The document summarizes a presentation about marketing museums online through the Recognized Museums Profiles Project. It discusses developing profiles, photos, and narratives to feature on the AMA tourism website. It also provides tips on online tools like websites, social media, search engine optimization, and developing an integrated online strategy to connect with visitors and promote museum experiences.
11. Improved Navigation & Site Map Provide a Site Map Keep Navigation SIMPLE Include a Search Function
12. New Banner Images Images from Photography portion of the Profiles Project used to create more engaging banner images for the website as well as for publications and promotions.
13. Calendar of Events Connect museum visitors with events around the province Connect museum professionals with networking opportunities Events submitted also make it into the AMA’s quarterly publication: INFOrm
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21. Links Grande Prairie Museum and Heritage Village AMA Tourism Website Red Deer Museum & Art Gallery Galt Museum & Archives This is stronger… Grande Prairie Museum and Heritage Village AMA Tourism Website Red Deer Museum & Art Gallery Galt Museum & Archives … than this .
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26. Branding: the Recognized Museum Logo Goal: to create awareness and understanding of the Recognized Museum logo and what it means, and eventually to influence visitors’ visitation decisions. The RMP logo is on every profile page and promotions that the AMA undertakes.
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31. Source: State of Inbound Marketing Report - http:// bit.ly/aewfHr Online Marketing is More Effective
32. Source: State of Inbound Marketing Report - http:// bit.ly/aewfHr Traditional Marketing Becoming Less Effective
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38. THANKS! CONTACT: Carrie Ann Lunde , BA, MA Communications Manager Alberta Museums Association P: 780.424.2626 x. 244 E: clunde@museums.ab.ca Kieran Quirke , BMgmt Communications Projects Coordinator Alberta Museums Association P: 780.424.2626 x. 243 E: kquirke@museums.ab.ca
Enhances credibility - Today, people often first look online for information about you and your organization - Lacking a site that easily offers this information to them comes across as “behind in the times” and less sophisticated (amateur), and that can damage the image you are trying to portray as a viable tourist destination. Creates opportunities to build trust, relationships and a community with your visitors - A website becomes the place visitors come back to for information about your organization Allows for 24/7 promotion of your tourism experience - Search Engines index the Internet to make search results more efficient and relevant - Having new information presented on a website on a regular basis not only provides the information your visitors are looking for, it helps your website get indexed in a way that it can be listed higher in the search results Allows for easy measurement of the effectiveness of your communication and marketing efforts - How well you are communicating with your visitors? - Tracks site visits and visitor interests: - What they are doing on your website? Just looking at the main page for contact information and directions? Or looking at the details of your new exhibit? - What they are saying about you online? The Primary Benefit: You do not need a large budget to create an effective marketing campaign! - A website can be as small as a single page with a description of your museum, your hours of operation, and your contact information - There are affordable, and even free, “kits” available to guide you in building a website - The AMA Profiles Project can be used as a website as well, but it’s best if you build your own in order to have full control of it
Enhances credibility - Today, people often first look online for information about you and your organization - Lacking a site that easily offers this information to them comes across as “behind in the times” and less sophisticated (amateur), and that can damage the image you are trying to portray as a viable tourist destination. Creates opportunities to build trust, relationships and a community with your visitors - A website becomes the place visitors come back to for information about your organization Allows for 24/7 promotion of your tourism experience - Search Engines index the Internet to make search results more efficient and relevant - Having new information presented on a website on a regular basis not only provides the information your visitors are looking for, it helps your website get indexed in a way that it can be listed higher in the search results Allows for easy measurement of the effectiveness of your communication and marketing efforts - How well you are communicating with your visitors? - Tracks site visits and visitor interests: - What they are doing on your website? Just looking at the main page for contact information and directions? Or looking at the details of your new exhibit? - What they are saying about you online? The Primary Benefit: You do not need a large budget to create an effective marketing campaign! - A website can be as small as a single page with a description of your museum, your hours of operation, and your contact information - There are affordable, and even free, “kits” available to guide you in building a website - The AMA Profiles Project can be used as a website as well, but it’s best if you build your own in order to have full control of it
