Kara Larson reveals why arts organisations are failing to turn to their occasional attenders into a regular audience.
The majority of arts organizations don’t have a problem bringing in new audiences; we have a terrible time retaining them. I find over and over that arts presenters have two sets of audience members; the deeply engaged (read subscriber) group who come again and again, and a very large group (in aggregate) who come once or twice and never or rarely return. Those patrons’ lack of return isn’t primarily related to lack of engagement. So what’s the trouble?
Programming is the #1 driver of decision-making (I know, I've surveyed and focus grouped the question many times). But we need to make sure we are not only offering compelling programs but communicating clearly about them and their appeal—to those occasional patrons.
The majority of arts organizations don’t have a problem bringing in new audiences; we have a terrible time retaining them. I find over and over that arts presenters have two sets of audience members; the deeply engaged (read subscriber) group who come again and again, and a very large group (in aggregate) who come once or twice and never or rarely return. Those patrons’ lack of return isn’t primarily related to lack of engagement. So what’s the trouble?
Programming is the #1 driver of decision-making (I know, I've surveyed and focus grouped the question many times). But we need to make sure we are not only offering compelling programs but communicating clearly about them and their appeal—to those occasional patrons.