Visitor Focus

Satisfied visitors are the lifeblood of any museum; whichever way you look at it.

On the one hand, visitors who have had a good experience tell their friends, boosting audience numbers. On the other, satisfied visitors take away a new understanding or a new perspective, because they have engaged with collections and stories in a significant way. Both of these are exactly what museums need to achieve to prosper and thrive.

To ensure visitors have this kind of experience, museums think about the experiences they offer from a visitor’s perspective. They look for realistic feedback and understand what it is that visitors want. They know that visitor expectations don’t stand still and what was good enough five years ago, might not be good enough now.

Museum Development North West have produced an excellent basic guide to understanding your audiences which includes reference to the Hallmarks – a link can be accessed from the bottom of this page.

Need inspiration? Take a look at our case studies below.

Case Studies
Firing Line Museum of the Welsh Soldier: Visitor Focus
Firing Line Museum of the Welsh Soldier: Visitor Focus

Supported by a Hallmarks Award, Firing Line Museum of the Welsh Soldier undertook research to enable them to understand their visitors and non-visitors better, and to explore ways of building new audiences

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Resources
27/04/2020 in Visitor Focus Success Guide - Understanding Your Audiences

How much do you know about the make-up of your audience or visitor base? Do you know who is and isn't visiting, the frequency of their visits, what would make them visit more, spend more, donate or volunteer with you? What could improve their engagement with you and spread the word? And what about who isn't visiting but could be persuaded to? This guide will help you to consider what you know about your audiences both current and potential, why it would be worthwhile improving this, and how you might go about doing it. Crucially, it looks at how you can then use this knowledge and insight to deliver your strategic goals and make your organisation more resilient.