Category Archives: M

What it means

Messaging, also sometimes referred to as copy, is the art of generating carefully crafted phrasing for use in marketing, communications, and audience engagement. It is created with the intended audience in mind to maximize effectiveness or resonance.

How it’s used

Messaging is used in advertising copy and communications outreach and as talking points for internal teams. It should make a clear and compelling assertion to advance some organizational objective, such as selling tickets or encouraging donations. Sometimes what we think we are saying is not what is being heard, and so its effectiveness can be improved through market testing, market research, and workshopping—all ways of listening to your audience.

Why it matters

Messaging serves to build awareness, create consistency, and develop positive associations with the museum. Messaging helps the audience understand why the museum matters, the work they do, where they want to go, and any big shifts (new directors, new board, crises, etc.). It serves to drive brand, perception, and action.

There is always a gap between what the organization wants to communicate and what is received by the intended audience. Messaging is the art of reducing the discrepancy between intent and result in external communications.

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What it means

Metrics are quantifiable, specific data points that are used to assess, compare, and track performance. Metrics are what make analysis possible in order to make strategic, data-driven decisions. Metrics are quantitative data and some examples include the number of visitors, number of page views, and number of social media post shares.

How it’s used

Metrics are a key way to measure the performance of a campaign, initiative, or program. Most metrics are identified based on the predetermined goals of a specific project.

Why it matters

Metrics are often gathered and analyzed to create a story that is shared with key stakeholders in reports, presentations, and other internal and external communications. These data-driven stories help gauge success and should be used to inform decisions, whether reinforcing or indicating direction changes in strategy and implementation.

Because museums are human-centered institutions, it is important to note that while critical, metrics and pure data points do not tell the whole story. Qualitative methods of gathering and interpreting data, such as interviews, focus groups, and observational studies, should also be used to provide a more robust picture than numbers alone.

Notes

See also Analytics

What it means

Marketing is the practice of helping people see the value of a museum in their life with the goal of motivating action. Marketing helps to organize and encourage the exchange between the museum and the public.

Marketing is both a function of which communications is a part and a shorthand for an operational unit within the museum that may be organized differently depending on the particular museum.

Marketing is a long-term process, which begins by identifying, understanding, and appealing to a target audience and then extends across the span of the museum’s relationship with that audience. Marketing may employ a range of tactics to make people aware of the museum and its offerings in order to foster engagement and increase positive associations. The goal of marketing is to build a relationship with current and potential audiences; this relationship encourages interactions with the museum and helps move audience members along a path from awareness to advocacy. (See also Audience Journey.)

How it’s used

Marketing may include research, positioning and branding, public relations, advertising (e.g., print, digital, and out of home), email, social media, and promotions. Marketing is often connected with communications so that both paid and earned media outreach are aligned.

Marketing is a core function of any organization that, although distinct from sales, is tied to earned revenue. Through market research, marketing brings audience insights into business and strategy conversations. All activities, even the most mundane ones, should be subject to consideration for how they are to be effectively communicated to the audience.

Why it matters

Marketing supports the museum’s goals by driving attendance and sales in support of earned revenue. An investment in marketing can be directly correlated to an increase in attendance, sales, and earned revenue. It also plays an important role in building brand awareness and reputation. Marketing is both a contributor to sustainability and the continuation of the museum’s mission.

Notes

All activities, even the most mundane ones, should be subject to consideration for how they are to be effectively communicated to the audience.

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