Random audience development for the arts thoughts (and questions)

Today I do not have a guest blogger planned.  I thought I would fill in the gap with a variety of thoughts (and questions) that I have been thinking over the past week (in no particular order).  Let this serve as a summary of blog posts from past and future.

• Audience development is hard work.  Are we ready to work?
• Again, audience development is not “butts in seats” !!!  A butt doesn’t enjoy the show, people enjoy the show.
• A team is needed for audience development.  Can we be team friendly people?
• Should we appeal to audiences when programming is concerned?  Would we be letting them run our show?  More on this thought later.  This article spurred this thought.
• We need to go beyond the discounts when it comes to building an audience or we serve to lose our bottom line.
• Quality needs to be at the forefront for everything we do.
• Why are board members so scared to ask for money?  They are passionate about their arts organization.  Aren’t they?
• If I received a penny for “Something for everyone” and other inane marketing blurbs, I’d be rich! Maybe I should start an audience development fund this way?
• Artists and arts organizations are supposed to be creative, right?
• Social Media needs to be social.  It’s not termed Marketing Media.
• If you don’t know your audience, you can’t develop your audience.
• If you don’t know your audience, you won’t know what types of programs will be appealing and successful.
• Ask them survey questions beyond the demographic questions.
• Instead of targeting or segmenting – perhaps reaching out is a better term?
• Numbers are not people.  You can data mine and analyze away, but this step will not build relationships with living people.
• If something you are doing is not working, why are you continuing to do it?
• Why spend money on something that is not working?  Because that’s the way you are supposed to spend your budget?
• Audience development is a state of mind.  Everyone on your team can be a part of it.  Everywhere you go is an opportunity for it!
• Learn to be a part of your community.  Use the other C’s to connect, collaborate and care.
• If you have a big marketing staff, over 2 people, and you are still not getting an audience, either someone is not doing their job, or typical marketing is not working anymore.
• Run your arts business as a business too.
• Non-profits can be “profitable.”
• If a certain business model isn’t working for you, explore a new model.
• Your audience can be part of your team.
• Ask your audience, they know what you don’t.
• Treat your volunteers like royalty.
• Treat your donors like royalty.
• Thank your supporters often.
• Be supportive and respectful of everyone on your team and learn to work together knowing that each part has an important role to play.
• For gosh sakes, program new stuff too!
• Be true to yourself and your mission.
• Brand properly.
• Be relatable.
• Engage, but also get your audiences involved! There is a difference.
• The arts matter, but only if you find out why they matter to your audiences.
• Your thoughts here!  Feel free to comment below.

Cheers to happy and loyal audiences,
Shoshana

Shoshana Fanizza

Audience Development Specialists

http://www.buildmyaudience.com

“Never treat your audience as customers, always as partners.”
~James Stewart

Although we are not a non-profit, if you would like to support ADS to continue our work, you can donate here.

New eBook!  The How of  Audience Development for the Arts: Learn the Basics, Create Your Plan

What makes a great trailer? – Audience development for the arts

Today I was in a YouTube kinda mood.  Instead of posting here, I invite you to view my recently updated YouTube Gallery.  This time, we are highlighting some fantastic examples of trailers for the arts.  Trailers are not just for movies anymore.  With the online video craze, trailers can be made for any type of art and arts organization to promote an upcoming event.

So you want your trailer to be viewed by thousands of people.  What makes a great trailer that will stand out from the rest?  In viewing my samples, you will find some common points to all of these trailers:

• They are all under 2 minutes.  Trailers that are longer than 3 minutes can lose the audience’s attention.  We are busy people, so try to keep your trailer 2 minutes and under if you can.  Only go toward a 3 minute trailer if the content absolutely keeps us attentive.  I suggest testing on a few people in any case to make sure it is compelling for the time frame you have chosen.
• They have images that draw you in.  You want to see more.
• They are of good quality and they download easily.  It is frustrating when the video is slow to load and the viewing quality is poor.
• The background music fits and is not annoying.  There have been YouTubes I have stopped simply because the music was disturbing to me (in one way or another).
• The YouTubes fit the branding of the artist/company.
• There is an attention to detail that is apparent from start to finish.
• The focus is on the sampler and not the information, yet the information is readily available if you want more.
• They focus on what they do best.
• They highlight one or more memorable features of the events.

