Museums have an almost universal appeal. Due to their unique ability to educate and engage visitors, they are a valuable method of communicating information on important topics. And, fortunately for companies looking to create an attractive display or disguise a lobby, they are a smart choice for attracting customers and prospects. If you are thinking of building a display for a trade show, office, or other venue, consider the following advantages that museum exhibits provide.

Sensory immersion

The ability to offer visitors an immersive experience is one of the main advantages of museum exhibits. Immersion refers to the exhibition’s ability to engage all of the visitor’s senses, to make them feel as if they have entered a new world. Often times, this type of display will go beyond the use of images or written text to communicate your message. Instead, it will introduce elements that can be touched, smelled or even tasted to give visitors a completely engaging experience.

Immersion is an advantage when creating a display, as it helps visitors fully focus on your brand message. From the moment they enter your exhibit, all your senses tell you to pay attention to the message you are conveying. In addition, immersion helps people feel more interested, learn faster, and remember longer than non-immersive experiences. By helping your visitors see, hear, feel, smell, and touch your message, you make it easier for them to accept and act on it.

Narration

Another advantage that museum exhibits provide is the ability to tell a story. In fact, the best museum exhibits are successful because they weave all of their parts together in a cohesive and engaging narrative.

People are naturally programmed to respond to narration. A well-told narrative will foster learning, memory, and interest in your message. By setting up a museum exhibit that uses storytelling to sell your brand, you are creating a way for people to deeply engage with the message you want them to hear.

For example, let’s say you are trying to sell a green household cleaner. If you simply describe your benefits, you may be disappointed in the amount of interest it generates. However, if you put your cleaner in a story about preserving the environment or the health of families, it could get more attention. And that attention is what you need to sell your product and develop the brand loyalty that will keep customers coming back.

Education

Perhaps the main advantage that museum exhibits provide is their ability to educate. They have long been revered as valuable elements in the children’s school curriculum. Visits to museums are often credited with fostering children’s creativity and curiosity. This type of display is also considered an ideal medium to help adults learn more about a particular topic. The reason the museum exhibits are so good at educating visitors is because each of them was created to communicate information in a memorable way (through techniques like immersion, sensory engagement, and storytelling) .

This ability to educate also makes museum exhibits a good fit for organizations looking to communicate with potential clients. Brand awareness can make or break sales. If your visitors forget about you, you may lose sales to competitors who have managed to impress your brand on the visitors’ minds. If you can convey meaningful information to your visitors, it enables them to remember (and get in touch with) your business later. Additionally, you build a reputation as a well-informed source of information in your field, another quality that can attract your clients.

Inspiration

If you are looking to capture the imagination of your visitors, a good place to start would be a museum exhibit. Museums have a unique ability to inspire people, to help them think and dream bigger and bolder than before. When people leave museums, they often have a broader and more exciting view of the world. And that new vision can encourage them to take action they might not have done otherwise.

For example, a household cleaner may not make anyone dream of anything other than how to complete the task quickly. However, if you use a museum exhibit to describe the positive impact your green cleaner will have, you can inspire people to think about the impact that even worldly actions can have. Visitors leave feeling inspired to make healthier choices for their families. As a result, if you feel like your visitors could benefit from a little inspiration, building a museum exhibit to communicate your message might be the right way to go.

Conversation

Finally, museum exhibits can often spark meaningful and informed conversations. For example, when people find new information, they want to ask questions to get more information. When encouraged to think of new ideas, they may want to discuss those new ideas with others to develop them and decide how to act accordingly. For museums, these conversations are intended to continue to educate and inspire their visitors.

For businesses, the conversations sparked by a museum exhibit can serve to encourage the visitor to think more deeply about the exhibit’s message. For example, a museum exhibit on a household cleaner could spark discussions about the best cleaning methods. As visitors have that conversation with each other and with you, hopefully they will be motivated to take action by buying the green cleaner on sale.

The museum’s exhibits offer a number of perks for businesses looking to connect more deeply with potential customers. By providing immersion, storytelling, education, inspiration, and conversation, they can enable you to engage, educate, and encourage your visitors to embrace the message that is at the heart of your organization. As a result of an effective museum display, your clients and your business benefit.