2. Following links from other websites, blogs, or email It is important to distribute your web address in as many ways as possible so it becomes easier for visitors to see. In addition to your print and communications materials, put links to your website on: Other relevant websites and blogs The AMA offers a valuable tool for assisting you with this, called the Profiles Project, exclusive to Recognized Museums. - For those who do not have a website yet, this is a great solution The AMA also offers the Calendar of Events for Recognized Museums to promote upcoming events and exhibits - With links to your AMA Profile and your website Social Media - ie. Facebook - The AMA’s June INFOrm Newsletter has an article on how museums can utilize Facebook as a social media marketing platform Direct Email Marketing - Permission-based - Can be used for welcoming new visitors to your website and museum, acquiring visitor feedback and thanking them for it, providing tips on what to do and see at your museum and in your area, provide special offers, and more. - Take advantage of relevant mailing lists such as Main-L Online Advertising - Ad Words, Facebook Ads Banner Advertising - This is an expensive strategy, but if you feel it’s worth the cost, focus advertising on websites your target market tends to visit
PR 2.0 Group 2: Communication Tools
1. Typing your web address into their browser address bar. The public must first see your web address. Branding is an important factor for getting your web address out there It is a consistent message and image you give to everyone who comes into contact with your organization - It is your identity. It is what you want a visitor to think and feel about you. - How you respond to a customer’s email, phone call, question, etc. (p. 23, online marketing from tourism Alberta) It encompasses the Design & Style of your organization and communications pieces - Including your logo, colours, font, brochures, business cards, etc. Your web address should be on everything your organization presents to the public - Emails, letterheads, newsletters, contact information block, etc.
Write a Media Release - A Media Release informs members of the media about what you claim has news value. - It provides them with the basics they need to develop a news story, and if it catches their attention they write a segment about it and broadcast it for you. - It can announce news items such as scheduled events, staff promotions, awards, news exhibits, successful number of visitors, accomplishments, etc. - The Recognized Museum Media Kit includes a template Media Release that you may refer to, for instance when publicizing the achievement of becoming a Recognized Museum, or promoting upcoming events and exhibits. - It is important that you gain positive media contacts and build lasting relationships within your community. You can do this by phoning your local media, including the radio and television station, to develop a contact sheet that lists the names of specific people you should target when sending out a media release. Conduct a Marketing Survey To measure the effectiveness of your communications and marketing efforts - You can find out important information with a simple survey that asks questions such as “How did you hear about our museum? How did you hear about this exhibit / event?” - You need to know if your message is being received by your target audience To determine the needs of people in your target market - what worked and what can be improved? - Discovering these needs then guides future marketing plans and strategies, strengthening your brand To acquire information - You could collect demographic information such as age and location which would then inform you about how to pursue future promotions (ie. where to advertise and promote, and in what forms) - But this also helps you to gather contact information for your direct email list, as well as visitor numbers for that particular event (This can be done with a brief questionnaire for patrons, made available online, at the registration desk, and / or through direct email) Online Statistics - Such as “Number of unique visits this month” and the popularity of certain links and pages on your website Google Alerts - Google Alerts are email updates of the latest relevant Google results (web, news, etc.) based on your choice of query or topic. - ie. You can use the name of your museum as the query or topic, and you will be notified every time someone uses Google to search for your museum’s name
3. Using a Search Engine or directory (ie. Google) SEO improves the visibility and ranking of your web site in search engine search results - Your site will rank higher in the search results Keywords - Keywords are what Internet users type into a search engine to find what they are looking for - Use up to 12 relevant keywords, including keyword phrases, on each page of your website, and particularly in Text Links that navigate through your website - ie. Keywords: describe your organization, location, event, etc. Submit to Search Engines (ie. Google) for indexing - Speeds the indexing process up Pay-Per-Click Online Advertising - When you buy an advertisement or sponsored link, your ad or website link will be given a guaranteed position in the search engine results