A photo of an adult imitating a dinosaur to a child in a museum exhibit

Audience Engagement & Visitor Experience

At the core of museums’ unique purpose is creating an inspiring, enlightening, and profound experience for members of the public. The disciplines of audience engagement and visitor experience focus on this objective, examining how visitors can feel welcomed and stimulated at every step of their journeys.

New Museum Junction Community for Audience Research!

Are you a museum professional working in audience research and evaluation?

AAM’s Museum Junction, our online hub of over 50,000 museum professionals, has a specific community for those working in or interested in all facets of audience research to connect, share ideas, and swap advice with peers across the field.

This AAM Membership benefit is available to anyone through 2024.

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Building Audiences

Museum leaders today are looking for strategies to better reach new audiences and address changes in the leisure preferences of existing audiences. Finding approaches to help ensure the long-term success of your museum is no easy matter.

Building Audiences brings together thought leadership, evidence-based research, case studies, and lessons learned to help you align your organization around effective practices for knowing and better engaging your visitors.

Watch & Talks

Use these Watch & Talks to facilitate a discussion at your museum about building audiences. Watch & Talks include pre-recorded content and accompanying discussion guides.

Screenshot of a presenter with text that reads "Building Millennial Audiences: Strategies from Funders and the Field"
Screenshot of presenters with text that reads "Evaluation in DEAI Work: Lessons Learned from Museum Professionals"

Fact Sheets

Cover of fact sheet, "What can museums learn about attracting new audiences from the Contemporary Jewish Museum"

Browse nine fact sheets with research, strategies, insights, and discussion questions on attracting new audiences from across the arts sector from museums, opera and ballet companies, and more.

Planning Toolkit

Cover slide of Wallace toolkit "Navigating Uncertain Times"

Navigating Uncertain Times: A Scenario Planning Toolkit for the Arts and Culture Sector is designed to help arts organizations think through how to respond to various future conditions.

Report

Cover of Wallace report, "Arts Organizations' Early Response to COVID-19 Uncertainty"

The Arts Organizations’ Early Response to COVID-19 Uncertainty: Insights from the Field report shares how the pandemic may shape the features of the arts in the early 2020s.

Become an AAM Member Today!

Instantly access dozens of audience engagement and visitor experience resources, plus thousands more on topics from education to strategic planning when you become an individual or museum member.

Recent Audience Engagement and Visitor Experience Book Titles

A guide to making the museum experience
Creating Great Visitor Experiences
Making Dinosaurs Dance
Museum Accessibility by Design
Designing for Empathy
Family Spaces in Art Museums

AAM Member-Only Content

AAM Members get exclusive access to premium digital content including:

  • Featured articles from Museum magazine
  • Access to more than 1,500 resource listings from the Resource Center
  • Tools, reports, and templates for equipping your work in museums
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