Objects or inspiration: should museums focus on marketing the collection or the experience?

Heather Maitland

Here’s how two local museums in the UK introduce themselves to potential visitors:
“Grantham Museum interprets the archaeology and history of this market town and includes Sir Isaac Newton, the Dambusters and Margaret Thatcher.”

“A ‘hands on’ museum for all the family. Full of fun activities for kids, fascinating facts for adults and, for the not so young, a chance to share some cherished memories! Come and discover Rochdale’s past and, perhaps, shape its future”
One focuses on the collection and the other on the experiences visitors can expect.

The reason that someone goes to a museum or art gallery is to experience the art on the wall or the artifacts in the display case – without the objects, there would be no experience. But usually visitors don’t talk about those things when they describe why they enjoyed the exhibition…

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Turning interest into action: reaching the potential visitor

Heather Maitland

Four out of ten people in the UK have visited a museum or gallery in the past 12 months whereas six out of ten have visited a cinema. But 53% of the people who had not been to a museum or gallery give reasons for not attending that imply an underlying commitment to the concept of attending. So more than half of non-visitors are interested in attending – and even more feel positive about museums and galleries with 76% of non-visitors stating that it’s very or fairly important that their local town or city has its own museum or gallery.

So how can we turn this latent interest into action and persuade these potential attenders to visit…

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