Why You Should Consider an After Hours Museum Program
If you think museums are fun during working hours, you should see what they look like after dark. After hour museum programs are great ways to present all of the educational and aesthetic pleasures of a museum but with a dark twist. Serve your visitors some wine and cheese, dim the lights, bring out the fog machines, and create a totally new experience for your members
There are a number of benefits that museums can gain from expanding their programs to after hours. Museums can create detailed marketing strategies catered to a target audience, add new incentives for members, flex their creative muscles in curating new programs, and present a new way of visiting their museum.
Here are a few reasons why you should consider an after hours museum program in your museum.
After Hours Museum Program Marketing Strategy
Part of the difficulty of a museum marketing strategy is finding the right balance between a narrow target audience while still appealing to a sizeable portion of the population. Implementing an after hours museum program presents marketers with a great opportunity to develop a concise, clear marketing plan for both adults and kids. After hours programs, depending on the target audience, narrows the scope for your marketing and planning team, simplifying the process and providing you with a clear goal to reach.
[Read more: Museum Marketing Plan]
You want your strategy to enter the digital sphere of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and other social media platforms. Reaching out to millennials and emerging Gen-Z 21-year-olds will require you to engage creatively through the digital world. Creating Snapchat stories, allowing visitors to share their museum experiences online, and presenting a technologically interactive exhibition are all great ways to spread the word on your events.
At the same time, you can utilize traditional marketing methods to engage both a younger and older crowd. You might consider hosting a themed night that appeals to generations past and present. Team up with nearby schools, churches, and other public institutions to spread the word on your events.
Get Creative with an After Hours Museum Program
After hours programs don’t all have to be about wine, cheese platters, and a no-kids environment. Dimming the lights, pulling out the fog machine, and adorning your galleries with creepy apparel is a great way to bring a spooky twist to your exhibits. Optical illusions, surrealist reimaginings, and creative themes can transform your museum to an after hours mystery land.
Another way to appeal to a young crowd is to a host a museum sleepover event. Kids can bring their tents and sleeping bags to have a night like never before. You can introduce special night-time programs, such as a theater screening or dark museum tour. Admissions could include a late-night snack and breakfast as well.
Museums are constantly looking for new ways to revitalize their programs and events. The energy that a “night at the museum” incites is an excellent way to bolster your schedule and galvanize excitement within the community.
Increase Membership with an After Hours Museum Program
Museums are constantly looking for ways to turn one-time visitors into perennial memberships. The best way to do this is by providing a myriad of membership benefits. A monthly or weekly night-time membership event is an excellent way to create new and creative membership opportunities. Additionally, you can introduce membership benefits and other perks during these events.
You can do a monthly cocktail party for adult members, potentially allowing them to meet with curators, artists, and affiliated organizers of the museum. Those interested in getting a museum membership love museums. They want to be involved and meet those responsible for designing the galleries that capture their minds and spirits. A night-time membership event can bring all of these things together.
ACME’s all-in-one advanced museum ticketing system will help you organize all of your day and night events, memberships, and ticket sales. Keep track of what your visitors are viewing to create future events and build further strategies.Take control of your museum and see the ACME demo today.