If you can think of more points for what makes a great trailer, please do share by replying below.  It is becoming easier to create an online video to share, and there are new audiences waiting to discover you and your next event. Trailers can make a huge difference when they are done right!

Have a great weekend!

Cheers to happy and loyal audiences,
Shoshana

Shoshana Fanizza

Audience Development Specialists

http://www.buildmyaudience.com

“Never treat your audience as customers, always as partners.”
~James Stewart

Although we are not a non-profit, if you would like to support ADS to continue our work, you can donate here.

New eBook!  The How of  Audience Development for the Arts: Learn the Basics, Create Your Plan

Audience Development and Steve Jobs

The news about Steve Jobs passing is all over the internet and on the international news.  He was an innovator of our times.  He was creative and a go getter.  The combination changed our world.

One of the articles I found was: The 13 Most Memorable Quotes From Steve Jobs

I was intrigued by his focus and dedication to providing products that blew our minds.  Here are a few of the quotes I particularly enjoyed since they relate to audience development:

“It’s really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.”

[BusinessWeek, May 25, 1998]

I’m not sure I completely agree, but the fact that he went a step beyond, most likely using what he would prefer to use, he did ultimately come up with products that surprised us and that we wanted to use.  He paid full attention to the quality of the product, how it looked and felt and what it was able to do for us.

“That’s been one of my mantras — focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”

[BusinessWeek, May 25, 1998]

Our messages, our outreach programs, need to be more simple.  The audience needs to understand and connect with us in a moment.  This is why this quote resonated with me.

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.”

[Stanford commencement speech, June 2005]

Don’t settle.  Enough said.

“I think if you do something and it turns out pretty good, then you should go do something else wonderful, not dwell on it for too long. Just figure out what’s next.”

[NBC Nightly News, May 2006]

This quote also meant to me to never stop being innovative.  If you keep doing the same programs and events over and over, you will never get to the “what’s next.”

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”

[Stanford commencement speech, June 2005]

Having trust and confidence is key.  Where you get this from is your choice.  Sometimes you need to be quiet and listen to find the answers and then be brave enough to implement what you discover.  Other people can tell you what to think, but don’t listen to them if it doesn’t fully resonate with who you are and what you want to achieve.  The dots will connect on their own if you do trust and have confidence in yourself and your ideas.

Steve Jobs was an amazing person of our times, and he also serves as an example that each of us has the ability and the opportunity to be this amazing too.

Cheers to happy and loyal audiences,

Shoshana

Shoshana Fanizza

Audience Development Specialists

http://www.buildmyaudience.com

“Never treat your audience as customers, always as partners.”
~James Stewart

Audience development needed – Van Cliburn proves the arts deserve it!

I saw another listing of an orchestra filing for Chapter 11 today.  Right now I am hoping and praying that more people will start seeing the value of audience development and do what they can to give it a fair try.  It is sad to see artists and arts organizations in trouble, especially when they have so much to offer.

Yesterday was my favorite pianist, Van Cliburn’s birthday.  My Twitter friend @alanayu alerted me to a NY Times article last weekend:

Basking in Russia’s Love Long After a Musical Triumph

This article points out the love that Russian music lovers have for Van Cliburn and that he was an ambassador for the United States during international high-level meetings between the Soviet and American leaders.

It pointed out how special he was to them.  They gave him the nicknames, “Vanya” or “Vanushka.”

A Russian violinist, Artur Shtilman, recalled the tremulous words of a janitor who said the performance had left her strangely transfixed: “This young man, really just a boy — he plays, and I sit and cry. I myself don’t know what is happening to me, because I have never listened to this music, and I simply cannot tear myself away.”

Special artists and arts productions can do this for us – touch us so emotionally that  it changes us in those moments to be open to much, much more.

