Review of Literature:
In order to produce specific, actionable recommendations for improving pre-registration results for Indiana State Museum events, the team conducted 100+ hours of research. Here, we summarize some of the most pertinent sources found during that research and discuss their relation to our recommendations.
Trusting Data-Based Conclusions
One of the biggest challenges to implementing data-based decisions is learning to trust the data over personal judgement. In the abstract, most people accept the merits of basing decisions on sound, unbiased evidence, but according to Andrew Simnick, Senior Vice-President of Finance, Strategy, and Operations at the Art Institute of Chicago, insights derived from data are often lost somewhere in between analysis and action. In his view, “Clear communication of the meaning and impact of data is even more important in a museum where quantitative analysis is not always a day-to-day activity, and its insight has the potential to challenge anecdotal conclusions,” (Simnick, 2017). Though data-based conclusions are far more reliable than personal judgements, it is understandably difficult to accept conclusions contrary to your own, when personal confidence in those judgements is likely high. For this reason, Brent Dykes, director of Data Strategy at Domo, a business Intelligence platform, emphasizes the importance of communicating how the data led to a particular insight and why the insight is significant. Dykes insists that the best way to do this is through “Data Storytelling,” which is “a structured approach for communicating data insights, [that] involves a combination of three key elements: data, visuals, and narrative” (Dykes, 2016). While the other two components are indispensable, good visuals are at the core of data storytelling, because they reveal patterns and trends in the data that otherwise would go unnoticed. Once these patterns and trends are visible, it becomes much easier to trust the insights and adopt them into the decision-making process.
Maintaining Good Data Analytics
Although collecting and processing data can be a resource intensive endeavor, good data analytics can be instrumental in measuring a museum’s performance against which to set realistic goals for improvement. To justify the work required to maintain such an endeavor and keep staff motivated, Robert Stein – Executive VP and Chief Programs Officer of the American Alliance of Museums – and Bruce Wyman – Principal of USD Design/MACH Consulting – believe it is important “to ensure that staff find the platform useful for promoting museum activities and priorities,”(Stein & Wyman, 2014). Often the benefits of properly applied data analytics can be difficult to comprehend based on casual observation alone. In this instance, data can justify itself by providing indisputable evidence of its effectiveness. Building on Wyman and Stein’s earlier suggestion, in a Harvard Business Review article Jeanne Ross, Cynthia Beath, and Anne Quaadgras assert that “the best way to teach people how to use data to create business benefits is to provide them with data about their own performance,” (Ross, Beath, & Quaadgras, 2013). This can be done by showcasing quantitative outcomes that explicitly demonstrate the correlation between good data analytics and improved results. This commonly demonstrated correlation is exactly why good data analytics are such an instrumental tool for museums to maintain.
Experimenting with Different Marketing Mediums
Experts on marketing techniques and design claim that those that are planning to attract people to their events should test a variety of promotion avenues to understand what works best for their target audience. In writing about how testing a variety of techniques is beneficial to an event, or company’s, success, Teri Ross, Marketing Technologist, for yourCMTO, marketing firm, says, “The most overlooked strategy when segmenting promotions is the testing of marketing messages. Test a variety of different messages before pushing out your entire campaign” (Ross 2019). Ross claims that testing a variety of promotional mediums such as email, flyers, direct mail, and online marketing is the best way to understand what works best for the event or promotion target audience. Communications director for the online marketing company Constant Contact, Kevin Mullens, agrees with Ross that using a variety of marketing avenues to test for the most effective one is important, as he says “To capitalize on this, most small businesses will use online marketing methods to promote their holiday offerings. In fact, of the 68 percent surveyed that will run seasonal promotions - 82 percent will use email marketing in their promotional mix, 50 percent will use other online marketing tactics (i.e. online advertising, paid search), and 35 percent will use direct mail” (Mullens 2006). According to Mullens using this variety approach will help business owners better connect to the people who will connect best with their business or event. Both Ross and Mullens obviously agree that not one type of promotion design is key but rather testing a variety of marketing mediums and design is best to reach the desired audience and persuade them to attend events or visit the business.
Designing Marketing Materials to Attract more Attention
Experts on marketing design claims that those wanting to gain more attention to their events or products should design their marketing promotions very carefully. In writing about marketing design, the Office of Strategic Communications and Marketing and the Center for Student and Civic Engagement at Penn State University, states that “You just have to stay consistent with your headings, paragraphs, bullets, etc.” (Penn State 2018). Repetition is very important for keeping a design consistent and organized. Sammy Harper, expert in the field of marketing including nine years of digital marketing experience include SEO, email marketing, social media, and blogging, agrees with the Penn State report. Harper thinks that “reinforce your brand in the minds of your audience” and “Once you find a particular design element you like, use it on everything.” (Harper 2018). According to Harper using repetition and consistency in marketing design will cause the reader to engrain that type of style and imagery into their minds with your promotion. This will cause your promotion to be a long lasting memory in a reader’s mind instead of something that will be overlooked.
