Sector 1: Developing Your Audience

Do you know what your audience thinks about your organization and what you have to offer?  Do you offer a "product" that they value?

Develop your audience with

long-term relationships 

in mind. 

Exceeding expectations will 

create good will and a positive 

buzz about the museum.

Your audience will support you in the long run (with funding, attendance and word-of-mouth marketing) if they trust that you will meet their needs and wants.

Pursuing your mission only matters if you reach your audience (and so, of course, attendance matters). But, developing your audience is far more than simply increasing attendance. We quantify our relationships with our audience by counting visitors and web hits. However, when we become so focused on growing our numbers, we can lose sight of the quality of our interactions and our long-term relationship.

Let's take a more qualitative look at how your museum interacts with your audience:

• Which of your programs have been the most interesting, engaging and well-attended? Why?
• What aspects of your collection are unique, bear witness to compelling stories, or just have that "wow" factor?
• Do visitors pour over particular exhibits? Why are they so intriguing?
• Is your building a showpiece of the community?
• Is your staff known for its great customer service or engaging public presentations?

Now build on those strengths to take your first step in developing your audience. Your next program, exhibit or publication needs to demonstrate that your museum can exceed your current audience's expectations. Encourage your core supporters to share their positive impressions, whether in traditional word-of-mouth settings (like over the back fence and at the rotary club) or in social media (ever heard the conventional wisdom that Facebook is like a cocktail party?). By working with them to share that the valuable things your museum offers, you build good will and re-establish the museum as a community asset and create a positive buzz.

If you have strong ties with your current audience, consider which new audience you are ready to serve. Learn about what that group wants and how they communicate. Enlist community advisers from your target audience or from those who work closely with your target audience. Then strategically pick a couple of projects at the intersection of their wants and your strengths. Avoid a one-off program or exhibit. To build a relationship with a new audience, offer multiple ways for them to engage with your museum. 

Next week we will turn to building relationships with those who are closest to your organization: your staff, board and volunteers.

Stacy Klingler currently serves local history organizations as the Assistant Director of Local History Services at the Indiana Historical Society. She began her career in museums as the assistant director of two small museums, before becoming director of the Putnam County Museum in Greencastle, Ind. She was chair of the AASLH Small Museums Committee (2008-2012) and attended the Seminar for Historical Administration in 2006. While she lives in the history field, her passion is encouraging a love of learning in any environment.

Why are small museums great places to work?

When we’re knee deep in projects and tasks, we sometimes forget why small museum work is incredibly fulfilling and exciting.  Small Museum Toolkit co-editor, Stacy Klingler, and I developed this quick list to remind you why the work matters and possibly clarify why you feel fulfilled even when you’re more tired than you’ve ever imagined. 

Small museums provide you with:

·         The opportunity to be a leader.

Not everyone can be at the top and if you’ve wanted to spread your leadership wings and see how they fit, tackling the leadership of a small museum is a great place to start.  You may be surrounded by volunteers and board members helping to lift the heavy loads so you can afford to try out your leadership style.  This is especially a great leadership opportunity for younger professionals and folks new to the field. 

·         A variety of work.

No day is alike in a small museum.  And, rarely is there a dull moment.  If you bore easily or are prone to multi-tasking (and maybe a little hyperactivity!), small museum work can keep you energized.  Plus, you can get your hands dirty in a variety of ways – collections care, fundraising, construction projects, volunteer management and more – making you a museum generalist.  You’ll be supremely qualified to move into your next job because you’ve “seen it all!”

·         The opportunity to develop new expertise.

Have you wanted to learn more about trade and hand tools?  Membership programs?  Textile storage? The immigration story of your hometown?  The possibilities are endless and if there’s a question you’ve always wanted answered, you can spend time becoming an expert and have space to exercise your curiosity.  You can always use what you’ve found to develop an exhibit, improve the collections storage environment, or raise funds for your organization. 

·         A flexible work environment.

While being available for public visitation hours may be critical to operations, you can make a case for structuring the hours so that you can get important work done and take a vacation when needed.  With enough volunteer power, there is the potential to have flexible workdays and with a limited budget, you can explore flexible benefits if a comprehensive benefit plan is not available.  But, you need to advocate for this which will make you a stronger manager and employee.

·         A visible and tangible impact in the community.

Where else can you lead a group of school kids through a program and then at a PTO meeting the next night, you meet the mom of one of the kids?  Likely her child has not stopped talking about what she learned and how much fun she had.  You have immediate proof that your work made a difference in a child’s life.  Your impact is especially felt when wherever you go - you meet people who know who you are and what your organization has accomplished.  Your fingerprints will be on practically every project and you will feel proud.  Just don’t go to the grocery store wearing your pajamas.

Are there other reasons?  Please share with us and we’ll add your thought to our Small Museum Leadership conference sessions that we’re presenting around the country. 

Working in museums for nearly 20 years, Cinnamon Catlin-Legutko has been a museum director since 2001. Cinnamon became CEO of the Abbe Museum in Bar Harbor, Maine in 2009. Before that, she was the director of the General Lew Wallace Study & Museum in Crawfordsville, Indiana, where she led the organization to the National Medal for Museum Service in 2008. She is co-editor of the recently released Small Museum Toolkit from AltaMira Press.