The Hardest Ticket to Sell: New Yorkers to the 9/11 Museum

Getting more New Yorkers to buy tickets to the 9/11 Museum was, by all accounts, nearly impossible. For most locals, September 11th isn’t history — it’s memory. Asking them to revisit one of the most painful days in American life, and to pay for that experience, was a challenge few would dare to take on.

Our objective was clear but daunting: drive online ticket sales for the National September 11 Memorial & Museum — not from tourists, but from hardened, proud New Yorkers who walk past Ground Zero every day.

The obstacles were enormous. We had to make a measurable impact with a series of tiny quarterly budgets, while mining data deep enough to target only locals and literally exclude tourists.

So, we did what any scrappy, data-driven agency would do: we went prospecting — and remarketing. We reached more accurately-targeted prospects online, leveraging lower-funnel tactics designed to capture only those within driving or commuting distance. Every media dollar went where it mattered most: SEM, Meta, programmatic, and remarketing that zeroed in on intent, proximity, and civic pride.

The results spoke volumes. Against impossible odds and limited spend, the 9/11 Museum’s local admissions rose quarter over quarter. We turned quiet respect into active participation — transforming remembrance into measurable impact.