I was digging through YouTubes of Van Cliburn yesterday to post various clips in celebration of his birthday.  I found this absolutely amazing clip that made me feel exactly how the janitor from the article describes.  I was an emotional wreck with all the different emotions washing over me.  I share this clip with you now to show you that the arts are worth funding and that audience development is very much needed to ensure the future of the arts today.  Audience development will provide support for the arts by helping to build audiences and getting them more involved by supporting further through volunteering, donations, sponsorships and more.  Some people are naturals at it, which I feel Van Cliburn very much was.  He formed relationships with the people of a country that seemed almost impossible at the time to relate to (so we thought).  Through his music and his personality, they are still his friends and supporters, and he is still their “Vanya.”

I hope you enjoy this clip.  Notice the picture of the full house crowd intently listening to every note.  To me this example stands for everything that is beautiful about the arts.

Cheers to happy and loyal audiences,

Shoshana

Shoshana Fanizza

Audience Development Specialists

http://www.buildmyaudience.com

“Never treat your audience as customers, always as partners.”

~James Stewart

Audience development thoughts for the weekend

Sometimes it is good to take time off, step away from the day to day in order to get a fresh perspective.   After a few days away, I have a few thoughts to share about obtaining new audiences.  These are thoughts in no particular order with hopes to open much more conversation.

• If we would like to have a particular audience we need to cater to that audience.
• Catering to a particular audience may mean changes need to be made.  If you want your art to stay the same, your audience won’t grow either.
• However, when is it time to say “enough” when it comes to change? You don’t want to turn your art inside out and upside down in order to appeal to a new audience.  It wouldn’t be your art anymore.
• A delicate balance needs to be established when considering making changes for a new audience.
• You can add new elements to your typical fair.
• You can change your typical fair in ways that will appeal more strongly to a new audience.
• Through the changes though, it is still good to stay true to the art, the play, the music.  Don’t insult your art to gain favor with a potential audience.
• On the flip-side, don’t insult your audience and be over controlling about your art.
• Be open to what the new audience is looking for.  Perhaps a new presentation would benefit your art form as well.
• Quality and care need to be a part of everything you do.  Take care to give your best to your audience.
• Invite your audience to become a part of your art in one way or another.  Find comfortable ways for you both to engage in a two way relationship.
• Try not to step on other people’s toes when promoting your art or contributions.  Be gracious and become partners with  other artists, organizations and your audience members.
• Form collaborations that are win-win for everyone involved.  No one wants to feel like they received the short end of the stick.
• Always give credit where credit is due.
• Connect others to become more connected with others too.
• Learn how to help others and you usually find that you are helping yourself in the process.
• Be open to new ideas before you shoot them down.  Be open to attempting something new.
• Be confident to keep what is working for you now.
• Become a team with the people surrounding your art.  Try not to point fingers and play the blame game and instead, focus on solutions and being a team.  If you see an “us vs. them” mentality coming into play, you are not on the right track.
• Invite people to your art party.  Sometimes artists do not have the support they need because they “forget” to invite/ask others to join them.
• Be mindful of where your art fits into the world.  Be honest about who you are and what your art is.
• Brand to your individuality.  Find what makes you special and sets you apart instead of copying the same old same old.
• Reach out to others that would enjoy who you are and what your art is about.
• If you want an audience to support you, you need to support them.  What do they need?
• Always follow up and follow through.
• Relationships are what makes it possible to get the support we need.  The stronger the relationship, the more likely people will want to support you.
• Be honest about your relationships.  Are they two way streets or do you simply contact them when you need them (or vice versa)?
• Spell people’s names correctly.
• If you want a diverse audience, you need a diverse outreach program.  Not everyone speaks the same “language.”
• If you want a diverse audience, sometimes you need to learn another “language.”
• Be sure to thank people efficiently, timely, and memorably.
• The quicker you realize that these points can carry over to your everyday life, the faster audience development will become more natural to you.

