Building Audiences Today

Six Sure Strategies for Effective Marketing and Ticketing

How can choruses stay competitive in the quest for audience in a fast-changing world of busy lifestyles, cultural glut, home theaters, and web-based entertainment options? And how do we make the face of our audience younger and more colorful? Here are six strategies gleaned from recent research in arts marketing.

1. Flexibility in Ticket Sales

Today's consumers want flexibility and your chorus is best served by recognizing this. Flexible ticket exchange programs should be available for subscribers, and some type of exchange option could even be considered for single-ticket buyers. "All sales final. No refunds. No exchanges." These are words we must ban from our vocabulary. We can't base today's ticket sales policies on mantras from the past. Conflicts arise and choruses should do everything possible to reseat a patron—yes, even a non-subscriber—for another performance.

So as not to undermine a subscriber's benefit of free exchange, single ticket buyers could be asked to pay a small fee for this exchange (perhaps $4 a ticket). Staff time to process these exchanges and manage returns to ticket inventory are legitimate concerns, but research suggests that having unused tickets makes customers unhappy, and unhappy customers don't come back. The ticketing (and concert) experience should motivate the customer to return. Ticket exchange programs test well in marketing surveys because it is a solution that directly addresses a major reason for potential ticket buyer inaction: fear of a conflicting event.

Research suggests that having unused tickets makes customers unhappy, and unhappy customers don't come back. The ticketing (and concert) experience should motivate the customer to return.

However, these "insurance policies" have no impact unless you tell people about them. They shouldn't be a dirty little secret ("if they call us, then we'll let them exchange"). The policy should be promoted, trumpeted even: Print the information on a single-ticket buyer's tickets; post signs at the box office; place it prominently on your website; send emails about it. Make it known!

What about exchanges for "dead" tickets, unused tickets from past performances? Sometimes circumstances arise that force a customer to miss a performance before they have time to exchange their tickets (sick family member, delayed in traffic, stuck at the office). Since one of the leading reasons for subscriber non-renewal is having unused tickets, why not do something about it? Is giving this loyal subscriber (or, again, a single-ticket buyer for a small fee) a couple of tickets out of your future inventory worth it if it helps you renew that subscriber? I assure you it will cost a lot more of your marketing dollars to find someone to replace this subscriber than to motivate an existing customer to renew.

2. Flexibility in the Subscription Model

Few new subscribers today want to purchase a full season subscription, either because of their busy lifestyles, the cost, or a feeling that they just don't want to see, or won't enjoy, every offering. So, should you do away with your subscription program? Not if you already have a loyal base of subscribers who re-up year after year.

The question you should be asking is how to take greater advantage of this situation. Do you really need to send your subscribers expensive renewal brochures if they renew on cue? You might be able to replace that expensive brochure with a simple renewal letter or email. Consider instituting an automatic renewal program for subscribers who know they will renew each season and ask permission to keep a credit card on file. These types of initiatives will save marketing dollars and potentially bring in the income much earlier.

Do you need to give automatic renewers something in return for their commitment? Not necessarily. One organization I work with started giving a discount to incent automatic renewals before realizing that this was unnecessary. Their automatic renewals did not decrease when the discount was dropped. An inexpensive item like a mug or t-shirt, or a special event with an artist, shows these loyal customers how important they are to the organization, but frankly, usually no incentive is necessary.

Since potential subscribers continually say in research that they want choice, pick-your-own subscription programs can be extremely effective for choruses of all sizes. If you offer five or more concerts a season, you might offer a "pick three" option. Even if the number of performances is higher (six, seven, eight), research suggests that three is still a number that feels right to the customer. Of course, the "pick your own" number can be "three or more" for those who want a greater number so your chorus is not leaving money on the table. For smaller choruses with fewer performances, a pick of two concerts is appropriate. The goal is to have the customer buy more than just one concert and increase the number of tickets sold per transaction.

Does such flexibility "cannibalize" full season subscribers? Research reveals that it typically does not, since full season subscribers view their choices differently: a guaranteed number of nights out or as part of a social engagement. Does a pick-your-own subscription leave money on the table since, without it, a customer might just buy the full season? Again, research shows that the answer is no.

Subscribers are smart and know better than anyone what they want and what they don't want. If a customer is not given choice and is drawn into something they don't really want, they likely will be unhappy and not renew. Sometimes arts organizations hide the choice option in their subscription brochure or introduce it several months after initially only selling full season subscriptions. This can be a problem because prospective, ready-to-buy customers who are not made aware of partial subscription products early may look elsewhere to spend their culture dollars.

3. Premium Tickets and Dynamic Pricing

Filling the hall for a concert is a good thing, but doing so while boosting earned income is even better. Premium tickets and dynamic pricing are both tempting techniques. Premium tickets are those for prime locations and are priced above the cost of all other tickets. On Broadway, the premium is often two or three times the cost of a regular ticket, but a chorus might want to look at premium pricing differently. Consider premium pricing the process of adding a new (higher) price point to your existing ticket scale for seats that are considered the most desirable. These seats might be $10 or $15 above the price of the next highest priced ticket, not two to three times higher. Typically there is a market of people who want the best experience in the best seat (usually about 15-20 percent of the audience). Premium tickets allow the organization to take advantage of this demand.

For choruses that perform in venues with open seating the premium strategy is still possible by roping off certain sections as "reserved." A caution about introducing premium tickets for current subscribers—it will mean a price increase for those seated in these locations. Some will gladly pay to maintain their preferred locations, but to reduce potential subscriber dissatisfaction, some organizations defer the price increase one year for subscribers only.

