What Museums Really Need to Measure in 2025
This is the first in a three-part series on measuring and managing communication strategies that work within the cultural field. Over the next three pieces, we’ll explore how cultural institutions can use digital tools in practical, strategic ways to improve engagement and drive real world results.
Making Sense of the Metrics That Matter
Some metrics look good, and they usually have some positive connotations, but they don’t always lead to better decisions in certain areas. Website pageviews without context, social reach with no clicks, or an email list of 20,000 where only 3% of readers open the content can give an incomplete sense of progress, and one that is not necessarily where your institution really wants it.
These numbers might feel encouraging at first glance, but they often mask valuable opportunities for improvement.
The good news? Recognizing this is a step forward. When you move past surface level stats and dig into what truly drives action, you can unlock insights that actually help your institution grow and connect more meaningfully with its audience.
Seeing the Full Picture: Moving Past the Surface Stats
The main reason for these changes in reading metrics is that the digital landscape has shifted. In 2025, audiences are more intentional. They’re not scrolling, they’re searching and choosing. And the institutions that lead the way are the ones focused on depth over volume, clarity over noise, and action over optics.
If you’re ready to measure what actually matters, there’s huge potential ahead. And, as mentioned, you're not starting from scratch, you already have the data. Now it’s time to use it differently.
So… What Should You Be Measuring?
The short answer: what leads to action. The slightly longer answer: measure the digital signals that correlate with real world outcomes like ticket sales, donations, membership acquisition and renewals, and, of course, repeat visits.
Here’s where it gets fun. When you start tracking what matters, you can stop working with a bunch of unconnected data and start analyzing the stuff that actually matters. You start seeing what actually moves people: things like going from clicking to visiting, from visiting to joining, and from joining to becoming your biggest advocates.
Let’s break this down. 👇
📌 1. Session Duration > Pageviews
Let’s say 100 people visit your website’s homepage. Sounds great. But what if 90 of them leave after six seconds? That’s not engagement. That’s a bounce.
Instead of focusing on traffic volume, look at session duration and bounce rate. These tell you if your content is actually holding attention.
Target to aim for: 2+ minutes average session time.
What it signals: People are exploring, reading, and considering.
Bonus tip: Heatmaps (from tools like Hotjar) can show where users stop scrolling. It’s like visitor behavior tracking, minus the clipboards.
📌 2. Conversion Rate > Clicks
Clicks are nice. Conversions are nicer.
You ran a campaign. People clicked. Great. But what happened after that? Did they buy a ticket? Become a member? Donate?
If the answer is “we’re not sure,” then you’ve got a measurement gap.
What to track:
Ticket sales from digital channels.
Email signups that lead to actual visits.
Membership purchases via desktop/mobile.
Industry benchmark: A membership conversion rate of 2% or more is a healthy sign that your digital channels are doing their job.
📌 3. Engagement Rate > Follower Count
You know what’s better than 10,000 Instagram followers? A few hundred who interact constantly.
Social media and digital interactions aren't a broadcast tool. Better see them as a dialogue. And if no one’s replying, sharing, commenting or saving your content, it can be improved.
What to track:
Engagement rate (likes + comments + shares / total followers).
Story replies, DMs, post saves—anything that suggests actual interest.
Ideal benchmark: Aim for 3%+ on platforms like Instagram and TikTok.
What it tells you: People don’t just see your content. They feel something.
📌 4. Email Open & Click-Through Rates > List Size
Email isn’t dead. Bad* email is.
The days of *blasting a generic newsletter to 15,000 subscribers are over. Segmentation is now the name of the game.
Send different messages to members, first-time visitors, donors, and lapsed users. The more personal the content, the higher the engagement.
What matters:
Open rates above 35% (shows strong subject lines and targeting).
Click-through rates above 5% (proves content relevance).
Real-world win: One performing arts center increased ticket sales by 15%—just by segmenting their emails.
Why This Shift Matters More Than Ever
Let’s zoom out. We are not simply saying that “better metrics = better reports.” It’s a bit deeper than that. Measuring what matters is how you:
Identify what your audience actually values.
Improve the digital experience (and stop wasting time on what doesn’t work).
Turn digital engagement into real impact. More visits, more memberships, more loyalty.
Plus, it’s how you prove ROI to leadership and stakeholders, who are rightfully asking: “Is this digital investment actually doing what it was meant for?”
And yes, there’s a silver lining: when you ditch vanity metrics, you also ditch the pressure to constantly “go viral” or chase trends. Instead, you get to focus on what your institution does best: creating meaning, not just pouring out content for the sake of it.
But Wait, Doesn’t This Sound Like More Work?
Not really.
You don’t need a 12-person analytics team or a dashboard that looks like a NASA control panel. You just need a handful of tools that make the right data visible, and a team that knows what to look for.
Even better? Once you focus on the right numbers, everything else starts making more sense. You stop spinning your wheels. You spend less time guessing. And you start seeing patterns you can actually act on.
It’s All About Being Clear.
There’s not only one single functional strategy. Each institution will find, with time and work, the appropriate statistics to look into. What works for The Louvre won’t always work for a local history museum. But here’s what does work across the board: measuring what matters.
So start small. Choose three meaningful metrics. Track them consistently. Use what you learn to adjust your next campaign, redesign a landing page, or refine an email list. Then do it again.
Eventually, you’ll build a feedback loop that’s honest, useful, and actually helpful.
And when the board asks why website traffic is down but membership is up, you’ll smile. Because you’ll know what matters. And you’ll have the numbers to prove it.
Because in 2025, cultural engagement isn’t about being louder. It’s about being smarter.
And you're already on the right track.
If you're looking to focus on the metrics that truly reflect your institution's impact, we’d be glad to show you how others are doing just that. Book a demo with us to explore how Cuseum’s tools can help you track what matters—and turn insight into meaningful outcomes.