Mapping Out your Visitor’s Journey

Brand Love is when your visitor’s love your museum so much that they tell others about you when you’re not even in the room. There are three ingredients to Brand Love; brand messaging, visitor experience and media relations.

Let’s look at the visitor experience with your museum and map out your visitor’s journey.

Before we start, let’s define these terms. A Visitor Journey is a strategy that describes all visitor actions and interactions in their relationship with your brand. The Visitor Experience is how a museum relates with its visitors in all the stops they go through on this visitor journey (from consideration all the way to being a “fan” and therefore an unpaid promoter of your museum).

Grab some paper and let’s map out your visitor’s journey!

Each visitor completes four phases of a visitor journey with your museum. Making this journey as consistent as possible for every visitor is key. For each phase, answer the questions below. Write down some thoughts and create a “map” of your visitor's journey with your museum.

Discovery Phase:
This is the phase where someone finds out about you. Your visual brand attracts them, and what you say in your brand messaging makes them really consider spending time with your museum. The 3 keys to successful authentic brand messaging are to be clear, consistent, and confident. Do you have a brand strategy? Is your message clear? How consistent are you? How do you show confidence to your audience?

Planning a visit:
Once someone has discovered you, they will spend some time getting to know your brand a bit and then they will decide to come visit. Most likely, they will head to your website to plan their visit. Take a look at your website with fresh eyes. Is it easy to plan a visit? What information do you need? Is it there? What is missing?

The visit:
Cynthia Ozick said, “Two things remain irretrievable: time and a first impression.” I completely agree. For this phase of your visitor’s journey, take some time to think about how your visitor is received when they arrive and what they encounter when they are in your space, both with staff and the exhibits. Is it welcoming? Does a visitor know what to do when they walk in? If not, how do they find out? Is your museum accessible to all? Think about the visit from beginning to end. Do you have a way to collect feedback and data from visitors before they leave? And most importantly, do you think they will go home and tell their friends about your museum? A first impression is everything. What first impression does your museum make?

After the visit:
The last phase is what happens after they’ve left your museum. How do you stay in touch with visitors after they have left? Do you use email marketing? Do you have a calendar of events on your website? Is there a membership program for your biggest fans? What reasons do you give them to stay engaged with you after they have visited the first time?

Now, take a look at your map. Did you find some areas that need some work?

Want to learn more? The visitor’s experience is one of the topics I talk about with the people on my email list.

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