Guide to “Traditional” Museum Marketing and PR

Print and public relations can help a museum reach people in specific places and circumstances. Start with the audience, where they will encounter the message and the next step you want to make easier. A visitor leaflet, a funder-meeting pack and earned media coverage serve different purposes and need different measures.

Part 1. PRINT

The importance of PRINT

Ask where your intended audience looks for visit ideas and practical information. A leaflet in a hotel, a programme at a community venue or a postcard at the museum may be useful when it meets that need. Print is not automatically trusted or effective simply because it is physical.

Printed material can stay in circulation longer than expected. Include a validity date where information may change and give readers a reliable way to check current opening hours, prices and availability. Arrange to remove obsolete copies from distribution points.

Another advantage of traditional marketing methods like print and radio is that it’s easy to reach local audiences. If you are in the market to connect with you immediate community, it may be worth trying a few of these methods to engage the local population and drive interest in engaging and visiting your museum. 

Do not choose print solely from assumptions about age. Ask visitors and community partners which formats they use, what information they need and whether type size, language or access requirements affect their choice.

What you should PRINT

Now that we know the value of incorporating traditional print marketing strategies into your overall budget and plan, let’s talk about what some of the most effective print pieces for your organisation might be. 

Brochure
Choose a brochure when the museum needs a useful overview that people can take away. Make sure its scope and production cost fit the distribution plan, and keep the look consistent with the museum’s brand. There are lots of options here (which we’ve outlined to the right) including: single fold, roll fold, Z-fold, gate fold and cross fold. Map out the content first and have a think about what your organisation needs to convey to your audience. Do you have really stunning imagery? Then perhaps a dramatic gate fold would work. Do you want to include a calendar of events of map of the grounds? Then think about a cross fold with lots of room for your information. 

A brochure can bring several parts of the offer together. Include only the information needed for its audience and purpose, which may cover:

• Events
• Exhibitions
• Programmes
• Org updates
• Contact info

Seasonal flyers
These can either include autumn/spring programming or perhaps the exhibitions that are upcoming. We recommend breaking your year-long calendar down into four quarters and then advertising either quarterly or twice annually with this specific piece. Many people will only know their schedule a few weeks in advance and won’t be able to plan too far out if you advertise dates that are too far in the future. 

If your organisation has a front desk or a box office, be sure to place these flyers here. Distribute them in your local area as well and share with partner/friendly organisations that you have a reciprocal display agreement with. Taking a walk about town and identifying the local coffee shops, community hubs and hotels that display these types of materials is also worthwhile. Developing a good relationship with those local business owners might even encourage them to promote your organisation to their customers while giving you useful feedback about what their customers ask.

There is a world of choice available for flyers. You may think, how hard can it be to make up a simple 1-sheet? Well, first you’ve got to decide on the size of your print piece. 

Once again, take a good look at the text and images you would like to use in your flyer and consider how that will translate to the print piece you are hoping to produce. Make sure that the size of the flyer is big enough to convey all of the information that you want to get across to your audience. Also consider the portability of your flyer. If it’s too big, it’s bound to be folded or crumpled up which would be a shame after all the thoughtfulness put into the design and print. If you are going to be mailing these flyers, think of mailing costs as well. There is often a significant upcharge for oddly shaped letters and packages.

Distribute locally and measure the response

Before ordering a print run, decide where the leaflet will be picked up and what the reader should do next. A hotel rack may need a compact invitation with opening times, travel information and a booking link; a community partner may need a flyer for one relevant programme. Give each distribution route a trackable link or code where practical, and ask the front-of-house team what visitors mention. Use that feedback to decide what to reprint rather than judging success by how many copies left the office.

Record the quantity for each location and who will replenish it. Use readable type, useful access and travel information, and a campaign-specific short URL or QR code where appropriate. Provide a readable web address alongside a QR code. Redemption data and voluntary “how did you hear about us?” questions can complement digital tracking; neither captures every influence on a visit. Give readers a clear next step.

Prepare supporting stationery

Visitor-facing print has a different job from meeting materials and correspondence. Prepare consistent brand materials, then order only the formats the museum will use.

Business cards

Business cards can be useful when staff frequently meet new professional contacts, but they are not essential for every team. Choose a physical card, digital contact route or both according to the situation. Keep the information current, readable and consistent with the museum’s branding.

Folders
Picture this… You’ve just had a super productive meeting with a potential funder and you can’t wait to give them some of your brand-new marketing materials. You reach into your bag for the big reveal and pull out, a plain white folder… If you have amazing colourful marketing materials, presenting them in a branded folder can make all the difference. We would suggest ordering branded folders if your organisation has lots of networking opportunities, media requests, funder meetings etc… If this isn’t something you think your organisation will use, then focus on another print marketing piece. 

Letterhead / envelopes / note cards
Every piece of paper that comes from your organisation is a chance for some subtle marketing. Watermark stationery with your logo and slight hints of your brand colours. Do the same for envelopes and even note cards if your organisation sends a lot of letters and notes. Getting a thank you card as a donor is always nice, but imagine that extra bit of impact it will have when the note that they get it beautifully branded with your logo and brand materials. 

