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  • 1.  Monthly Enewsletters - are they worth it?

    Posted 12-29-2015 11:00 AM

    I sat down this morning to work on our museum's January enewsletter and started thinking about the value of this age-old tool. Who better to pose this question to than the Museum Junction forum!

    So... do your museums send monthly enewsletters? Why or why not? Are there best practices you've found that work in terms of timing, length, design, etc.? Do your newsletters have a "letter" or do they simply launch into the information? What's your average open rate for enewsletters? Any other thoughts you want to share? 

    Best,
    Cara 

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    Cara Scharf
    Program and Communications Manager
    Wagner Free Institute of Science
    Philadelphia PA
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  • 2.  RE: Monthly Enewsletters - are they worth it?

    Posted 12-30-2015 10:18 AM

    We do monthly e-newsletters. Our open rate is around 30% - which means about 700 people read them, which (for a small, new museum) seems pretty good. 

    I am wondering how many e-blasts one should send per week or per month, and how else people use this tool. Aside from the e-news we send occasional program-related emails. Should we be sending something weekly? More? Less?

    Thanks for starting this conversation!

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    Rebecca Herz
    Director, Peoria PlayHouse Children's Museum
    Peoria PlayHouse Children's Museum
    Peoria IL

    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Monthly Enewsletters - are they worth it?

    Posted 12-30-2015 10:36 AM
    For many years, I edited a weekly update on current activities for my board and staff (and members, as well) at the Jewish Museum of Maryland. My wonderful successor, Marvin Pinkert,  mpinkert@jewishmuseummd.org  took a different direction, opting instead for less frequent communications with longer pieces.

    You would do well to touch base with Marvin to see what his experience of the past three years has been and what he would recommend.

    Avi

    Avi Decter, Managing Partner, History Now



    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Monthly Enewsletters - are they worth it?

    Posted 12-30-2015 11:42 AM

    We do a monthly e-newsletter for the membership of the state museum association.   It's divided into three sections: association news, news about museums in the state, and national news.    Each "article" has a bold title and a one or two sentence follow-up with a link to the appropriate press release, website or pdf.   We mail to about 700 people.    Our usual "open" rate is about 20-25% (bearing in mind that many browsers have a preview pane that allows the e-mail to be read without actually opening it) and our click (to links) is about 10%.

    We don't do a letter to the membership since (1) it is waay too time consuming to keep twisting the arm of whoever is supposed to write it and (2) all the information that would be in it goes into the articles in our association news section.   We put a link to the e-newsletter on our website and also post the availability of the e-newsletter on our Facebook and LinkedIn pages.   We also do separate e-blasts for our own programs (workshops, conferences, elections, awards)

    One other thing that helps.   I keep a running Word file of information to put in the e-newsletter during the month (with links to the original source) so that I don't have go looking for the information to include when that deadline looms.  I should also add that I have the world's greatest proof-reader (thank you Sheila) who looks it over before I send it out.

    Finally (finally) we don't go for a first of the month deadline, but wait for the national e-newsletters and send ours out between the 5th and 10th.

    I'm happy to send out a sample to anyone who is interested (and if you're really interested in Arizona museum news I can put you on the mailing list).   Just contact me off-list (jkhm@mindspring.com).

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    Janice Klein
    Executive Director
    Museum Association of Arizona
    Tempe AZ

    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Monthly Enewsletters - are they worth it?

    Posted 12-30-2015 12:01 PM

    I've been wondering about this for the past year as well. We send ours out bi-weekly and it has always been an events-specific newsletter. I started out by cutting down the number of events featured and the shortening their descriptions as it was extremely long. After all, we do have an online calendar they can always look at. We have about 3,000-3,500 people open each newsletter which is about 1,000 more than last year (still only a 22-25% open rate). I also added a "Did You Know Section" talking about one of our historic photos, and one of our designers created a great cohesive and branded look. 

    I can see the stats of who opens what links and who goes to our calendar, but I'm not sure if this is actually driving attendance to our sites. I would be extremely hesitant to get rid of it as I think it has a lot of potential to improve and it keeps us in touch with a certain audience. Below is a link with our past newsletters. http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs030/1102150419091/archive/1103281098089.html

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    Bethany Brander
    Museums & Historic Sites
    Wisconsin Historical Society
    Madison WI

    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Monthly Enewsletters - are they worth it?

