In the beginning of all the closures, most museums heavily promoted their virtual tours. (Or, if they didn’t have one already, they created one.) Many saw increased engagement in the tours in those initial days but, if you have been looking at your data, you probably have seen a drop-off in virtual visits.
First off, let me say that I think virtual tours are great evergreen content to have and you should keep what you have.
That said, a recent article by MuseumHack shows how the web searches for virtual museum tours has sharply declined in recent weeks.
The data shows that interest in virtual museum tours started to surge on March 14, peaked on March 17 and has been on decline ever since.
Well, you may ask, what are people searching for? The answer is actually quite logical when you think about it.
Exploring the available data shows that at least three potential audiences for museums are surging right now. Supporting data shows these searches have meaningful search volume and market interest as well.
The three areas are:
- virtual field trips for kids
- quarantine date ideas
- things to read
You may not be surprised about virtual field trips for kids but the other two may be things that we’re not thinking about.
The great thing about all of these three things is that they can be adapted for almost all types of arts organizations, not just museums. I would invite you to consider how your organization might be able to create programming that fulfills these needs.
Lastly, it is important to keep an eye on your analytics so you can determine which virtual programs are successful at your organization. If something is working, stick with it!
