Marketing is a big term.

What is marketing in the context of a public facing institution like a museum? What is museum marketing when you do not have a large or consistent budget for it, or even a dedicated marketing department?

Marketing is not about selling stuff to people that they don’t really need, or even about creating demand. It’s about communicating the unique and valuable offers that you have to those who are ready to listen. Essentially it’s about letting your existing and potential audience know what great things you are doing.

It’s very important to remember that, for the most part, marketing never convinces anybody of anything.

What marketing really does is connect a consumer who is ready to buy with a product that is suited to his or her needs. That’s all. So it’s really about communication.

You have products: your exhibits, memberships, public programs. Your consumers have needs: to see an interesting exhibit, to be part of something, to have their children learn about something.

You already have what your constituents or consumers need. They just don’t know about it yet. This is the role of marketing and advertising—effectively letting them know what you are doing and doing this in as engaging a way as possible.

We have collected 11 essential things you should know in order to be a more effective museum marketer.

If you can learn them and live them, you will certainly have an easier time marketing your museum and it’s exhibits, programs, and development offerings.