Effective vs Ineffective Email Marketing
Although companies use email marketing to promote upcoming events, email marketing can prove to be both effective and ineffective in successfully alerting people of the event and creating urgency with clientele. Email marketing is the strongest source for many companies for promoting events to their subscribers. According to the book by authors Julius Solaris, editor of the Event Manager Blog, and Becki Cross, Deputy Editor of EventMB, Yes The Art of the Event RSVP, successful event promotion and planning is only achievable if the event is marketed effectively and timely, and email marketing is a huge process in the promotion process of an event. “Your campaigns can only be as effective as your data is accurate. Any ‘bad’ emails can potentially jeopardize the delivery rate to other email addresses on the list.” Solaris and Cross are essentially saying, in promoting an event through email, it’s important to have accurate data and not create any errors in the email. These errors can range from typos to incorrect information, specifically about the event. Connecting to this, according to an article by Radu Ioan Mogos and Carmen Acatrinci, titled Designing Email Marketing Campaigns - A Data Mining Approach Based on Consumer Preferences, “Email marketing campaigns represent one of the most popular and efficient online marketing instruments. Building email marketing campaigns can help the organizations keep the current customers, motivate them not to abandon the shopping basket, it may convince the targeted public to make an acquisition, by making, for instance, a personalized offer, based on that person's needs and wants.” These articles connect because they both put emphasis on email marketing and how, if done correctly, it can cause the audience to be motivated and create a sense of urgency around the event or reason of the email.
Email Marketing Challenge
Email marketing can be effective in both cost and getting to the public, however, there are some challenges that can be encountered when marketing through email. According to scholars and Associate Professors of Business Information Technology at Virginia Tech, Alan Abraham, Tarun Chaudhary, and Jason Deane, article, A Multi-Industry, Longitudinal Analysis of the Email Marketing Habits of the Largest United States Franchise Chains, one challenge in email marketing is that “firms constantly teeter along the slippery slope of spam.” The effectiveness of the email can be diminished if the company sends email to people who are not on the company’s subscription list. It is common for people to get frustrated with receiving too many emails from a company and thus begin sending the emails to their spam. According to Direct Electronic Marketing for SMEs, written by Associate Professor of Mykolas Romeris University Kiskis Mindaugas, “direct electronic marketing is an impediment to usual activity, particularly in the cases when a consumer does not wish to receive any advertisements, is unable or unwilling to make use of it.” Consumers don't like having unnecessary emails that clutter their inbox and when heavily email marketing, sometimes companies send too many and disrupt the consumer’s email browsing in a negative way.
Cultural Museum Experiences
Museum customers are demanding different things than they did in the past. A new type of customer has emerged, a type of customer that demands a cultural experience rather than a particular art form. In her book Marketing for Cultural Organizations, Bonita Kolb elaborates on how museum marketers can cater to this fact. Bonita Kolb is an Associate Professor of Business Administration at Lycoming College, and she has published multiple books and top-rated articles on the subjects of business and marketing. She writes that “To attract the cultural customer it is important for organizations to include new creative marketing strategies in their marketing plan. These strategies include packaging a cultural product as an event that combines both culture and entertainment" (Kolb, vii). Many museums are displaying exhibits that combine science with pop culture, for example. Author Leonard H. Hoyle understands this fact. In his book Event Marketing: How to Successfully Promote Events, Festivals, Conventions and Expositions, Hoyle discusses, among many other marketing strategies, how to market museum culture. Hoyle has managed and marketed events many different organizations, including the American Society of Association Executives. He is a former dean of ASAE's School of Management. Museums have a distinct culture, imbued as they are with ideals, symbols, and artifacts. People come to events for a cultural experience, and events should personify this museum culture “…through speeches, audiovisual productions, flags and banners, and even songs and rituals that stir the spirit….” (Hoyle, 137). Museums contain more than artifacts. Museums are where art, history, science, and many other fields merge and form a distinct museum culture which evokes feelings of discovery, adventure, and imagination. In recent years, there has been a stronger-than-ever demand for museum events to be entertaining rather than simply educational. Our survey results indicate this. On question 2 of our survey, which asks “What are you most seeking from Indiana State Museum programs and events?”, the highest percentage of survey participants said that “having fun” was their primary motive for attending ISM events. Museum visitors are now demanding a cultural experience rather than a particular art form. Packaging a cultural product as an event that combines both culture and entertainment is an effective method to cater to this fact. Effective museum marketing often combines popular culture with museum events or playing the trendiest new songs in the background during an event.
Targeting Different Audience Demographics
Audiences are not homogenous. Different strategies will need to be implemented to target different demographics. In her 2007 Article titled “Best Practices in Creating Quality Online Experiences for Museum Users,” professor and educational consultant Barbara J. Soren narrows the marketing focus to the online realm. Barbara Soren has a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Toronto, and a Master of Science in Teaching from McMaster University. Both of these degrees have focused on museum education. Soren writes that “Partners have to consider if there will be potential conflict between intended and other interested audiences (e.g. youth tends to be the target audience for exhibits, but lifelong learners likely use them more). A youth-driven mandate requires curators to write information for this audience, which may alienate others” (Soren, 132). Younger crowds are more likely to flake out and their attendance patterns are harder to predict. Therefore, many museums spend more effort marketing to them since they can count on the attendance patterns of other age groups and demographics. In their book Museum Marketing and Strategy: Designing Missions, Building Audiences, Generating Revenue and Resources, Philip Kotler, NG Kotler, and Wendy Kotler detail some of the strategies museum marketing specialists can implement to effectively market their museum’s displays and activities to differing demographics. Philip Kotler is a professor from Northwestern University and one of the world’s leading experts on marketing. He writes that “The most successful museums offer a range of experiences that appeal to diverse audience segments and reflect the varying needs of visitors…” (Kotler, Kotler, Kotler, xxiii). Museums draw in members from different ethnic groups, different worldviews, different ages, and members with wildly different preferences. Museums may have a target audience, but they must make sure to have exhibits that appeal to a diverse range of people. Otherwise, attendance numbers will be low and attendance patterns unreliable.
The sources summarized above, played a crucial role in understanding the challenges faced by the Indiana State Museum and in developing specific, actionable recommendations for how ISM might address those challenges.