Part 2. PR

The importance of PR to Museums

Believe it or not, Marketing and Public Relations are two different things… They may have similarities, but at their core, they serve different functions, have separate audiences and individual metrics. 

PR or Public Relations exists to build favourable relationships with various stakeholders and audiences internally and externally. This differs from marketing or advertising as PR is at it’s core about relationship-building and developing an overall positive and effective public persona. Anyone who supports the organisation’s objectives (suppliers, visitors, partners in the sector, staff members, competitors etc…) is the audience for public relations strategies. It underpins all of your other marketing, advertising and fundraising efforts. By currying favour with your audiences and stakeholders, you are building a solid foundation for future museum visits, financial support, partnerships building, programme funding etc…

Give journalists a useful museum story

Start with a timely angle and the publication’s audience. Explain what is new, why it matters and the essential exhibition or programme details. Provide a named press contact, accurate dates and prices, rights-cleared images, captions and credit instructions. Pitch a relevant journalist rather than sending the same message indiscriminately.

Earned coverage is an editorial decision by the publication and is not guaranteed. Paid advertising is a separate purchase with agreed placement; do not count the two as the same activity or result.

Set a specific PR goal

Any public relations strategy needs to align and reinforce organisational objectives. Is your org striving to become a top authority within the arts and health sector? Perhaps getting an article or case study published about one of your programs in a reputable sector journal would help raise your profile and further that goal. 

Build a museum marketing plan, then connect the PR activity to it through four decisions:

1. GOAL – Define what you are trying to accomplish with public relations.
2. ALIGN – Check that your goal aligns with organisational values and strategy.
3. ACTION – Which action are you going to take to make that happen?
4. OUTCOME – Set an attainable goal – what would be your ideal outcome? 

The following is a hypothetical maritime museum in Kent, not a reported partnership or result. The museum wants to improve its local and sector profile; approaching Historic Dockyard Chatham is an illustrative possibility, not an endorsement or agreed collaboration.

1. GOAL – To raise the profile and public reputation locally and within the UK museum sector, specifically maritime museums. 
2. ALIGN – This aligns with the organisational strategy to develop and maintain a positive and respected presence within the sector. It also helps to further the organisational goal of broadening audiences. 
3. ACTION – The museum will seek out a partnership with Historic Dockyard Chatham to associate themselves with a respected sector authority and increase audience awareness in their relevant local area (Kent)
4. OUTCOME – Desirable outcomes for this strategy would be a more established and accredited reputation as a figure on maritime history and collections in Kent, reaching new local audiences, and forging a partnership that will ideally last beyond this individual PR strategy. 

If you follow these basic steps, you can develop PR strategies that closely align with your organisational goals and are targeted in their approach. 

In true MuseumNext style, we will share some helpful and creative PR strategies. Remember not to go in blindly with these techniques. Make sure that they are relevant to your goals and tailored to your organisation. 

1. Be the authority – Show the public that you are an authority figure within your sector. This can be done by producing impactful research, partnering with an even more respected/accredited organisation in the sector, collecting and showcasing endorsements from experts in your specific field. 
2. Speak up – Take every chance you can get to have your organisation speak in a public forum on topics that you specialise in. This can include speaking at conferences, symposiums, community days/meetings and lecturing at schools. 
3. Network – If you are going to a business function as a representative of your organisation, you are essentially representing the entire organisation to the public. Make sure to put on a good face as this can contribute to positive public relations. Seek out media contacts, funders, and staff members that are part of organisations that you’d like to worth with in the future. Top tip – bring business cards and have them at the ready!
4. Host – Why wait to be invited to events to network and build favourable PR? Consider hosting your own organisational events whether they be media previews or industry nights. These exclusive events highlight the fact that you care about your public persona and relationships with external stakeholders and will go the extra mile in creating a favourable reputation. 
5. Blog, blog, blog – We’ve spoken at length about the positive aspects of blogging, but a HUGE one is the potential to act as an amazing public relations tool. By creating an authentic and curated story that’s being presented to the public, you are controlling your own story and showing the media what you’re most proud of in your organisation. Always be sure to include a press contact at the bottom of all blog posts so that the media can get in touch with any follow-up questions. 
6. Contribute – Why limit yourself to your own publications? Actively seek out opportunities to write on subjects that your organisation specialises in for a wider audience. Is there a column opportunity at the local newspaper? What about a contributing blogger opportunity for a networks hub? Keep your ear to the ground so to speak for these opportunities that will allow your organisation to appear as current and conversational. 

Start with a manageable print or PR pilot. Agree the audience, cost, owner and review date, then look for relevant visits, enquiries, coverage or partnerships. Reprint or repeat what serves the goal, rather than expanding every tactic at once.

Use the techniques that we introduced in this article to raise the profile of your organisation and help build a solid foundation upon which your marketing strategies will rest. It’s important to do that basework to allow for a comprehensive marketing plan that is well-rounded and includes both print and digital components. 

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