Shownotes
In this episode, Amy takes listeners inside the Love my Museum Method, a practical, human-centered framework designed to help museums grow attendance, loyalty, and long-term support without relying on big budgets or large teams.
Drawing on more than 30 years of experience working with museums, Amy explores the three keys of the method: Brand Messaging, Visitor Experience, and Media Relations. This episode is a must-listen for museum professionals who want to stop feeling invisible, strengthen relationships with their audiences, and build a museum that people genuinely love.
Links from the Episode:
Free Resources for Museums:
- Getting Visitors Through Your Museum’s Doors: Building Connection in a Noisy World ebook
- Museum Planning Calendar
- Museum Metrics Template
About the host:
Amy Kehs is a brand strategist and communications expert for museums. She has owned Kehs Communications since 2000 and has worked for the most renowned and well-loved museums in Washington, D.C. Her goal is to ensure that museums thrive into the next century and she hopes people will come to love museums as much as she does. Her proven process sets up proactive communication habits for museums, cultivating relationships with visitors who will want to return and bring a friend. Want to talk more? Click this link to book a call.
Transcripts
Today we're taking an inside look at the Love My Museum Method, why it
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:works, and how it helps museums attract
visitors and turn them into lifelong fans.
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:Let's get started.
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:Hello and welcome to the
Love My Museum podcast.
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:I'm your host, Amy Kehs
and I love museums.
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:I'm also a brand strategist in
communications expert for museums, and
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:I'm really excited about today's episode.
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:We are going behind the scenes
of the Love My Museum Method.
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:It is a proven.
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:Three part framework that helps
museums clarify their message, create
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:unforgettable experiences for their
visitors, and earn media coverage so that
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:their community loves them even more.
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:It's a really noisy world out there,
and every time you invite someone
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:to your museum, you are asking
for the most precious commodity.
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:Third time.
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:Now, what do I mean by that?
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:We are living in the noisiest
time in human history.
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:The average person is hit with
10,000 messages a day, and when
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:you ask for someone's attention,
you are also asking for their most
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:precious commodity, their time.
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:You cannot add buy your
way into a long-term.
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:Relationship with your visitors in 2026.
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:People don't buy brands.
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:They're longing to join
them, to feel a part of them.
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:They have to fall in love with
your museum before they'll.
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:Ever invest in it.
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:People are also overscheduled.
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:They have decision fatigue
and they don't have a lot of
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:white space on their calendar.
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:So when they're looking for something
to do for somewhere to spend their time,
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:they're very careful where they spend it.
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:Here's the thing, museums used to be.
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:The gatekeepers of information.
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:People came for knowledge to learn things.
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:Just like an Encyclopedia
Britannica, people came to see
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:that special new exhibit that was
going to teach them something.
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:Today, knowledge is available 24 7
in 4K on your phone from your couch.
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:Want to learn about that pot
that's in that new exhibit?
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:Google it.
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:The people who are thinking about coming
to see you are looking for an experience.
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:They want you to make them feel something.
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:They want stories.
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:They want to see themselves or
their neighbors in those stories.
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:They want connection.
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:They want relationships.
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:The world has shifted from
the information economy.
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:Knowing things to the experience
economy, feeling things, and people
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:don't just visit to learn facts anymore.
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:They are visiting to find meaning.
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:Museum leaders will often tell me that
they think that visibility is the problem.
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:People don't know we're here.
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:They'll tell me we're a hidden gem.
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:Well, first of all.
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:Who wants to be hidden, and also, most
of the time, that's actually not it.
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:The real problem is relevance.
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:People know that you're there.
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:They just aren't sure
why they should care.
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:Something I also hear from museums
all the time is we don't have the
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:luxury of a marketing campaign, or
we can't afford to hire someone to
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:help with a communication strategy.
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:And so then I usually
say that that's okay.
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:What is your marketing strategy
or your communication strategy?
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:How are you reaching out to people?
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:They also don't have a plan.
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:I also actually think
that the opposite is true.
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:I don't think you can afford not to.
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:Museums don't have the choice not to tell
the world why you matter, because when
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:people understand why your museum matters
and they care, it leads to more than just.
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:Another visitor in the door.
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:It leads to loyal fans, memberships,
and eventually long-term support.
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:. Donors give to things that
they know, like, and trust.
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:And people give to things that they
feel connection to and that make them
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:feel something they give to things
they can't imagine life without.
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:You don't need more people to see you.
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:You need more people to need you.
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:You want to be a part of people's lives.
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:You don't want people to be thinking,
why should I care about this historic
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:home when it's sitting on acres of land?
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:That could be a much needed
housing development in my
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:community, or a new grocery store,
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:or a new park for kids.
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:Every museum needs to be a
community museum, a community space.
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:How can you serve your community?
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:You need to foster relationships
with the community so that they
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:can't imagine life without you.
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:The love My museum method exists
because I have spent decades watching
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:museums do deeply meaningful,
important work and still struggle
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:to get people through the door.
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:And over time I realized that museums that
thrive tend to get three things right.
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:And the science and research behind why
these three things work also backs it up.
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:Psychology and behavioral science show
that clarity, experience, and social
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:proof are critical to building trust,
creating loyalty and motivating action.
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:Before we dive into each part, each key.
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:Here's just a really quick overview.
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:If this is the first episode that
you're listening to, and you haven't
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:heard me talk about this before.
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:The three parts of Alumni Museum
Method are brand messaging, visitor
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:experience, and media relations.
