What is Brand Love?

Brand Love is when your audience loves your museum so much that they tell others about you when you’re not even in the room. They know your messaging; they know what you do and who you are. They have visited your museum and have had such a great experience that they want to come again and bring a friend. Maybe they even decide to purchase a membership or buy something in the museum shop. They are invested. They have seen consistent and positive media coverage which validates how they feel about you. You’ve gotten them on board to share your messaging with others. Brand Love is earned and it is slow growing but the benefits are much more effective than any other Public Relations strategy.

There are three parts to “Brand Love,” which is really an external communications strategy for your museum. Those three parts are brand messaging, visitor experience and media relations.

Let’s talk about each one a bit:

Brand Messaging.

Your brand messaging should be clear, consistent and confident. If your audience understands the clear and simple message, they will remember it and even be able to repeat it to others. Repeating it consistently will also help them remember. It takes people seven times to see and act on a message. Having a consistent message means that your audience is seeing it several times and they will act on it. That might mean coming to visit you for the first time. If you deliver that message with confidence that means that they will trust what you’re saying as well. You want your messaging to be so clear and consistent that they can repeat it to their friends. Being clear, consistent and confident with your words brings authenticity in your relationship with your audience.

Visitor Experience.

Knowing what the visitor experience is from beginning to end is so important. I have my clients put themselves in the shoes of a person who has never been to their museum before. Is it easy to find directions on their website? Can they plan their visit before they arrive? What about when that person gets to the museum? Are they greeted by a friendly staff member or volunteer? Is the museum accessible to everyone? How does the museum support its community?

Media Relations.

When most people think of PR they think of media relations. I am amazed at how many people forget that media relations is all about relationships. How you cultivate the relationships with the hard-working journalists on your media list takes time and effort. It is also a two-way street. How can you help them? Have you positioned your curators as experts? Do you have spokespeople who know your messaging and feel comfortable speaking to journalists?

Want to learn more?

Creating Brand Love is one of the things I help my clients with in the Love my Museum suite of services, an array of free resources and affordable paid programs for museum professionals.

You can schedule some time on my calendar to learn more. I understand that trusting someone to be a guide for your museum’s communications strategy is a big step. Discovery calls with me are never pushy and you are under no obligation to invest. I want you to take your time to make a decision. Don’t worry, I’ll be here when you’re ready. If you’d like to book a call to learn more about Consulting, click this button to find time on my calendar:

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