For organizations who have launched Digital Membership initiatives with Cuseum, one of the easiest ways to make more data-driven decisions and to accelerate your transition to a more efficient membership program is to add on Cuseum’s Digital Membership Analytics Dashboard. From keeping you updated on your card adoption rates, giving you insight into different membership levels, and helping you understand the effectiveness of your own member communications, the analytics dashboard can help facilitate a smooth switch to digital!
5 Easy Ways to Increase Your Digital Membership Card Adoption Rates
Congratulations – your Digital Membership program is up and running! Now, you want to ensure your valued membership base gets the news, and is fully empowered to install their digital card and access their membership benefits.
If you’re looking to increase the adoption rate of your digital membership cards after you launch, here are 5 easy communication strategies that can help set you and your members up for success with digital!
7 Reasons to Launch Digital Memberships During COVID-19 (and Closures!)
The COVID-19 pandemic has been full of stops and starts for cultural institutions. Depending on their location, public health guidelines, and the type of organization, museums, zoos, aquariums, and gardens may be facing difficulties like capacity limitations, intermittent closures, operations challenges, and more. Membership and development departments have been hit particularly hard. From keeping up with membership card fulfillment during extended remote work, struggling with tight budgets and staff cuts, declining renewal rates, managing membership extensions, maintaining communication with members, to facilitating a positive onsite experience, membership departments have faced no shortage of setbacks throughout the pandemic.
Whether your museum is fully reopened, yet to reopen, or anywhere in between, Digital Membership Cards can help. Read on to discover 7 ways digital memberships are helping organizations adapt their membership program in the age of COVID-19:
5 Cuseum Success Stories to Inspire Your Membership Program
In the past several years, and even more since 2020, we’ve witnessed an explosion of innovation in membership programs across a wide range of cultural organizations. Many institutions have chosen to modernize their membership programs by launching Digital Membership Cards with Cuseum, and we couldn’t be more proud and excited to witness so many museums move their membership programs into the digital era. We’re also inspired by the multitude of creative membership initiatives that Cuseum partners have spearheaded to keep membership relevant and deepen engagement with constituents.
If you’re looking to update your membership program, make the most of your Digital Membership Cards, and/or experiment with new ways to engage members, check out five Cuseum partner success stories to inspire you!
Creating a Seamless Visitor Journey in the Age of Coronavirus
With the escalation and continued risks of COVID-19, the traditional process of visiting museums and cultural attractions has transformed in many ways. As visitor-facing sites are beginning to reopen, many are finding that they have to rethink the visitor journey end-to-end in order to facilitate a seamless, contactless experience.
In the pre-visit phase, guests may be doing significantly more research and preparation for their visit, even reserving tickets and parking passes in advance to avoid onsite contact. Once onsite, previous experiences, like touch screens interactives, shared audio guides, and hands-on activities, now pose high risks, and guests are seeking contactless alternatives. Post-visit, the need to follow up with visitors, solicit feedback, and convert them into members and donors is more pressing than ever.
In thinking through the evolving visitor journey in the era of Coronavirus, there are a number of challenges and potential solutions to consider. Here, we will explore how you can reimagine every phase of the visitor journey to adapt to changes and set your organization up for success when re-welcoming guests.
7 Ways to Keep Your Alumni Members Engaged During COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted many aspects of alumni relations, prompting new questions and concerns for university alumni associations. With the onset and continued risks of COVID-19, traditional opportunities for alumni engagement, such as class reunions, March Madness, NCAA football, tailgates, homecoming, in-person social events, alumni chapter meetups, and networking opportunities have been cancelled, or remain in limbo.
Indeed, while many held out hope that fall NCAA football would be a comeback after March Madness was called off, the Big Ten cancelled fall 2020 football in early August, and traditional social events like tailgates and alumni chapter watch parties are being suspended.
Despite the hurdles, alumni engagement is critical for building a university’s reputation and brand, securing donations, and creating community. In response to new challenges and unforeseen circumstances, many alumni associations have adapted by doubling down on their digital engagement strategy, with incredible results.
Here, we will examine the continued importance of an active alumni association for both universities and alumni, along with seven exciting ideas to activate alumni engagement during COVID-19 and beyond.
How to Streamline Alumni Card Fulfillment with Digital Cards
Alumni associations can be some of the most important communities and networks for professionals, as well as vital sources of support for universities. There are a variety of benefits that come along with being a member of an alumni organization. For alumni, the networking, social, and career development opportunities can be unparalleled benefits. For colleges and universities, alumni engagement helps build the university brand, secure financial support, and recruit future students.