Cheers to happy and loyal audiences,

Shoshana

Shoshana Fanizza

Audience Development Specialists

http://www.buildmyaudience.com

“Never treat your audience as customers, always as partners.”

~James Stewart

Audience Development, Peter Gabriel and Orchestras

Last night I went to see one of my favorite artists, Peter Gabriel.  He is right up there with the Beatles, Sting/The Police, and all my favorite classical music composers.  For this concert tour, Peter Gabriel was being backed by his own orchestra, the New Blood orchestra.  He chose particular songs to have arranged (brilliantly, I will add by John Metcalfe) so the mix was a little more on the mellow side.  There was no “Big Time” or “Sledgehammer,” but instead moving and powerful renditions of “Mercy Street” and “Blood of Eden.”

I’m not here to review the concert per se, although I highly recommend going to see this concert, but I am here to tell you that the crowd was not only hooting and hollering for Peter, they were also very excited about the orchestra.   The orchestra was mainly comprised of  musicians from the local area and the UK.  The conductor, Ben Foster, looked very young, but was extremely polished. These musicians played with such passion and conviction that you couldn’t help cheer them on.

I have no idea if other people in this audience were orchestral fans or as big of a Peter Gabriel fan as I am, but the audience was right there with me in acknowledging powerfully performed music.

Aside from the high quality content of this concert, the execution was audience friendly.  Peter told stories of how a song came into fruition to lead into the music.  Having a better understanding of the song led to a deeper enjoyment of the music.  He was gracious in always giving nods to his fellow musicians, and he definitely seemed to being having a wonderful time, always adding his personal theatrical flair.

Of course Peter couldn’t help adding a multi-media show with video images on a finely meshed backdrop.  It served as a curtain for the orchestra as well.  He is a highly creative individual that has to share the many sides of his artistry.  The video shared the many sides of the music, including the performers themselves.

Even when it rained, perhaps due to his heavy choice of water image songs, the crowd continued to be enthralled the entire time.  I was getting bathed and soaked in both rain and wondrous music.   This means that despite the set backs of the venue or any happenstance, there was no way the audience was budging from this amazing night.

Now back to the orchestra.  There has been a trend with musicians wanting to go on tour with an orchestra, and I do not see this trend letting up.  Just today I saw another article Deep Purple Guitarist Talks North American Orchestral Tour.  There is a draw for musicians to spread their wings, and working with an orchestra can provide a new outlet for their music.  This has many advantages for the orchestra world if they are smart enough to see these advantages.

First, there are new audiences being introduced to the sounds of an orchestra in a format that is already pleasing to them, a rock concert.  The audience usually ends up cheering on the orchestra as well as the main artist.  Some of the audience will take a liking to how an orchestra sounds and seek out recordings and concerts in the future.  Here is the biggest advantage, if you are an orchestra in the area and happen to have one of these types of concerts in town, you better believe I recommend finding a way to reach this new audience.

Our local theatre performance center had a chat session during the Tonys.  I can envision local orchestras equally latching on to this opportunity by hosting Twitter chats or Facebook posts, etc.  Or, perhaps finding a way for the venue or artist to mention going to see a performance of a local orchestra.  If there is a will, there is a way.

Also, if there are local musicians performing, like there were on this concert, find a way to connect with them.  Perhaps they can be personality advocates for the orchestras in the area and reach the audience by tweeting what is it like to perform with someone like Peter Gabriel.  There are people in the audience that would enjoy getting this backstage perspective.

Lastly, I would recommend attending one of these events yourself and take notes as to how the concert is executed.  The orchestra world can learn a great deal from one of these concerts, as aforementioned.  Would it really hinder us to program new and interesting music that an audience can relate to and get excited about, and allow them to applaud when highly moved after a solo?  Mozart enjoyed it.

New audiences such as the ones that attend these types of concerts are ready and waiting if we find ways to reach them, but we must make the effort to reach them.  We could stand to shed our high orchestral ideals and learn from the world around us, even if it is outside of our genre.  Peter Gabriel and the New Blood Orchestra put on a concert that could teach us many lessons that are vastly needing to be learned.