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:Now, these aren't standalone things.
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:They work together and
together they build momentum.
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:So the first key, the first
part is brand messaging.
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:Now, your brand isn't just your
logo or the pretty colors that
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:you're using on your website.
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:It's also not clever words
that leave people confused
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:and feeling out of the loop.
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:Brand messaging is your ability to
clearly, consistently, and confidently
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:answer these three questions.
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:What is this place?
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:Why does it matter, and why should I care?
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:Most museums.
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:Know what they do.
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:They can recite their mission, talk
about their collections, explain an
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:exhibit, but fewer can explain it
simply to someone who's never been
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:there who says, why should I care?
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:Why do you deserve to take
up precious space in my town?
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:Our brains are wired for
clarity and familiarity.
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:When something is easy to understand and
easy to remember, it feels trustworthy.
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:Mission statements often
will read like white papers.
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:They're full of facts, but they're
missing the story and the emotion,
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:and they are very important.
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:Every museum should have a
mission statement, but maybe
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:that's your internal document.
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:People need to see themselves in your
story and brand messaging and a brand
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:story is where that trust begins.
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:I say that your message needs
to be the three C's, clear,
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:consistent, and confident.
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:And if people can't repeat your
message to a friend, they're
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:not going to recommend you.
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:And if your staff can't repeat it.
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:They either won't talk about it or
worse, they'll fumble the message.
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:Putting more confusion out into the world
about your museum, what you say about
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:your museum, your brand message should
be simple and clear and repeatable for
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:everyone, all audiences all touch points.
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:You should repeat it so much
that you are sick of it.
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:That's when you know.
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:It is going to be a success.
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:Key two is the visitor experience.
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:So once you have a clear, consistent,
confident message, your experience, your
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:visitor experience has to deliver on that
promise and visitor experience isn't just.
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:Visiting the museum.
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:It doesn't start at the front door.
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:It's the entire visitor journey.
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:It's before they arrive.
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:While they're there and after they leave.
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:People don't remember everything they
saw, but they are going to remember
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:how your museum made them feel.
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:Here's the lesson.
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:Museums need to learn from business.
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:Getting repeat visitors is
easier than attracting new ones.
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:You don't want someone to
come and visit and say.
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:Check the box, been there,
done that, and then leave.
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:You want them to have such an amazing
experience that they return and bring a
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:friend and they make your museum part of
their life and their family traditions.
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:Consistency is key.
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:Think about the last time you
had an amazing meal or at a
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:restaurant and you tell your friend.
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:And say, oh my gosh, that was so great.
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:The food was great, the service was great.
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:We have to go back next week.
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:And then when you go back,
it was completely different.
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:How did that make you feel?
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:In addition to being disappointed,
you probably were also embarrassed
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:Every museum is a community museum,
and your top priority is building
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:relationships so that people come
back and bring a friend and they
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:can't imagine life without you.
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:When visitors love their experience,
they become lifelong fans.
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:They buy the t-shirt, they become members.
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:They renew year after year, and
eventually that support leads
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:to supporting an exhibit or a
capital campaign or an expansion.
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:They become donors.
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:And that is how sustainable
growth for your museum happens.
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:Now, the third key is media relations.
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:This is my jam.
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:This is what I have been doing
in museums for 30 years now.
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:A lot of people say, well, we
don't have a communication staff.
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:Media relations is scary.
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:But it's not scary.
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:It's it's relationships and it's powerful.
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:Richard Branson famously said, A
good PR story is infinitely more
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:effective than a front page ad.
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:People trust what others say about you
more than what you say about yourself.
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:So seeing your museum featured in the
media validates their decision and what
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:they were feeling about your museum.
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:They think.
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:Oh yeah, I was right.
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:I knew I liked that place, and that
third party validation builds trust.
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:Here is the myth that I want to break.
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:You do not need a fancy PR firm.
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:Journalists want to talk to you, the
expert, and they want your story.
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:They want the story, they
want the relationship.
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:That media list, that PR
firms treat like a secret.
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:You can create it and
maintain it on your own.
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:It's not magic.
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:It's attention and care and
building those relationships.
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:You can borrow audiences or get
third party endorsements in other
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:ways, but media relations often gives
you the biggest bang for your buck.
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:It also reinforces your brand messaging
and visitor experience, and it
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:makes your growth more consistent.
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:So how do all three of
these things work together?
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:Well.
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:Your brand messaging is going to attract
people and it gets them to know, like,
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:and trust you enough to come visit
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:your amazing visitor experience turns
that first visit into a relationship,
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:and then media relations validates.
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:And, and also amplifies that relationship.
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:Most museums already have parts of this
in place, and they really just need
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:to work on the alignment, filling in
the gaps, doing things intentionally,
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:staying consistent, having a plan.
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:This really isn't about doing more, it's
about doing the right things consistently.
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:The love my museum method isn't
going to be a quick win or be a
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:viral moment on social media when
your museum becomes a part of the
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:lives of the people in the community.
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:Your museum will do
more than just survive.
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:It will thrive.
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:Remember, you are asking for someone's
most precious commodity, their
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:time, and you're going to have to
earn it in this really noisy world.
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:sustainable growth is going to be
from that community of lifelong
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:fans who are also your neighbors.
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:Thank you so much for joining me today.
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:You can find links and resources and
ways to book a call and the show notes
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:of this is something that you wanna
implement at your museum this year.
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:That's all for today.
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:I'll see you next time.
