Museums need to educate the public and attract visitors. Visitors in effect pay for some or all of a museums educational outreach. Therefore, it is incumbent on museums to build attendance and remove obstacles to visiting the museum. For example, if a museum finds that it’s overcrowded in the afternoon, perhaps it can extend evening hours beyond ipod repair hours to spread out the demand for tickets. A public relations (PR) firm could be used to market this information to the general public and hopefully shift visit patterns to later in the day. Alternatively, an early-bird special ticket price might be useful.
To build a successful marketing plan, a museum should address the following tasks:
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Assessment: You should evaluate the quality of the experience provided to visitors. The activities offered by the museum should be varied enough to attract a wide range of visitors. This could mean going beyond the display of museum holdings to programs that require active participation, like seminars, concerts and art-appreciation classes. Novel experiences offered by a museum should be actively marketed, such as working an old-fashioned printing press or watching a planetarium star show. You will need to evaluate competing museums and attractions, the political environment at the state and local level, and the effects of the current economic situation.
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Opportunity: Quantify the best-case scenario for potential attendance at your museum. You can examine the demographics of your surrounding community. There are firms that sell leads and survey information that can help you identify suitable potential members of your museum as targets of a marketing campaign. You will want to think about expanding your audience to new groups by adding new attractions and special exhibitions. By evaluating the opportunities for growth, you have the basis for clearly defining your target audience.
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Objectives: These are targets like attendance numbers and revenues. Ideally, both should increase each year. Then specify marketing initiatives that will help you meet your objectives. You will need to budget each initiative and establish its priority. You should also agree on a timetable with deadlines to accomplish your objectives.
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Programming: Now that you know your objectives, you will need to set the strategy to achieve them. Agree on your museum’s key message, and then look at the important elements needed to achieve your key message. These are called “the four P’s”: product, price, place and promotion. Describe what the museum offers, how much to charge to various groups, perhaps having a free day once a week. Promotion includes advertising and all the different ways of getting your message out. Place involves making sure you have adequate parking and signage, handicap access, and enough bathrooms.
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Implementation: Execute your strategy and monitor results. Look at all aspects of the museum experience, including eating facilities and the gift shop, and watch how they are affected by the marketing plan. In the end, you want to ensure that the museum’s budget has been wisely allocated and that the influence of the museum in increasing.