If you would like a real review of the concert, click here! 

Peter Gabriel’s New Blood Orchestra recording Digging In The Dirt at Air from York Tillyer on Vimeo.

Cheers to happy and loyal audiences,

Shoshana

Shoshana Fanizza

Audience Development Specialists

http://www.buildmyaudience.com

“Never treat your audience as customers, always as partners.”

~James Stewart

Audience Development and Classical Music concerts for newbies

I had a major thought today after reading another article about a symphony performing a free classical music concert mainly for audience development purposes.  The repertoire selected was the same old type of list: Barber of Seville, some poppy selections from South Pacific, some light operetta favorites.  Throw in pieces from Fantasia and it’s a wrap!

I agree that it is nice to choose pieces that might be familiar to people in order to get them interested in classical music.  However, if they are truly newbies to art music, go ahead and program an accessible newer piece!  Here’s my story:

I had invited a friend to a wind ensemble concert.  She had never heard a wind ensemble.  She said she was willing to give it a try.  She was familiar with a few pieces on the program, but the one she really liked was something she never heard before.  She ended up enjoying the concert mainly because of this piece.  My friend came with an open mind so it really didn’t matter if the selections were familiar, only that they were quality music performed well.

From this example, if a person truly is open and new to hearing classical music, then they will be open to hearing anything!  It’s similar to when someone hears classical music out of context, let’s say on a commercial, and they end up noticing and really digging the music.

The point is, we have an opportunity to play new music for new audiences!  We don’t have to keep performing the same, although pleasant, “gateway” pieces.  We can throw in an accessible newer piece too.  I caution with “accessible” since something outside of a new ear comfort zone could be a complete turn off.  There are pieces out there that can fit nicely into an audience development concert, even if it is for kids.

I hope the composers out there are jumping up and down.  This is an opportunity for you too.  What would you compose if faced with the challenge of creating for a brand new classical music audience?

Perhaps you might still fear the fact that if the music is unfamiliar, this new audience may not like the program.  Please do consider though that if it is truly a new experience, these people are open and ready to receive the best of what you can offer them, no matter what century the music comes from.

Cheers to happy and loyal audiences,

Shoshana

Shoshana Fanizza

Audience Development Specialists

http://www.buildmyaudience.com

“Never treat your audience as customers, always as partners.”

~James Stewart

Audience development, Rocco and the buzz

There has been a good discussion happening since Rocco Landesman, chairman of the NEA, had the audacity ( ;O) )  to point out that arts organizations should downsize or collaborate more due to high supply and low demand:

#SupplyDemand

There of some us in the arts world that will agree and some of us who are rallying behind the reasoning that the arts are about more than simply economics.

Dear Rocco (2amt – Trisha Mead)

I agree that the arts have a kaleidoscope of benefits for humanity, and due to these benefits, it may not be wise to force the arts into an economic reasoning box.  I also agree that if the arts do not find a way to solidify these benefits in the minds of the general public, arguments for cuts, downsizing, etc. will continue to happen.

The arts, despite the human benefits, are still a product.  It is manufactured by creative minds and produced for purchase (if it is for sale).  If art is being created for arts sake, that is something entirely different, but if you are creating to sell, then art is a product.

People want to buy products that add value to their lives.  The arts certainly will add value to people’s lives, but we as artists and arts organizations are not doing a good enough job to allow people to perceive the value.  We have a big pool of artists and arts organizations that are not doing well.  Thus, we are being subjected to supply solutions.

I feel strongly that instead of simply trying to put a bandage on the wound or dealing with the supply end of the equation, we need to talk about what caused the wound in the first place.  Otherwise, we will continue to bleed due to arts cuts caused by low demand dis-ease.  If we had done our part in solidifying in the public’s mind that the arts are valuable, we wouldn’t be in this position since demand for the arts wouldn’t be an issue.