Many alumni organizations have traditionally issued an alumni card or membership card to their members, which has been both symbolic and a means of accessing alumni events and benefits. However, with the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic, the traditional process of printing and distributing physical membership cards has been severely disrupted.
With the fulfillment process backlogged and many alumni associations simultaneously trying to ramp up their digital engagement, Digital Membership Cards can be a timely way to ensure alumni receive their cards and stay informed at the same time. Additionally, Digital Membership can save countless hours in the day for staff, thousands of dollars a year, and allow you to make the most of your limited resources.
Check out how Digital Membership can streamline your card processes:
Tips for Choosing a Timed Ticketing System for Your Museum or Organization
As museums and cultural institutions work to reopen, many are taking important steps to facilitate physical distancing, contract tracing, and enable contactless entry. One key way organizations are doing this is by introducing timed ticketing (also known as timed entry) for visitors, which has the benefit of managing capacity, reducing admissions lines, and limiting interactions between staff and guests. However, timed ticketing is new territory for most museums. Many are looking for best practices and wondering how to roll this out to their visitors to ensure a successful reopening.
How Museums Can Generate Revenue Through Digital Content and Virtual Experiences
Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic forced museums of all kinds to close their doors, many have responded by shifting their attention to engaging audiences through virtual and remote channels. Through social media initiatives, virtual tours, live-streamed events, and an array of digital content, cultural organizations have made substantial efforts to expand their digital offerings throughout the period of lockdown.
Now, more than three months later, many organizations are not only facing the ongoing question of how to engage audiences; they are also facing a significant loss of revenue. Although many are beginning to open their doors to visitors once again, they are operating at reduced capacity and may be facing restrictions on physical events, summer camps, and other types of special gatherings. Organizations are also preparing for the possibility that a second wave of the coronavirus may push them towards temporary closures once again. Consequently, even as they reopen, many are recognizing the critical importance of digital content and engagement tools to not only to engage, educate, and inspire audiences, but also to serve as a new source of revenue.
As museums look to generate revenue through virtual initiatives, here are six ideas to consider:
How Your Museum Can Save by Switching to Digital Membership Cards
Across the world, museums and cultural institutions of all kinds are facing the financial ramifications of COVID-19. According to a study by the UNESCO, around 90% of the world’s cultural institutions had to temporarily close due to the pandemic. Months after closing their doors, some museums may just be entering into a phased re-opening period, and others may be closed for many more weeks or months longer. As a result, organizations of all sizes are bracing for a significant loss in revenue and looking for areas to cut costs and increase efficiency.
In this difficult time with limited financial resources, one way to reduce expenses is by switching from physical membership cards to digital membership cards. Along with a variety of benefits, including going green, adding value and convenience to members, and increasing membership renewals, a digital membership program can be a significant cost-cutting measure during these challenging fiscal times.
Coronavirus: The Unexpected Driver of Digital Innovation at Museums and Cultural Attractions
COVID-19 brought much of the world to a standstill. As the government implemented stay at home orders, museums and tourist attractions dutifully closed their doors. After the initial days and weeks of closures, what seemed like a temporary situation began to set in as a new reality, and new concerns seized the attention of the entire cultural industry – what will the future hold?
5 Things to Keep in Mind as You Prepare to Reopen Your Museum
In the past few weeks, we’ve examined tips and strategies for planning for reopening, how to create a “contactless” museum experience, and how leveraging a mobile app can help museums engage their visitors in a safe way upon reopening. Although there still isn’t any one-size-fits-all approach, by learning from the triumphs and challenges of organizations that have already reopened, museums can equip themselves to initiate smooth reopenings.
Read on to get the latest tips on reopening:
How Mobile Apps can Help with Social Distancing and Safety for your Museum’s Reopening
One effective way to support social distancing and facilitate a safe reopening at your museum is by adopting a mobile app visitors can use on their own device. Such an app can serve as an all-in-one place to communicate health and safety information, welcome visitors, provide audio and mixed media experiences, and assist in contactless revenue generation.
Read on to learn four ways a mobile app can help enable a safe reopening and assure the safety of your staff and visitors:
How Museums & Attractions are Increasing Safety and Convenience with “Contactless” Experiences
Before the vast majority of the world’s museums and attractions were forced to temporarily close due the COVID-19 pandemic, visiting a museum was often a very social experience, involving various person-to-person interactions. From exchanges at the admissions and membership desks, interactions with fellow patrons, and special experiences involving touch screens or hands-on activities, moving through a museum previously put guests in close contact with shared devices as well as other visitors and staff.
