It has been well documented that word of mouth recommendation is the most effective form of marketing. People trust good word of mouth far more then advertising, even if they don’t know the person who has started it.
Last month I wrote an article which asked why more museums don’t feature reviews from visitors on their websites, but in discussing this with collegues it became clear that this is only one way in which museums could use word of mouth marketing.
Ask people what they thought!
I noticed a couple of museums doing this on Twitter, and I have since recommended it to all my clients. When you see someone mention a visit to your museum, ask them to let you know what they thought. If your giving your visitors a great experience, this should lead to lots of good reviews in Twitter.
You could also ask anyone who writes something nice about your Museum on twitter to also post a review on websites like TripAdvisor and Yelp.
Get recording
When you next have an exhibition opening, take a video camera along and ask people to tell you what they thought on camera (you could do this on a regular day too). Put together your favorite reviews and post the video on YouTube, Facebook and your museum website.
Signpost Twitter in your venue
I saw this sign when I visited the Brooklyn Museum last year, it encourages people to go online and share their experience. Are you actively directing people to your Twitter presence from your real world venue?
How do you encourage your visitors to spread positive word of mouth about your Museum?
