The Tank Museum’s YouTube channel has reached a milestone 500,000 subscribers, just a few days after becoming the first museum to achieve a total of 100 million views.
The achievement ranks the Dorset based charity as the most successful of any Museum YouTube channel in the world, ahead of major institutions like the British Museum.
Head of Marketing Nik Wyness said; “As a rural regimental Museum, we see YouTube as an essential means of reaching a wider audience – helping us to fulfil our mission to tell the story of the tank and the people that served in them.”
The channel holds over 400 videos; covering the history of the vehicles in the Museum, mini-documentaries, action from events and videos featuring well known tank enthusiasts such as Comedian Al Murray and Historian James Holland.
“The benefits of growing this online community became fully apparent during the pandemic, when they became an essential source of support during a very difficult time,” he said.
But the stars of the channel, which is produced entirely by the museum team, have been expert staff members such as Museum Curator David Willey, and Historian David Fletcher.
The Tank Museum’s 2020 TANKFEST live stream was watched by over 1 million people across the globe and raised almost £100,000 alone.
“As a charity in a relatively remote location, it’s important that we are always looking to find new ways to reach new audiences and potential supporters to ensure our sustainability.
“YouTube has allowed us reach a global audience of tank enthusiasts – and it’s as a direct result of this that we are now generating over ¼ of our annual turnover from non-visitors”.
The Museum’s YouTube channel has also attracted support from large funding bodies like The National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Arts Council, allowing them to build on their success and branch out into TikTok – which has currently achieved over 55 million views.
