The survival of museums in the leisure market is challenged by a growing experience economy. However, many still refrain from strategic experiential marketing strategies because they fear to contradict their objectives as educational institutions. In our study we analyse the effects of an experiential museum design on both marketing objectives and non-profit objectives of museums. In an experiment we tested the effects of an experiential versus a non-experiential museum design on visitors and non-visitors using computer simulations. The results of this study show a positive impact of the experiential design on both types of museum objectives. As a conclusion museums can use strategic experiential design to improve both their market and societal position.