Let us finally see the problem for what it really is.  The demand for the arts is not there to sustain every artist and arts organization.  Does this mean the supply needs to be dealt with?  Maybe.  However due to the needs of humans to create art, we may not really have a choice.  The arts are not like toilet paper.  If a brand of toilet paper doesn’t sell on the market, the brand of toilet paper likely gets flushed out of the market.  Yet, when an artist or arts organization isn’t doing so well, they are likely to continue creating for many years despite money woes because of the need to create. We do need to take this into account.  Again, maybe working on the supply part of the equation isn’t what works for the arts.

Instead, we can work on boosting the demand, which I see as a more positive option and the option that would fix this tottering teeter once and for all.

So why is demand low?  Putting it simply, there are people out there that have no clue that artists and arts organizations exist in their community.  I could become rich from the number of times I have heard, “I didn’t know we had an orchestra in town.”   Or, “We have a theater company?”  I calmly reply, “We actually have 13.”

We also have the issue that the arts expect people to come to them and fit to their presentation style.  Maybe we need to change the product placement to bring the art to people again and change the product presentations to suit what people want today.  The art itself will still be the art, yet people will be able to enjoy it since it will be more accessible to them.

No wonder we are facing these arguments time and time again.  We as an arts team need to step up to the plate and finally create the buzz around the arts that is vastly needed and create products that speak to the people of today.   This is what will increase the demand for the arts.

Here is my list of what truly needs to happen now:

• We need to stop feeling entitled as an arts community and rather sell the value of the arts so there is no question that it deserves funding.
• We need to show the world high quality arts.  High quality creates buzz and buzz creates an audience.
• We need to create our art and present it in ways that are accessible to the people of today.
• We need to finally give the people an identity with the arts.  This means that each artists and organization needs to find their own identities, their own brands so they can find the right audiences.  The same old same old is not cutting it (more on this next blog post).
• We need to show why the arts are a good investment and then start asking for the investments.  Yes, this is work, but well worth it. Yes, it is scary to ask sometimes, but if you don’t ask, you won’t get funded.
• We need to highlight our arts products in ways that will reach people.  If you are a music organization, pass around an mp3.  If you are part of the performing arts, by golly, become part of the YouTube revolution.  If you are an artist, find ways that your art will visually be passed around. I see so many arts sites that do not highlight their art in ways that people can share and pass around.
• We need to start inviting people personally.  Word of Mouth is becoming the number one reason people attend.  The likelihood for people attending increases when they are personally invited.
• We need to start following up with people personally.  Patrons are falling through the cracks due to poor follow up.
• We need to start engaging in two way conversations with our patrons.
• We need to create ways that the patrons can connect with other patrons.  The arts are meant to be social.
• We need to address the personal needs of why people attend.  The arts are also personal.
• We need to address the reasons why people do not attend and actually implement solutions.
• We need to allow our patrons to communicate their feedback and implement solutions for the complaints received.
• We need to build a community that surrounds our art, a community that will support us in ways we need support.
• We need to do all of the above in order to increase buzz and demand for the arts!

It is going to take time and effort to initiate and implement programs that will increase demand for the arts in general, but you as an individual artist and arts organization have the power to start working on solutions now.  I have seen time and time again, that if you do build a team and work on these points, and you put the time and effort in, the demand goes up.  You will have built a better quality audience, a community that is an exact fit with you and will support you.

When you solve the problem from this perspective, increasing demand for the arts, each artist and arts organizations will be able to increase their own supply and demand.  This solution can work for the arts rather than against it.

Cheers to happy and loyal audiences,

Shoshana

Shoshana Fanizza
Audience Development Specialists
http://www.buildmyaudience.com

“Never treat your audience as customers, always as partners.”
~James Stewart

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Audience development and pricing

I have been seeing a great deal of discussion on pricing in terms of outreaching to build an audience.  Dynamic pricing has been discussed (think airline pricing with prices being lower with earlier purchase).  Also, Groupons or Living Social, or coupon sales have been discussed.  Both options can build “butts in seats,” but do they build “people in seats” or a loyal audience for your art/organization?  Maybe, maybe not.