Now, as we enter an era of social distancing, institutions are rethinking various aspects of the museum experience. New statewide regulations on sharing materials such as maps and traditional audio guides are affecting the traditional standards in which museums will operate in the upcoming months and years. As the shift to a “contactless” approach emerges, institutions are looking at ways to leverage technology to continue to bring modern conveniences and a safe experience to their visitors.
Tips & Strategies for Reopening Museums After COVID-19 Closures
As museums make the transition to reopening, many organizations are looking for guidance on what this process will look like, what policies they should enact to ensure the safety of their staff and visitors, and how to facilitate a gradual reopening.
Whether you’re an art or history museum, children’s museum, science center, aquarium, zoo, botanical garden, or nature center will affect what specific policies and guidelines you follow, since every organization is facing different challenges. Some organizations may already be in the process of reopening, while others may be planning for a “soft reopening” months from now.
Although there is no one-size-fits-all approach to reopening, the following guidelines offer up some of the best practices for museums and cultural organizations as they begin to plan and execute smooth and safe transitions into reopening.
How Museums are Leveraging their Mobile Apps during COVID-19
Over the last two months, the demand for digital content has increased dramatically. Many museums have worked hard to translate their physical offerings into the digital space and have experienced a sizable growth in online reach and engagement. With the vast majority of museums remaining closed for the foreseeable future, organizations are looking to leverage their digital channels to bring the museum experience into people’s homes. Many institutions have learned during this time that digital content can transcend geographical barriers and can be used as a permanent extension to a museum’s reach. Research has shown that smartphones are also the most accessible digital tool for accessing information, with the vast majority of Americans owning a smartphone.
Cuseum’s Mobile Engagement platform is one way that institutions can effectively deliver digital content and provide a convenient one-stop location for their audience to view digital tours with interactive elements such as videos and audio.
How Museums Are Leveraging Digital Membership During COVID-19
Right now, many museums, zoos, and cultural organizations have been closed for nearly a month and are predicted to be closed for more weeks to months to come. This “new normal” has presented new challenges, and many museums are working to adapt their workflows to the current reality.
In particular, with the majority of membership departments currently working remotely, it is becoming increasingly difficult to adhere to the traditional methods of membership outreach. Membership departments are working harder than ever to fulfill membership cards, send out renewals, stay on top of gift processing and acknowledgment letters, and maintain a line of communication. At the same time, the lack of access to printers and materials, combined with the uncertainty around membership expiration dates, is making it nearly impossible for membership professionals to effectively execute the fulfillment process from home.
Digital Membership is one way to remove the burden from the membership fulfillment process while also providing institutions with a channel to quickly and easily distribute information to their constituents.
Tips for Leveraging TikTok at Your Museum
As museums face prolonged closures due to the coronavirus, the importance of engaging audiences inside their homes has become of growing importance. As museums and cultural organizations work to adapt their content strategy and reach audiences remotely, many may be finding that the “tried-and-true” social channels are no longer as effective as they once were. As a result, such organizations may be interested in experimenting with newer channels that will give them greater reach to different demographics.
Even though it has been around for several years now, TikTok is still considered an emerging and relatively untapped channel for many museums. It also has enormous capacity to help you connect with your audiences and community in new ways.
If you’re looking to get started on TikTok at your museums, check out some tips below:
Tips for Choosing a Webinar Platform for your Museum or Organization
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to keep museums closed to the public, many cultural organizations have begun to produce a variety of digital content to keep their audiences engaged. One approach to engagement that is swiftly growing in popularity is webinars and virtual events. As the crisis continues, we are taking note which webinar platforms are being adapted by the museum, arts, and cultural attractions community, and which of these software giants are supporting the sector through cost-effective, and in some cases, free platforms to host webinars.
4 Ways Museums Can Successfully Leverage Digital Content and Channels during Coronavirus (COVID-19)
In the age of coronavirus (COVID-19), museums are facing unprecedented difficulties and uncertainty. In the past weeks, three-quarters of museums have shut down, starting with behemoths like the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and the Smithsonian’s museums. While these indefinite closures are presenting challenges, museum professionals have acted rapidly and creatively to keep their audiences engaged remotely.