Having attended the Museums + Heritage Show last week, Mustard’s Hannah Crayk reflects on the resilience of cultural and heritage organisations despite the complex and challenging landscape. The sessions inspired the articulation of six ‘rules to live by’ to build stronger audience relationships and create more meaningful impact.
What struck me most while visiting the Museums + Heritage show last week was just how much more complex the culture and heritage sector has become since I first started out 15 years ago. It’s a thought I kept coming back to – because let’s be honest, it’s a complete minefield.
Here is a flavour of some of the complexities that came up in the sessions I attended:
- How to navigate social media engagement with minimal resources while also considering the ethical implications that come with it;
- Co-curating new interpretation with communities for objects with extremely complex colonial histories, all while working within strict regulations of how these objects must be displayed;
- The on-going impact of Covid and the cost of living crisis on visitor acquisition and retention and how this shapes what audiences want from a day out;
- How to provide welcoming and accessible spaces to young people, who have limited social spaces just for them, and are often restricted by their personal resources;
- How to create meaningful and emotional experiences at every stage of the visitor journey, whilst also aiming to increase spend and revenue;
- How to create a sense of relevancy amongst current and potential audiences and expand reach;
- How to navigate and work with AI responsibly and the ethical considerations that come with it.
Now you may argue that some of these issues have always been part of audience development that the sector has been grappling with for well over 15 years. But it genuinely feels like the complexity has been dialled up, and in many ways, that’s a good thing. The majority of cultural and heritage attractions in the UK attract larger audiences compared to 15 years ago, and strategies and resources are increasingly focused on attracting more diverse audiences in particular. That work has extended to collections, with diverse programming and increased efforts to reflect multiple voices and perspectives. Of course, there is still a long way to go when it comes to equity, diversity and inclusion, but most organisations have a roadmap and some are even seeing the impact of their efforts.
Public funding for cultural and heritage organisations has been declining since 2010, and in some ways that pushed organisations to be more resourceful and find creative ways to do more with less, and forge partnerships that, when successful, have helped broaden reach and impact. But as Sir Nicolas Serota warned us in this Guardian piece on Friday, there is only so much financial pressure cultural organisations can withstand. With the economic outlook uncertain we can’t rely on audiences to turn up in greater numbers or spend more when they do.
So back to those challenges – it’s a really complex and difficult landscape. And while we can hope that some funding gaps might be addressed in the upcoming government spending review, it is by no means guaranteed. Despite this, after attending the Museum + Heritage show I couldn’t help but be encouraged by how the sector meets its challenges so creatively. I keep on returning to some rules to live by – principles that should help cultural and heritage organisations navigate an increasingly complex landscape:
- Do things with integrity and a clear sense of purpose. Sometimes that might mean stepping into ethical grey areas – but if it helps to reach new visitors or create more meaningful impact then there is a clear reason to do it. Just make sure you are doing things for the right reasons.
- Live your values in everything you do: whether it’s behind the scenes or front of house, in your physical spaces or online. It builds trust and credibility in an uncertain world.
- Evaluate the visitor journey regularly: is it connecting at every stage as it should? Is it making visitors feel what you want them to feel? Remembering the journey doesn’t start and end at your venue and includes all digital touchpoints. Happier visitors will be much more likely to come back, spend more money and act as brand advocates.
- Focus on storytelling: it’s at the heart of what cultural and heritage organisations do. These stories help people to make sense of the world, build emotional connections and create lasting, memorable experiences. In the wake of COVID and the continuing cost of living crisis visitors are seeking fun, escape and opportunities to create memories with people they care about. Storytelling is one of the most powerful ways cultural and heritage organisations can facilitate that need.
- Build relevancy: it’s how to create deeper connections with existing audiences and grow relationships with new ones. Crucially, it can help storytelling land more successfully. Relevancy will mean different things to different audiences, which means it often needs a certain amount of creativity and experimentation to get it right. When done well it can have real impact, including on the bottom line.
- Take audiences on the journey with you: cultural and heritage organisations are constantly evolving and learning to adapt to our changing times and its crucial that audiences are not only brought along, but have opportunities to shape the direction of travel. Encouragingly, ‘co-curation’ is a much more established practice compared to 15 years ago, but there is still work to be done to go beyond inclusion, by focusing on building equity.
It’s clear from attending the Museum + Heritage show that so many cultural and heritage organisations are already embracing these principles, but applying them consistently and with purpose could lead to stronger audience relationships and more meaningful impact.
