that are done daily

[Stewart "Start" Rhine]

The situation this year has made our on-line presence more important than ever so our web site, FB page and the ticket booking service has gotten a solid work out.

[Ed Lecuyer]

In September, we also surpassed 11,000 "likes" on the Facebook page.

To put that in perspective, here is a list of the 5 most liked railroad attractions in northern New England, according to Facebook:
#52,068 - Clark's Trading Post
#27,772 - Conway Scenic Railroad
#27,115 - Mt. Washington Cog Railway
#11,082 - WW&F
#11,015 - Maine Narrow Gauge
Then EVERYONE ELSE!

Love it or hate it, Facebook is the most important tool we have for reaching those interested in railroading, as well as families and individuals looking for something interesting and fun. The FB team tries to strike a good balance in engaging these two audiences - and the results speak for themselves.

Meanwhile, trains are sold out for the next TWO weekends, and selling briskly through the end of October. When I ask passengers how they heard about us, the vast majority respond "Facebook."

[ALAIN DELASSUS]

Well done again fb team. Given the situation it's of a paramount importance to show the world that not only WW&F has kept the lights on but it's preparing the future. fb is an amazing tool to promote and publicize anything  under the sun provided that you know how to handle it and you both know it, to put it midly. Although AMTP fb team have uploaded  posts and photos  almost every week since May,  there are only 2282 followers and that number keeps steady. But like WW&F most visitors have heard about AMTP via fb.

[Stewart "Start" Rhine]

Thanks to everyone who promotes, discusses or brags about the museum.  The newsletter (on-line & hard copy), website and FB page have been  good outlets for WW&F news during this difficult year. 

Special thanks to our FB followers, November has been a good month with our news posts reaching 76,033 people.

[Stewart "Start" Rhine]

We finished 2020 on a high note -
 
Our page is now followed by over 12,600 people.
In the last 30 days our posts have been seen by 101,159 viewers. One update containing shop news was seen by 34,637 people.

This is a big plus for the museum, we will continue with more quality news, photos and event posts in 2021.

Thanks everyone!

[Dave Buczkowski]

And thank you Stewart! You can take most of the bows for those numbers.
Dave

[Ed Lecuyer]

For those keeping score, here is the updated list of the 5 most liked railroad attractions in northern New England, according to Facebook:
#52,079 - Clark's Trading Post
#29,069 - Conway Scenic Railroad
#28,994 - Mt. Washington Cog Railway
#12,273 - WW&F
#12,150 - Maine Narrow Gauge
Then EVERYONE ELSE!

FYI, MNG had temporarily bumped us out of 4th place (thanks to a visit from a cardboard cut-out of a famous roundhouse cat.) But, Stewart's last couple of photo posts went "viral", leaving MNG in the Dirt.

[Graham Buxton]

For those keeping score, here is the updated list of the 5 most liked railroad attractions in northern New England, according to Facebook:
#52,079 - Clark's Trading Post

Curiously, "Clark's Trading Post" now seems to have changed their name to "Clark's Bears": http://clarksbears.com/attractionsTrain.php

Per Wikipedia:

Clark's Bears, previously named Clark's Trading Post,^[1] is a visitor attraction in Lincoln, New Hampshire, United States, in the White Mountains. It is known for its trained bears^[2] and for the White Mountain Central Railroad, a 30-minute, 2.5-mile (4.0 km) steam-powered train ride.
Clark's Bears includes several museums:
 

• Americana Museum - collections of American historic items including steam and gas engines, early household appliances, advertising and products
• 1884 Pemigewasset Hook and Ladder Fire Station -horse-drawn fire engines, wagons and firefighting equipment
• Clark History Museum - History of Clark's Trading Post and the Clark family
• Florence Murray Museum - includes antique games, guns, swords, souvenir china, typewriters, railroad memorabilia
• Avery's Garage - a replica gas station with early motoring memorabilia, vintage motorcycles and antique automobiles

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clark%27s_Bears

[Stewart "Start" Rhine]

I really don't see a competition with other museums and attractions as we are all in the same business.  The main goal of our page, (and it's a team effort) is to present news and information about the WW&F.  With dedication and consistency we keep people interested in the work we are doing in rail preservation.  Railfans and historians want a classic Maine Two-Foot experience.  Families want entertainment along with  education for the kids. Our page provides a look at the railroad that hopefully interests people from both groups. 

The Facebook team's aim is for viewers to (1) get interested in the WW&F, (2) visit the museum, (3) become members and (4) support our projects with volunteer time and/or donations.

The weekly posts cover three general topics:  News, Project updates & Upcoming events.
There are many people who make this happen and the team should get the credit.
Thanks everyone!

[Ed Lecuyer]

I concur that there is no "competition" between the various railroad heritage operations.
The points I was trying to make are:
- Put the number of page likes into context, for those who are not familiar with Facebook metrics.
- Illustrate that we are one of the major (and most respected) players in heritage railroading.
- Compare our all-volunteer operation to the ones with paid staff, who have much bigger budgets for outreach and marketing.

It's really just another example of what we are doing right - thanks to our team/family of dedicated volunteers.