I’ve decided to play devil’s advocate in this blog to see the other viewpoint of this conversation:

Here’s the “deal!” Lowering price is  a technique to get people interested.  It is an incentive for them to purchase, perfect for people on the fence since it nudges them to the side of buying.  However, these discounts can give the wrong message to your potential audience.

1. It can send a message that you are not worth more than these discounted prices.  Your audience might get used to these pricing points.  In attempts to raise the price to more normal levels, you might not see a “return” on your discount investment.  This factor could be accommodated by only having these special deals at rare occasions, but these audience members may become savvy and wait until the sale happens instead. In this case, you may see a return, but at the continued discount prices.  It’s definitely a gamble.  Can you ultimately afford this?
2. If there is no follow up involved, there is no guarantee that these deal buyers will turn into loyal audience members. Using discount methods may get people in the door, but it does not guarantee them coming back.
3. Deep discounts could send the wrong message that you can afford selling at these prices.  I understand that there could be an argument that you can’t afford not to sell at these prices to get “butts in seats” with the potential to convert, but I guess it all depends on your bottom line.  In my opinion, there are ways to sell the value of your art/organization without deep discounts.  If people see the value, they will purchase at a regular price.  I can’t be the only one willing to go out of my way or purchase at a higher price if the quality and value are there.  If you really want something, you will pay the price.  Maybe we need to focus on people wanting the arts experience more instead of pricing less.
4. Discounted prices can be a signal that you may not need extra support.  As I mentioned in a conversation, one of my patrons asked about our discounted subscription: “Why are you discounting? Don’t you need the money?”  Discounts can cause this confusion. Plus, people view their ticket purchase as a means to supporting the art/organization.  If you ask for a donation on top of this discounted amount to supplement, they may simply say they already purchased tickets.  You will then be out the difference of the discounted price vs. regular price, and out the donation amount since the perception has now shifted.In more consideration to these conversations, perhaps adding the choice of not discounting and paying regular price could give loyal patrons the opportunity to be  loyal, which will give you the option of being open and honest in communicating that you need the continued support.
5. Groupon and Living Social may be popular methods, but as a nonprofit arts manager, I would look for other ways to get the word out about discounts so you don’t have to split your revenue.  Getting less than 50% of the value of a ticket doesn’t sit well with me or with most nonprofit budgets.  With ticket purchases averaging only 30-40% of  income, can you really afford to give so much away?  Shouldn’t you be figuring out ways to increase this percentage instead of lowering it?  Unless the shear volume of purchase compensates for the lowered revenue, I would look into other avenues that may cost considerably less.  Of course you need to look into the quantity vs. quality issue too.  More purchases may not equal a quality audience.

I understand the need to get people in the door, but I also see that starting people off with a discount may be setting ourselves up for some rude awakenings.  Perhaps this is one of the reasons that building loyalty has been tricky.  I guess it can be a means of sifting out who will become more loyal patrons and who are simply there for the discount if follow up occurs, but it can also mean that you are sending out the message that the arts are not worth more than a vastly discounted price, lowering the value of the arts along with continued lowered monetary support.

The only way discounts first as a method can work in the long run  is if you can convert these discount buyers to see the full value of your art.  If they see the value, then maybe they will be willing to pay full price in the future.  Are we implementing programs to make sure this conversion happens?

However, on a further limb,  discount pricing to build an audience, in my opinion, should be used more as a last resort and not as a first resort.  I tend to discount towards the end if seats still need to be sold. The audience that is loyal will purchase at the regular price.  The audience that sees the value will too.  The audience that is on the fence will buy based on the later discount.  You might be shooting yourselves in the foot if the discount is sooner rather than later.  The loyals may purchase at the discounted price since they tend to purchase sooner than later, costing you the difference.

In some ways, inviting them for free may be better since they will know that this won’t last and regular pricing is going to happen.

Lastly, without audience development, nothing will be developed except lowered value in the end.  Have you honestly tried audience development?  I know when I switched to audience development and fair valued pricing, I found myself with a bigger and better (quality) audience.

