Every year staff, volunteer, board members and others who work in and support Utah’s museums gather for an annual conference sponsored and organized by the Utah Museums Association. This week, the 2010 UMA Conference will be held at the Alf Engen Ski Museum in Park City, with the theme “Designing for the New Normal”.There are over 250 museums across Utah -- about half of which are run completely by volunteers -- that serve to engage both residents and tourists in the diverse stories of Utah. Stories that range from local history, to artistic expression, to science and nature, and to life in this region in pre-historic times. It is a passionate group of museum supporters that gather each year for this conference.
At this year's gathering, I am honored to facilitate a conversation between marketing colleagues on how we can best create marketing strategies and plans to help our museums maintain and grow our viability during tough economic times and a changing media marketplace.
The session is entitled Marketing 101: Preparing for the Challenge Ahead and will include expert yet real-world advice from:
- Erica Brown, director of communications at Thanksgiving Point Institute in Lehi
- Shelbey Peterson, public relations and marketing associate at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts in Salt Lake City, and
- Heather Barnum from Intrepid, a local public relations firm whose clients include museums and non-profit organizations
In the spirit of “101”, it is our objective to provide a basic overview of developing a marketing plan for people responsible for marketing and communications within museums who may have little or no prior experience. But, rather than just be theory and worksheets, we also will share this information from a “real world” perspective.
In planning out the session, contributor Heather plainly stated, “Planning is what creates professionals.” Well said! As the people responsible for marketing and communications, we are often asked to “get the word out” at the last minute. Our session will demonstrate how critical it is – even for the smallest of museums – to create a Brand and Strategic Plan that answers three fundamental questions:
- What is the most unique thing about your museum?
- Who is the most likely to be attracted to want to see and experience that unique thing?
- How and where will you communicate with that potential visitor in order to attract them to visit and support your museum?
In the opening section of the Marketing 101 session, Erica will walk through the relatively simple process of answering these questions within our own museum environments. Once these basic questions have been answered, a plan can be created that actually enables us to respond quickly and with agility when dealing with last-minute requests for promotion. Erica will share some specific examples from Thanksgiving Point that demonstrate how having a plan – or “brand” – in place helps your museum to respond to various and competing demands.
Shelbey will share her experiences on how the Utah Museum of Fine Arts has changed their marketing tactics in response to the rapidly changing communications landscape. Some of the most effective marketing tactics that UMFA is using today didn’t even exist two years ago! Shelbey will show how this has brought new opportunities to the museum, and share some best practices they have learned in the process.
Finally, Heather will show us that, while the marketing mix offers many more low cost or even “free” tools, museums must still be savvy on being “newsworthy”. Starting with the basics of writing an effective Press Release to connecting your museum with larger current events, we’ll discuss how to think about and position your museum and special events in ways that catch the attention of media and prospective visitors in today’s very crowded media landscape.
Mostly, we all look forward to meeting you!, colleagues chartered with marketing Utah’s museums. We hope you come to the session with your own questions and challenges ready to ask. And, as always, we look to the Utah Museums Association conference as a place to begin conversation and relationships that can extend beyond the conference into our work throughout the year.
And that is the reason for this blog. We commit to continue to contribute our experience both in planning and in real-world marketing execution here on this blog. We'll also post other resources that help us in our daily marketing responsibilities. And, we invite you to raise questions, ask for advice, contribute your own experiences, and contribute to the greater learning and effectiveness of Utah’s museums.
We all are acutely aware of the challenges facing our organizations. Join us in expanding our knowledge, sharing expertise, building community, and improving our ability to plan the marketing messages and tactics for our organizations.
Janet Frasier
