Our Approach to Marketing Cultural Attractions
Here is what we believe:
Many Stakeholders. One Gate.
Gardens, zoos, aquariums, and museums serve a lot of people. Visitors, members, donors, volunteers, educators, community leaders. Each group relies on the institution differently.
But the strongest mission outcomes start at the same place: the front gate.
Marketing’s primary job is to bring more people through it.
When attendance grows, everything else follows. More families discover the institution. Membership grows. Donations grow. Programs expand. The mission reaches further.
A disciplined marketing strategy keeps that priority clear. The goal is not impressions or engagement. The goal is visitation.
A Disciplined Media Mix Wins
With limited budgets, focus matters.
Many institutions spread their dollars too thin — small investments scattered across too many channels, none with enough weight to perform. We keep plans focused.
Our planning follows two simple rules.
The 60-40 Rule. About 60% of the budget goes to high-impact channels that build broad awareness. Outdoor advertising often anchors this — reaching large audiences across the communities where visitors live and travel. The remaining 40% goes to performance channels where we can directly drive ticket sales and measure results.
The 5% Rule. No channel should receive less than 5% of the total budget. If an investment is too small to matter, it shouldn’t be in the plan.
These guardrails keep plans focused and manageable
We dive deeper into this concept in our Media Planning Guide for Nonprofit Attractions.
Paid Social Is the Modern Media Engine
For our clients, paid social has become one of the most effective channels for driving visitation.
Platforms like Meta and TikTok let us reach specific audiences with precision — and tell richer stories about the visitor experience.
We can target efficiently. Show the experience through video. Optimize quickly. Connect ads directly to ticket purchases.
Because of this, paid social often earns a significant share of the media mix. Strong targeting combined with formats that show the experience in motion — it’s a powerful combination.
But the success of social advertising comes down to one thing: the creative.
Authenticity Performs Better Than Advertising
People trust other visitors more than they trust traditional ads.
That’s why we build campaigns around creator and influencer content. Real people. Real reactions. Real experiences.
Creators capture things traditional advertising misses — genuine moments, behind-the-scenes perspectives, the scale and energy of a live event.
Even when campaigns carry branded messaging, the philosophy stays the same: show the experience. Let the visitor tell the story.
See examples in our Influencer Video Library.
The Visitor Should Be in the Ad
Cultural attractions sell experiences. The most effective advertising shows people having them.
Children discovering animals. Families exploring exhibits. Friends at a seasonal event.
When someone sees other people in an experience, they can picture themselves there. The ad stops being a promotion and starts being an invitation.
This applies across every channel — social, digital video, outdoor. The visitor is always the main character.
Marketing teams sometimes try to say too much. We don’t. The goal is to spark curiosity and motivate a visit.
Once they walk through the gate, the experience takes over.
Expanding the Ecosystem
Every part of this approach serves the same purpose: growing the community around the institution.
More visitors. More supporters. More advocates carrying the mission forward.
Marketing widens that orbit.
Because every new visitor has the potential to become something more.
The 4 Pillars of Our Approach to Media Buying
1. Don’t Fall for the Low-Hanging Fruit
Let’s not run all of our ads to people who are going to come anyways just because it looks better on a marketing report.
Just as we need to be disciplined in our media planning, we too need to be disciplined in our media buying.
2. Buy Quality Placements
You are a mission-based organization. Where your ads run matters.
Oftentimes we see advertisers chase the lowest CPM. This strategy can lead to your messaging surrounded by questionable content – both in digital and traditional mediums.
We believe brand safety is of top importance.
3. Work with Local Reps
We often start engagements where the client has local media relationships in place. We want to carry those relationships forward.
Local TV and radio stations can offer tremendous value in trade, unique media placement opportunities, and ad production.
4. 100% Committed to Transparent Media Buying Fees
We believe our clients should ‘own’ their digital ad buying platforms.
Ideally, our team would manage and optimize digital campaigns in your organization’s Google Ad, Meta, TikTok, and other accounts.
This setup allows for a near seamless transition if you ever wanted to change who is managing the campaigns.
Plus, we propose fee-based pricing rather than a commission. Our pricing is based on the complexity of the media buys and not the size of the ad budget.
Pricing and Deliverable
Deliverable
We deliver media strategy and media plan(s) based on the rules laid out in our Media Planning Guide for Nonprofit Attractions.
This is delivered through a presentation and leave-behind deck.
Our detailed media plans comprise of:
- Media flowchart
- Planning rates
- Channel mix
- Budget allocations
- Daypart mix
- Detailed buying guidelines
Plans are designed to be executed by your team or us.
Pricing
Our standard fee for media strategy and planning is $15,000.
The fee varies depending on the amount of data the client already has and on the proposed number of plans to be developed.
Leverage our expertise in helping nonprofit attractions increase visitation with their growth audiences.
Click here to schedule a 30-minute call to explore hiring us.
