Image via Alex Rister
A study of UK arts businesses shows most are failing to market their businesses effectively. Although return audiences are the most valuable commodity in audiences development, many are disregarding important techniques for generating return audiences.
So what are they doing wrong?
Failing to cross-promote
Let’s start with our industry’s grudging inability to cross-promote its products. More than 90 per cent of tickets purchased last year were for a single performance. Whether it’s down to poor technology, lack of training or discomfort with active selling, it helps explain why nearly 75 per cent of theatregoers in 2014 attended just once in the entire year.
This is especially troubling given that a version of Pareto’s Principle applies to arts marketing as well – the 27 per cent of customers attending two or more performances drive half our revenue. Drilling down a bit further, the 13 per cent of customers attending three performances or more account for 32 per cent of revenue. As it’s half as expensive to keep a current customer as it is to find a new one, we clearly spend too much time chasing individuals who buy only once.
Poor e-commerce
Another problem is where and how those sales are taking place. With more than 55 per cent of tickets last year sold on the phone or at the counter, it’s clear we have not grasped how to move customers over to online purchase – the least expensive channel available. How many millions of pounds have arts organisations spent on improving their e-commerce web sites over the past decade – only to see most people still opting to ring or visit the venue in person?
This is not to suggest that you’d want 100% of purchases to happen online. A certain amount of personal communication is absolutely necessary to promote audience engagement and re-attendance. But we aren’t getting that right either.
Not collecting good data
Only a quarter of counter sales in 2014 were made to a known customer. We spoke with and sold tickets to a whopping number of people – without having the complete picture of their attendance history, or in some cases even basics like contact information.
Creating proper customer profiles and capturing full contact details is essential but 40% of customers in UK arts databases have not given permission to be contacted. That’s tens of thousands of people whom we know want our products, but who we are barred by law from marketing ourselves to.
Conversations with customers and industry colleagues lead me to believe this is as much to do with the fact that no one has ever asked, than an ingrained preference not to be communicated with.
It’s not as if we can rest on the effectiveness of our direct marketing campaigns. More than 70 per cent of arts marketing emails are never opened – quickly deleted and sent straight to the bin. Whilst a 30 per cent open rate is actually very good when compared to other sectors, it just isn’t powerful enough to overcome the other opportunities we’re missing.
The best way to grow and sustain audiences is to drive re-attendance in the form of frequency and loyalty. Being able to communicate with people who have actually been in our buildings is a baseline requirement, and in the current funding environment, arts organisations just can’t afford to let revenue opportunities slip away.
Turn around these figures for your organisation: How to generate return audiences
Download the full 2014 Arts Industry Data Study at Spektrix.
