Digital outreach

Like all other programs, digital outreach requires a strategy. Having a web presence does not guarantee that anyone will find your sites let alone click through them. An important question to consider when developing a digital outreach strategy is:

What are you trying to accomplish? 

A digital strategy can have several possible goals from mission advancement to audience building. One approach does not fit all. Museums' first web pages were built with a mission advancement agenda in mind. The focus was on making content available whether teacher lesson plans or virtual collections. While these are still important components, museums have learned that they are most effective at satisfying those who are already intrinsically interested in the topic. Those "scholars" among the general population.
The next phase was interactivity. Museums put up simple games, flash programming, and on-line tours with the idea of encouraging people to spend more time on the sites. These tools were effective in increasing time on site; however, time alone does not indicate the quality of the experience. These visitors were like the "strollers" in exhibitions.

The question many asked was to what extent were web site visitors becoming engaged with the museum over the long term. It was very difficult to measure how or if a web experience converted an internet encounter to a physical visit. Many realized that the web alone wasn't effective in building widespread virtual support. Web statistics often showed that the percentage of repeat visitors was a tiny percentage of the total. Museums also learned that building a repeat visitation audience was time consuming. many resources are required to keep encourage repeat visitation to a web site.