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Volume Two
Issue Seven
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Welcome to our July "Arts Marketer of the Month." In this issue we visit Norfolk, Virginia's Chrysler Museum of Art, where Director of Membership Jessica Browning discusses the museum's drives for new members. Read on...
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Featured Arts Marketer: Jessica Browning
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Jessica Browning,
Director of Membership
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The Chrysler Museum of Art, which includes two historic houses, was founded in 1933 as the Norfolk Museum of Arts and Sciences. When Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. donated his 30,000+ piece collection to the museum in 1971, the renamed Chrysler Museum of Art became an art institution of international importance.
Since Chrysler's death in 1989, the museum has continued to grow in size, yet the challenge of attracting new members prevails. In the Q & A that follows, Jessica Browning, Director of Membership at the Chrysler, explains the initiatives the museum is taking to build its member-base.
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Q & A with Jessica Browning
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TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUND. WHAT IS YOUR ROLE AT THE CHRYSLER MUSEUM?
I received an MA in American Studies with the goal of being a curator. But I realized I wanted to be more on the business side of museums, so I then received an MBA with a concentration in marketing. At the Chrysler, I am responsible for all aspects of the Museum's membership program (entry level through $10,000, including corporate membership) and annual fund campaigns.
WHAT IS THE DEMOGRAPHIC OF YOUR MEMBERS? WHAT CHALLENGES PRESENT THEMSELVES AS A RESULT?
Our most recent Membership survey confirmed what we have long expected: the majority of our Members have at least an undergraduate degree, are age 55 or older and have above average household incomes. Women are the primary decision-makers when purchasing a membership. Our membership is very loyal: 59% have been members for 5 years or longer; most visit the Chrysler 5 or more times per year.
The majority of our members -- like our visitors -- reside in Norfolk or the adjacent city of Virginia Beach. Because our region is separated by large bodies of water, a good portion of the area's population lives on the other side of a long bridge/tunnel from the museum, providing a substantial geographic barrier to visitation and membership.
Our biggest challenge is to engage younger, more diverse members from areas outside our immediate geographic location while maintaining loyalty among our traditional membership. To achieve this, we have instituted a new Student Membership category and will promote our concert series, wine tastings, film series and art research library to engage this audience.
We have also organized a volunteer Family Member Committee to help attract a new audience. The committee comprises well-connected, influential young parents who help spread the word about family activities at the Chrysler and encourage membership. By involving this group, we are also grooming future leaders for the Museum.
"Bridging" the geographic gap is another challenge neither we nor any other organization in the area has yet figured out how to overcome.
WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR FURTHER GROWING YOUR MEMBER-BASE?
In the past 4 years, we have focused primarily on increasing membership revenue and have seen it grow by 60%. This growth came from vastly expanding our upper ($2,500+) membership levels. The challenge now is to grow the entry-level Membership base, particularly among young families, students and young professionals.
HOW WILL E-MAIL FIT IN WITH THE PLANS?
Perfectly. The audience we are targeting is tech-savvy. We capture visitors' names at our admission desk through a Museum Shop gift certificate give-away. On these prospect cards, we state that the winner will be notified by e-mail (to encourage collection of e-mail addresses). We also ask visitors their specific art and programming interests so that we can target e-mails based on their preferences. We
encourage membership by always offering a discount or other incentive to join online by a certain date.
E-mail also fits into our plan to increase the retention and engagement of current members. We know that over 75% of our members have access to e-mail, but only 12% receive announcements electronically. We hope to rely less and less on our printed bimonthly calendar of events by increasing monthly electronic communication. To achieve this, we are in the process of capturing more e-mail addresses on membership renewals, promotions and give-aways.
DO YOU USE E-MAIL IN OTHER WAYS TO PROMOTE THE MUSEUM OR COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR MEMBERS?
Yes. From the Click-Thru Analysis provided within our PatronMail account, we know our eNews monthly readers are more interested in event and programming information and less interested in current exhibitions. To our surprise, we noticed that articles on our Art Travel Program are also consistently popular. So now we load our monthly eNews primarily with short blurbs about our wine tastings, concert series hosted by our young professionals group, members' openings and information about our travel program's upcoming trips.
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Visit the Chrysler Museum's Web Site
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Learn more about PatronMail -- Try Our 15 Minute Demonstration
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If you're thinking about joining the over 200 arts clients that use PatronMail -- give us 15 minutes and we'll allow you to "test-drive" a PatronMail account. During the demonstration, we'll talk about how the regulations of the anti-spam law are built into PatronMail.
The demonstration can be scheduled at your convenience.
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Click here to request a demonstration
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"Sign-Up for Culture" Published - Second Book by Patron Technology President
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We're pleased to announce the publication of "Sign-Up for Culture," the second book on e-mail marketing written by Patron Technology's president, Eugene Carr. This book is ideal for arts marketers who are looking to build their e-lists and maximize the list's effectiveness. It is a succinct how-to guide and covers:
- 20 top ideas to build your e-mail lists
- how to create an e-mail acquisition plan
- understanding the CAN-SPAM law
"Sign-Up for Culture: The Arts Marketer's Guide to Building an Effective E-mail List" is available at Amazon.com for $14.95 by clicking below.
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Click here to buy "Sign-Up for Culture" from Amazon.com
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If you have interesting and creative initiatives that you would like to have featured or know of an arts marketer that you would like to recommend for one of our upcoming editions, please contact info@patrontechnology.com.
Please watch for the next edition of our Arts Marketer of the Month, coming August 11, 2004.
Note: The CAN-SPAM act mandates that all commercial e-mail contains a physical mailing address, and ours is: 850 Seventh Avenue, Suite 704, New York, NY 10019
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