    Posted 12-30-2015 12:45 PM

    We send a monthly e-newsletter to approximately 680 people who have subscribed through our website link. Our e-newsletter, started about one year ago, shares short news briefs about upcoming events and new exhibits. The average open rate is 46%. We see it as a valuable tool to reach a new audience, since most of those who have signed up online are not part of our other mailing lists.  

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    Kimberly Jondahl
    Communications & Education Director
    State Historical Society of North Dakota
    Bismarck ND
    701.328.1476

    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: Monthly Enewsletters - are they worth it?

    Posted 12-31-2015 02:51 PM

    The Honolulu Museum of Art had been doing a monthly enewsletter that was just a listing of what was happening for years.

    Two years ago our director asked that it go weekly and be more like Goop—a newsy eblast, with each issue having a People, Event, Art, and Education story. Events can simply be links to web pages, but the People and Education stories are often new content that I and two Communications staffers write. The enewsletter "stories" link to posts on our blog.

    As our membership campaigns have become more successful, so has the enewsletter distribution list, which is at 13,200, up from 10,000. Recipients include members, general public who sign up for it, board, staff, volunteers and local media. The open rate remains an average 30%, and usually fewer than 1,000 people click a link, but anecdotally it is indispensable for us—at any given event if you ask people how they heard about it, the overwhelming majority say the enewsletter, or that a friend who receives the enewsletter told them about it. We wouldn't stop now.

    The People stories are usually the most clicked, the Education stories the least clicked. So the People stories are a way for recipients to feel connected with the museum, giving this place a face. It is also a way to thank donors and give staff a pat on the back. We continue with Education stories because that is our mission, and even if they have low readership, they are good resources for Development when they are pitching funding opportunities.

    Once in a while we have a "Beyond the museum" story that highlights an event or news of another cultural institution. We also run "Shopping" stories.

    People have told me the enewsletter has become a part of their regular news diet.

    Here are some past issues:

    • http://generalmuseummailings.cmail20.com/t/ViewEmail/r/64A6506FAC07EADA2540EF23F30FEDED/3DA5A661D834D6E0F6A1C87C670A6B9F

    • Cosimo painting returns | Invitation to 'Harajuku' reception | Aloha Vicki and Tara | George Kahumoku Jr. and Daniel Ho perform

    Cmail20 remove preview
    Cosimo painting returns | Invitation to 'Harajuku' reception | Aloha Vicki and Tara | George Kahumoku Jr. and Daniel Ho perform
    Museum says aloha to Tara Donohoe and Vicki Reisner
    View this on Cmail20 >

    • http://generalmuseummailings.cmail20.com/t/ViewEmail/r/B255B55036BDA6352540EF23F30FEDED/3DA5A661D834D6E0F6A1C87C670A6B9F

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    Lesa Griffith
    Director of Communications
    Honolulu Museum of Art
    Honolulu HI

    Original Message


  • 8.  RE: Monthly Enewsletters - are they worth it?

    Posted 01-01-2016 12:44 PM

    Hi Cara,

    The story of your museum is a fascinating one, and I look forward to visiting.

    Public relations professionals advise museums about how best to communicate to visitors, members, people who sign up for enews, staff, supporters, and board members and how to identify and reach new audiences.  From my perspective, having worked in museums and as outside communications counsel, when an enewsletter is warranted, we recommend brevity, newsworthy content with lots of images and appropriate links, and typically a monthly distribution. The return on investment needs to be considered as well. 

    The design and content should reflect the institution's brand and mission.  It should be integrated with social media strategy and considered as part of the overall communications and marketing plan.  Enewsletters can serve a number of purposes. They remind your various constituencies of the important work you are doing in the field; relay news about programming, new initiatives, and the institution generally; highlight aspects of the collection and exhibitions; provide a regular opportunity for engagement, feedback, and calls to action (join, attend, donate, etc.); and so on.  Enewsletters can demonstrate the vitality of a museum, how it is serving the reader and various communities, and that it listens as well as speaks.

    As we have all experienced in the last two weeks, at the end of the calendar year, some museums bombard their lists with pleas for donations. I'd be curious to know if that causes people to unsubscribe.

    I'd suggest you start by asking what people would like to see in your enewsletter. What messages do you want to convey and what are they interested in hearing about? The Institute clearly has so many fascinating stories to tell!

    Best wishes for a wonderful New Year,

    Libby

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    Lisbeth Mark
    Managing Principal, Bow Bridge Communications
    New York NY

    Original Message