Revenue Generating Ideas for Museums
Long passed are the days where museums can solely rely on donors, membership, and walk-in visitors. With the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and the competitive nature of the museum industry, museums have found creative and crafty ways to bolster their revenue and raise funds.
New marketing and engagement strategies have become invaluable alongside the many changes into virtual and digital museum experiences. Social media strategies, virtual tours, online events, live streaming, and new digital technologies are all ways museums have reshaped the ways they connect with customers while in-person ticket sales are on the decline.
Although many businesses have started opening up at some capacity, there’s still a lot of uncertainty in the general public about in-person experiences, which means that museums need to rely on these alternative revenue and engagement strategies if they’re going to survive.
Ways to increase engagement and revenue for museums
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced businesses and institutions across the world to rethink the ways they conduct their organizations. The clear silver lining here is that these institutions have become more efficient, creative, and savvy at what they do, and a lot of these lessons can be applied today to help museums generate revenue and engage with customers.
Below are some effective alternative methods that museums can rely on to generate revenue.
- Special online events – While you should already be sharing and posting videos and images for your virtual and in-person events, you can host exclusive online events and charge a fee to visitors who want to attend. You can plan new and exciting events that bring people together in a fun and unexpected way. Immersive digital experiences that place visitors into historical settings, like the Mattatuck’s Murdery Mystery event, do more than the run-of-the-mill speech or guest lecture. The idea is to engage customers in a way that makes their time and money a worthwhile investment.
- Virtual museum memberships – People love gaining access to a library of virtual content, and the idea that members can gain access to thousands of online videos, digital content, and resources will sound attractive to a lot of keen listeners eager to learn about their favorite subjects. By utilizing the content, resources, and materials already available to your organization, as well as new content, you can easily implement a virtual member access platform to generate revenue and build a loyal membership base.
- Virtual classes – Whether you’re marketing to schools or individuals, museum-goers love learning. Offering online courses that can be taught by your museum personnel or other experts in the field is a sure way to attract customers looking to learn a new skill or subject.
- Virtual summer camps – Teaming up with local schools has always been a trusted method to get closer to the community and work closely with young learners. Remote learning environments have made it possible for museums to host virtual summer camps, which can last as short as a week or as long as the entire summer.
- Digital programs pay-what-you-want strategy – One sure way to alienate your visitors is to ask them to pay an amount for a digital event that they can’t afford. The pay-what-you-want strategy is effective because it raises revenue while giving guests the choice to contribute as much or as little as they want or are able to. In fact, if you draw in enough customers and if your events are appealing enough, this model can draw in more revenue than a traditional event with fixed costs.
There are a ton of creative ways to generate alternative revenue streams. Rely on fun events, membership incentives, and your local community to boost revenues and attract visitors for future growth.
How Acme Can help
Though the pandemic has presented museums and businesses across the world with several new challenges, it’s also been a learning opportunity for museums to find creative ways to thrive. ACME ticketing helps museums adapt to a digital and virtual platform by providing cutting-edge online ticketing support and state-of-the-art membership management.
Engage with members, attract new visitors, and allow your digital museum strategy to grow with ACME.