As we know, much research has shown that millennial and families desire an immersive, engaging, and digitized experience when visiting museums. This is why so many institutions have considered going digital! But one common question they have asked themselves is the following "Why do most museum mobile apps have low uptake rates "?. This is an extremely important question to ask before digitizing, So, if you happen to have asked yourself the same thing, then you are not alone as this is a very common issue and one you do not want to run into after investing thousands of dollars in a mobile application.
On that note, we would like to share a few important numbers with you, as well as the best practices to generate 1.5x-2x more visitor uptake of your mobile application.
Industry Average
The first thing to note is that the average audioguide has an uptake percentage of around 12% at the maximum – that’s assuming you do everything right.
That means if you have 40,000 visitors a year, you can expect about 4,800 of them to actually use your app! [Spoiler alert: We wouldn’t recommend going the traditional audioguide route]
The average mobile application isn’t much higher, at 17%.
Before you take all your research about digitization and throw it out the window, consider this:
The average mobile app has an uptake of 17% because most institutions just don’t know how to effectively communicate the presence of their mobile app to visitors.
CloudGuide Best Practices Uptake Rates
To contrast that, here are the uptake rates for institutions that follow our best practices communication strategy:
- Mobile app with multimedia guide (texts, images, audioguide, videos): 25-35%.
- Mobile app with multimedia guide and interactive games (treasure hunts, puzzles, quizzes): 35-40%.
Our communication strategy produces an uptake rate that is far and away better than the industry average.
How to Increase Uptake 1.5x-2x
Here’s a 3 step guide to easily double your mobile app uptake rate:
1 - Have the mobile application front and center on your website with a working link to download it. Make it the first thing that a visitor sees, especially on their mobile device.
2 - Place a banner at the front entrance with a QR code and weblink to download your mobile application.
3 - Place stickers with QR codes and weblinks around your institution. 1 sticker per 5-10 stops will ensure that people see it, download it, and use it.
4 - (optional) Kick your feet up on your desk, breathe a sigh of relief, and then take a sip of your coffee (or tea. no judgement...well, maybe a little).