With mobile devices growing more and more reliable with their ever-increasing processing capability, it’s not a surprise to see these technological advancements in places and institutions like museums. Since the ultimate goal for museums (much like any other attraction) is to keep visitors engaged and draw younger crowds, there is a desperate need for this publicity now more than ever, with museum appeal slowly fading away.
But the good news is, it doesn’t have to be that way!
Despite the average museum visitor being 50 years or older, that doesn’t mean that younger people won’t visit, providing museums adapt new technologies that can attract these targeted audiences. And that starts with touchscreen kiosks!
Here are five ways that museums can enhance visitor experience with kiosks.
1. Create an interactive experience
The purpose of having a touchscreen kiosk by an exhibit is to inform visitors of that exhibit, which can be beneficial for those who want to learn more about it. Interactive kiosks make learning more engaging and interesting than having visitors read a paragraph of text written on a static sign.
Therefore, it’s no surprise that kiosks would make it to the museum scene, because according to a Forbes report, this form of “subscription economy” is profitable (raking in $50 million, and more abundant than before) since more and more people desire increasingly novel experiences. Therefore, businesses, including brick-and-mortar retailers and online retail giants, will adapt to such kiosks to make customer/visitor engagement more wholesome, and allow the “pop-up” economy to flourish,
Essentially, interactive museum kiosks take you on a “journey,” based on who or what you want to learn more about. As you enter a name of a famous person or exhibit, you’ll have access to their origin stories, and the kiosk will give directions to the rooms where relevant paintings, displays, etc. are displayed. And not only will you be given such information to continue your “journey” inside the museum, kiosks will also provide translations in many languages, which is beneficial for schools, tourists from other countries, etc.
Use kiosks in pop-up stores
Pop-ups stores are quickly becoming more and more popular around the world and are creating an industry known as the “pop-up economy,” which has been fueled by the rise of the “subscription economy,” as noted above.
Take companies like Blue Apron, for example. Using the pop-up store, they opened an experiential retail shop in New York City. Within the pop-up shop, they offered products like cooking classes and a variety of grab-and-go products. Using kiosks and interactive displays, they were able to draw in thousands of interested people, and you can imagine in a city like New York, this venture came with a huge return of investment.
Think about where traditional leasing and renting of brick-and-mortar may be too expensive. Of course, having your own store means you’ve got all the space in the world to create the experience you want to provide, but this can require a huge investment and may not be worth the risk.
Alternatively, using the pop-up shop model with much more interactive digital displays offered, you can create a comprehensive and complete experience for your customers. You also get the freedom of putting the pop-up experience anywhere you can, meaning you can target your target audiences where they are, not just in a set retail place.
When you additionally start mixing this with marketing strategies like social media, getting people to spread the word of your experience on their own social media profiles and connecting the two is a marketing and customer experience strategy you’re not going to want to miss.
2. Improve attendance
In recent years, technology firms like City Corridor have developed more flat-faced kiosks with large touchscreens that allow visitors to “see ads for attractions, make reservations and print out maps, menus and more.” In addition, many of these kiosks include a bank card reader so visitors can immediately purchase tickets to attractions. Such advancements can help museums increase visitor attendance.
Management can collect the following valuable market research data through the kiosks:
- How long visitors view a particular exhibit.
- Directions that many visitors are more likely to take after viewing said exhibit.
- The number of visitors (for security reasons).
- How many visitors are taking advantage of the cafes, gift shops, etc.
With this valuable information at your disposal, having kiosks in a museum is a must.
3. Prevent tampering
Mobile device management software usually has functions that let museum staff show off the best possible formats to enhance visitor appreciation of exhibitions. Therefore, it’s important for museums to practice security measures, even on kiosks. Kiosks must have operating systems that are both user-friendly and have robust security to restrict people from accessing prohibited information.
4. Improve accessibility
Equipped with detailed information of exhibitions and interactive features, touchscreen automated kiosks can greatly enhance the visitors’ experience in an interesting and easily-accessible format. High-quality touchscreen kiosks allow museum management to collect information on how visitors interact with these machines.
5. Encourage video storytelling
Nowadays, people love to watch videos online. With platforms like YouTube having already cemented themselves as some of the most popular video streaming sites, the idea of shooting good quality videos is very desirable in the museum setting.
Rather than use still visuals to attract more people, museums can create entertaining and interactive videos which give visitors a deeper insight into the exhibitions and what they entail.
Featuring such videos on kiosks allow people to be better informed and entertained.
Museum kiosks not only improve the visitor experience, but make it engaging fun for museum goers.