Market research is helping audience development teams at the six Hub venues to better understand their visitors.

Grouping visitors into segments that share characteristics, behaviours, needs and motivations can help museums across the region tailor products, services and marketing messages to meet the needs of specific types of visitors.

In order to segment our audience, we need to gather a lot of information about them.  The Hub venues commission a market research company, Morris Hargreaves McIntyre (MHM), to collect visitor data and run visitor focus groups.  MHM analysed the data and has come up with a set of visitor segments for gallery and museum-goers. They are standard across all museums and galleries, the difference being the proportion of each type per venue.

Below are descriptions of five visitor segments that interest the Hub venues. The information can be used to tailor products, services and marketing messages – it is relevant to all museums and can be applied to adjust your offer and grow your relationship with your own visitors.

The Third Spacer
These are socially motivated visitors who see a museum or gallery visit as a way of spending an enjoyable time.  Significantly, they are regulars and act as great advocates for museums because they bring visiting friends and relatives and introduce people to their museum.

Third spacers love the wrap around offer – the café, the shop and the ambience of social spaces and beautiful buildings.  They fit museum visits into their working and leisure patterns, dropping in at lunchtime or combining a visit with a trip to the theatre.  These visitors have a sense of belonging, they identify themselves with the museum’s brand or image and they interact with staff.

The Self Developer

These are intellectually motivated visitors who are on a voyage of discovery.  They crave lots of information and layered interpretation, such as:

• labels, timelines, biographies
• audio guides and curators’ narratives
• leaflets and booklets
• interactive displays
• live interpretation
• talks, lectures, tours, discussions
• websites - not just museum websites.

They love context because they like to fit new knowledge into their existing knowledge, to make sense of the world.  The self-developer wants information that allows mental time travel.  They will chat with staff hoping to glean anecdotal knowledge that is not available elsewhere.  Often local interest and civic pride is a strong theme for this group and they generally prefer museums to galleries.  Interestingly, this type of visit is often programme driven.  They will pay for exhibitions and buy catalogues, but they see the café as a pit stop to refuel - they come to learn, not to eat.

The Sensualist

These visitors are spiritually, emotionally or aesthetically motivated.  Sensualists seek out a transcendental experience through deep engagement with artworks.  They crave a quiet space to contemplate artworks and unobtrusive interpretation that they can either read or ignore.  They enjoy beautiful, often historic or listed buildings and efficient, knowledgeable staff who only speak when spoken to.  The sensualist needs clear signage because they don’t want to look like a tourist and will never pick up a floor plan!  They like a café with lovely cakes.

Learning Families

Like the Self Developer, these visitors are intellectually motivated and encourage their children’s interest in the world around them.  They are parents and guardians who believe culture enriches their children’s lives, and museums and galleries are top of the list to fulfil this agenda.  These visits are adult-led, so it is important that marketing, publicity and on-line communication is aimed at the parent because they:

• guide the family’s choice of venue
• facilitate the visit and want the resources (floor plan, guide, event listings) to do this either at the venue or on the website
• appreciate events and have a higher awareness of programming than the permanent offer
• are very cost sensitive so free entry and free events are major factors in the decision to visit.

Kids First Families

These are socially motivated visits, where parents choose activities based on what the children want to do.  These families do not seek out information, such as leaflets, so the museum or gallery marketing has to be visible.  They want guaranteed fun and enjoyment and will not risk participating in activities that might bore the kids or require a lot of parental input.  The parents may not know a lot about art or dinosaurs, so a warm welcome and friendly, helpful staff who can facilitate the visit are key.

They also need clear signage and sign-posted family routes, so they can orientate themselves quickly and confidently in your venue. As with most families, cost and time are factors and it is important to have a suitably priced café or picnic spot.

Kids First Families may need a lot of persuasion to visit the first time, but if you deliver a good experience, they will come back time and time again.

For a copy of the full reserch report click here

Preston Hands On Gang
five venues in Prseton are working together to develop a new family offer.  For more information about the Hands on Hang click here