As a visitor experience planner, market analysis is part of what I do. That is to say, I help parks, museums, aquariums, zoos, and historic sites to identify who their visitors are, and who their visitors might be in the future. And I help them figure out how to reach out to them and how …
Read more “Diversification is hard. Here’s how to strategize.”
About twenty years ago, Dr. John Falk and Dr. Lynn Dierking did a body of research on why people visit museums and other informal learning institutions. It’s fascinating and valuable stuff, and if you get a chance to read their work, you really should. They discovered that, broadly speaking, people have a handful of different …
Read more “Understanding Audiences: The Downside of “Falk Types””
What benefits are they seeking when they travel to an attraction like yours? This article is part of a series, Understanding Our Audiences, on market segmentation for interpretive planners and other visitor experience professionals. You should probably start at the beginning, here. Here are some things you probably need to know about your visitors in order …
The point of market segmentation is not to make visitors unwelcome; it is the opposite. This article is part of a series, Understanding Our Audiences, on market segmentation for interpretive planners and other visitor experience professionals. You should probably start at the beginning, here. Managers and boards of directors are sometimes reluctant to focus their …
It’s all about the fun of discovery I just spent seven months living in a floating seniors’ facility. It was a blast. Well, to be technically correct, it was a cruise ship and I was a guest presenter. Each cruise lasted about 14 nights, and before we sailed, I would look at the demographic breakdown of …
Editor’s note: This is part two of a series, Understanding Our Audiences, intended for anyone who does planning in the interpretive or visitor experience sectors. You can find the first instalment here. It all sounds like marketing-speak. In fact, it’s pure old-school interpretation. Market segmentation is based on the idea that your behaviour and your tastes …
Read more “Segmentation, Profiling and the Role of Free Will”