Category Archives: T

What it means

Thought leaders are public-facing subject matter experts, who seek to proactively influence broader opinion. It is not a permanent title and it requires that the content be at the forefront of the subject matter. Thought leaders can organically emerge from inside the museum and it is not required that they be a senior leader in the organization.

How it’s used

Museums are an excellent platform for individuals to be recognized for their expertise. The museum can empower and enable its people at all levels of the organization to develop their thought leadership capacity. Communications teams are often tasked with raising an internal thought leaders’ profile by leveraging opportunities for them. 

Thought leadership is frequently a goal of museum leadership and recognized as a strategy to utilize the talents of individuals within the organization. It positions both the individuals, and the organization as leaders, and increases the visibility of the museum’s work. Museums themselves can be thought leaders, staking out a consistent, focused, and publicly recognized position of expertise and thus become sought after when the subject arises in public and professional discussions.

Smaller museums have a brand imperative to find and keep focus as you can only be a thought leader on a few topics. Larger encyclopedic museums often struggle with focus because they are inevitably pulled in so many different directions. 

At encyclopedic museums it’s more likely that there will be individuals with niche areas of expertise that don’t represent the museum as a whole. For specialized and smaller museums however, thought leadership is an opportunity to gain recognition and public stature for the museum itself. 

Why it matters

Thought leadership translates into greater visibility, more frequent invitations to panels and conferences, and publications within the field and for general audiences. This, in turn, bolsters a museum’s public profile and funding opportunities, while also enhancing public awareness and trust. Consistent thought leadership can also help attract and keep capable employees.

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What it means

A target audience is a group of people with shared demographic and/or psychographic characteristics that the museum has identified for a particular purpose, such as exhibition or program attendance or participation in a survey. Target audiences are often represented by a persona (see Audience Persona) with a name and detailed description, highlighting specific characteristics that are representative of a member of this group.

How it’s used

Consider a marketing campaign for an upcoming project; a broad message targeted to the general public might be seen, but is at risk of being overlooked, whereas a much more focused message that keys in on the needs and interests of a particular audience is likely to be more effective. Well-defined target audiences and research-based knowledge of what these audiences value enhance the museum’s project team’s ability to work together in a more focused manner as they seek to achieve the project’s audience-based goals.

A product, such as an exhibition, is best developed with a target audience in mind. Not doing this means that the target audience defaults to those within the museum instead of an identified external audience. Nothing is truly for everyone, but specific targeting, when done well, can have the effect of energizing the audience most likely to benefit from the program or exhibition. This, in turn, can spark word-of-mouth and thus significantly extend the reach of the museum’s marketing and communication efforts and expand the realized audience beyond the original target.

It should be noted that, in general, new audiences are far more difficult to attract than existing ones and any new target audience will require persistent and sustained effort to develop and maintain.

Why it matters

Target audiences allow the organization and its staff to focus their resources and efforts on an agreed-upon audience or community. This helps to clarify where to advertise, for example, and what aspects of the offer to highlight in the museum’s communications. Deepening a relationship with a target audience requires both focus and consistency, so having too many target audiences can diminish the museum’s ability to deliver its message.

Notes

See also Audience Persona

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