Marketing and Communications Planning

The following resources were compiled from organizations throughout the nonprofit and museum sector. AAM reviewed and approved each one based on the organization’s authority and expertise and the resource’s usefulness related to the topic. Clicking the links below will take you off the AAM website.

Making History Matter: Toolkit for Communicators

This toolkit, funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, provides evidence-based strategies for reframing history, developed and tested by the FrameWorks Institute in partnership with the American Association for State and Local History, the National Council on Public History, and the Organization of American Historians. The toolkit includes common communication traps, how to keep conversations on track, sample communications, and answers to communicators’ most common questions about strategic framing.

Research & Planning for Museum Marketing Success

MuseumNext An in-depth looking at developing a marketing plan for your museum, including how to conduct a SWOT analysis and set a budget.

The Routledge Handbook of Museums, Media and Communication

Routledge publishing is offering this book for free download (or you can read online). The book explores what it means to make use of information communication technology and contrast it with face-to-face communication.

Tools for Results

The Texas Commission on the Arts shares a marketing toolkit that may be useful to small museums. It has guidelines for creating a media plan, an overview of different vehicles for getting the word out, tricks of the trade, tips for conducting market research and developing a media list, information, and samples (such as ads, fact sheets, press releases, and group sales documents).

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