Cheers to happy and loyal audiences,

Shoshana

Shoshana Fanizza
Audience Development Specialists
http://www.buildmyaudience.com
Facebook/twitter /E-mazing Newsletter /Blog

“Never treat your audience as customers, always as partners.”
~James Stewart

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Contact us for more information!

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Arts saturation point and audience development

I had been reading the article in the Ottawa Citizen:  Where have all the theatregoers gone?

The article takes on the question after a theater run that was supposed to run 5 weeks closed one week early due to not enough audience.

The problem seems to be that while Ottawa theatre companies have been springing up faster than revelations about wannabe lobbyists, there aren’t enough audience members, and especially new ones, to go around. Blame whatever you want — competing entertainment, a citizenry too pooped at the end of the day to go anywhere — we don’t attend theatre in the numbers needed to sustain what could be a defining aspect of Ottawa life.

I have been seeing this phenomenon happen right here in Boulder, CO.  Have we hit the saturation point of the arts in ratio to the amount of audience members?

According to the 2000 Census, Boulder County has 291,288 people.  Currently I am counting:

• Around 10 dance organizations
• Around 20 music organizations
• Around 13 theatre organizations
• Around 18 art/museum organizations and galleries

This is not including individual artists or bands or art venues and associations which have their own events.

Now how many people out of our population actually attends arts events?  The average around the  U.S. has been about 29% according to NEA’s
State and Regional Differences in Arts Participation: A Geographic Analysis of the 2008 SPPA

We need to break it down further.  Average percentages for these individual disciplines in Colorado:

• 3% for dance (average ballet and other)
• 8% for music
• 12-13% theater (average musical/non-musical)
• 22% art museums and galleries

So for theatre in our area, if we do the math, we have close to 37,000 people that would enjoy seeing a theatre event.  We have 13 theatre organizations competing for those 37,000 people.  If all were to get a fair share of this segment, there would be a little over 3,000 people per theatre company and most companies average 5 shows per season with 3-6 runs per show.  A further complication is the fact that someone who enjoys the theatre might also enjoy dance or music events.  Now imagine the scheduling problems in our county.  You could end up with a weekend that has 3 or 4 theater productions, 2 or 3 dance productions, 3 major benefit events, and 2 or 3 big music events.  Visual art events seem to pop up all year round, and they are plentiful!  Suddenly 3,000 people (assuming you are getting your full fair share, wink, wink) are not enough to fill houses.

So do you think that the arts may have a saturation problem where arts are a-plenty?  How do we deal with this growing problem?  We have come into the day and age that people want to put on their own show and start their own arts company.  Many people want to be the creator!

I feel that audience development is the answer to this challenge.  Remember the 4 C’s of audience development:

1. Connection – you need to get connected to the people that would enjoy your event/art.  Make the extra efforts to build relationships!
2. Collaboration – maybe it is time to consider bigger projects by collaborating.  These projects will attract a larger audience that will benefit all involved.
3. Community – the arts need to begin acting like a community.  Perhaps a community calendar could be set up so it helps alleviate the problem of too many art events scheduled at one time.
4. Caring – since there is a competition factor, wouldn’t it make sense to care a little more about your audience and your art?  Implement ways that show that you care: create high quality art and engage with your audience regularly.

If an artist or organization takes the time and effort for audience development, the saturation problem won’t be as much of a factor.  Audience development is about building relationships with people, not numbers.  It is about creating a happy and loyal community around your art.  With audience development, you can thrive in any condition or situation that you come up against!

Cheers to happy and loyal audiences,

Shoshana

Shoshana Fanizza
Audience Development Specialists
http://www.buildmyaudience.com
Facebook/twitter /E-mazing Newsletter /Blog

“Never treat your audience as customers, always as partners.”
~James Stewart

New Services!

Hourly Phone Sessions – Do you have a question about audience development or need feedback or advice on a project or challenge?  ADS can help!

Donate to the Audience Development Specialists Grant Fund!

YouTube Gallery – Do you have an amazing way you use YouTube to promote your art?  Let ADS know, and you might see your YouTube highlighted on our new gallery!