We’ve just published the very first Indigo Share UK Benchmark report for Museums and Galleries, drawing on over 5,600 visitor responses. This adds a new dataset to our well-established performing arts Indigo Share benchmark.
We’ve analysed the results as well as comparing them to those performing arts results. Three big messages come through.
1. Economic pressure is hitting hard
Museum and gallery visitors report that economic pressures are influencing attendance, with around 40% saying it affects them ‘a little’ or ‘a lot’. In performing arts, that rises to over 80%.
That difference obviously makes sense: paid tickets are a bigger financial commitment, and audiences are weighing those decisions even more carefully.
So museums may feel more resilient, but they are not immune. Even frequent attenders are feeling the squeeze. Museums may be free at the point of entry, but travel, food, donations, retail: it all adds up. We still need to make the case for a museum or gallery visit meeting a visitor need better than any other available option.
2. Word of mouth still beats almost everything
Both benchmarks show audiences and visitors are highly culturally engaged.
For museums and galleries, just under half (48%) attend 6+ arts and culture experiences a year. For performing arts respondents, it’s just over half (52%). So both sectors are reaching committed audiences, but performing arts is slightly more dominated by the “regulars”.
That raises a key challenge for both: how do we grow beyond the already-converted?
When we ask how people heard about our museums and galleries, the top answer isn’t social media, email, or advertising. It’s still recommendations from friends and family.
That tells us something important: to grow, museums and galleries need to build compelling offers which meet genuine needs for visitors. Then the experience needs to exceed expectations - and be distinctive - so that people talk about it afterwards.
If word of mouth is the biggest driver, we need to design for it:
- Make recommending easy (great shareable content, incentives to refer others, clarity of messaging)
- Give reasons to come back (discounts, incentives, changing offer)
- Build connection (understand your visitors, tell relevant and impactful stories, reinforce your values)
3. Museums deliver real impact, but expectations are rising
Visitors report high levels of personal and cultural outcomes: increased wellbeing, escapism, learning, and a strong sense of local pride.
But the benchmark also shows that audiences are not universally having the same experience everywhere, particularly around areas like value for money, consistency, and accessibility.
A small but significant proportion of visitors report access requirements, and their experience is not always as strong as it should be. This is one of the areas where shared sector insight can help us move faster, learn sooner, and improve more consistently.
In summary
What’s emerging is that museums and performing arts share the same big pressures:
- Audiences are under financial strain;
- Loyalty is concentrated in frequent attenders, and boosted through word of mouth;
- Experience and welcome matter more than ever.
But they differ in how and why people choose to attend:
- Museums and galleries are often about openness, atmosphere, and informal discovery;
- Performing arts is about event-specific commitment and stronger CRM channels.
This benchmark is the first step in building a shared, growing picture of what visitors expect, need, and value - across organisations, not just within them. We really believe in this collaborative approach to insight, so museums and galleries don’t have to guess in isolation, but can grow and thrive together. This benchmark is only going to get more powerful as more organisations join it.
The more we build collective visitor intelligence, the more we can stop guessing in isolation and start learning together about what helps audiences visit, return, and grow. If you are interested in joining Indigo Share Subscription, email us or book a no-obligation call with Kerry today.