Dynamic or variable pricing is the process of increasing pricing as demand rises. For example, when an arbitrary percentage of the house is sold (say 60 percent), prices might be increased for remaining tickets. When another milestone is reached (say 80 percent), they might go up again. This concept works because it reflects the true market for that ticket or performance.

Typically there is a market of people who want the best experience in the best seat (usually about 15-20 percent of the audience). Premium tickets allow the organization to take advantage of this demand.

Using dynamic pricing can have both positive and negative impact. One positive outcome, of course, is generating more income, especially for sell-out chorus "blockbusters" like holiday performances, masterpieces, or big name guest artists. It may also train your single-ticket customers to buy early before prices rise, or even to subscribe to lock in the lowest price for the following year.

On the negative side, dynamic pricing can be confusing and customers often equate it (quite correctly) with airline pricing—and customer satisfaction with airline pricing is low. Dynamic pricing is right for some choruses, but if your organization already has low and accessible pricing, it is probably not right for you.

The other side of the pricing spectrum is accessible pricing, typically targeted at populations that might not be able to afford higher prices: students, senior citizens on fixed incomes, anyone with a modest income. Many choruses already target these groups with special prices.

Another strategy is for choruses in reserved seat houses to add a new, lower price point for seats in the rear or sides of the venue. Arts organizations typically find these are the toughest seats to sell at regular prices anyway. These seats might also appeal to those of higher incomes who want to attend more frequently but can't afford to do so. Customers are not always aware of what the lowest prices are, so it is important, when advertising ticket availability, to say that tickets "start at $X."

Discount offers are often used to move excess inventory and should be as targeted as much as possible. They might be made through a discounting service like Groupon or Goldstar, or a mailing list maintained by a chorus for such purposes. Typically these offers are not listed on the website or in a newspaper ad so as not to alienate the customer who has already paid full price for a ticket. Additionally, the most desirable seat-locations are exempted from the offer so that someone who is seat location sensitive will have to pay the non-discounted price to get the seat she/he wants. It keeps the market flowing for full-price tickets, and also helps insure that a full-price buyer in a prime seat is not seated next to a discounted buyer.

4. Attracting a More Diverse Audience

Choral groups have an advantage over the other performing arts because choral singing is the most popular form of participation in the arts and choruses attract a portion of their audience through their ranks. Research indicates time and again that singers, past and present, are potentially a significant part of the audience for choruses. And, according to research from Chorus America, there are 42.6 million Americans regularly singing in school, religious, and professional and community choirs in the United States—this represents a staggering 22.9 percent of households.

One of the leading drivers of increasing racial/ethnic diversity of the audience is having performers of color on stage and performing music written by artists of color. Having repertoire that appeals to a diverse audience is important in motivating them to attend.

Choral organizations desiring to attract a younger audience could develop special pricing for school choirs that want to attend as a group. Collaborations, receptions, sing-a-longs, and open rehearsals for school and religious choirs help to sell tickets to parents, family, and friends of young singers and cultivate a taste for going to choral concerts among young people.

One of the leading drivers of increasing racial/ethnic diversity of the audience is having performers of color on stage and performing music written by artists of color. Having repertoire that appeals to a diverse audience is important in motivating them to attend. Some choruses have had success in diversifying the singers on stage by inviting high school and college choirs with diverse populations to perform on their programs, often for a holiday (Martin Luther King Day, Mexican Independence Day, or Cinco de Mayo) or Black History Month. While offering special programs is admirable, audiences won't typically cross over to attend regular programs unless a chorus has made significant efforts to diversify its own membership and present the work of diverse artists on a regular basis.

5. Listening to Your Audience

To build audience, it is important to listen to them about their needs. But it is not enough to use anecdotal information because it may not be representative—choruses should consider conducting systematic marketing research. An easy way to do this is to conduct secondary research, which is the analysis of data you already have. Examples include analyzing the zip codes of ticket purchasers to target mailings to prospective customers, or evaluating the timing of ticket purchases to determine the best opportunity for discount offers if a particular concert is not selling well. Any chorus can do this.

Primary research is the process of collecting new data to analyze a specific issue. Examples include audience surveys and focus groups. Today, the least expensive way to conduct a survey is online, sending emails to respondents with a link to the survey. There are a number of inexpensive (or even free) survey tools choruses can use, such as Survey Monkey or Zoomerang. But a survey is only as good as the quality of the questionnaire, the representativeness of the sample, and the skill and objectivity of the analysis, so take care with the construction and distribution of your survey and seek help from those with experience (perhaps one of your board members) in this area.

For more complicated surveys and analyses, consider seeking help from a marketing research professional. While you can't expect to get their services for free, you might be able to negotiate a discounted fee by offering concert sponsorships and other donor benefits. If you conduct research regularly, consider inviting a marketing researcher to serve on your board. In most cases, your investment in research will be returned (sometimes several times over) when strategies identified by the research are implemented.

6. Communicating Your Message

Many choruses already have moved beyond the traditional marketing approach of mailing a brochure and seeing what sticks. More frequent use of email is one obvious, low-cost marketing solution, which also allows you to maintain control of your messaging. But to use it effectively, choral organizations must build their email databases from every channel: subscribers, single-ticket purchases, visitors to their website, and on-site at performances. Every ticket buyer and potential ticket buyer should be asked for their email address.

Choral organizations must build their email databases from every channel: subscribers, single-ticket purchases, visitors to their website, and on-site at performances.

To build your database further, you could collaborate with other local arts organizations to trade (or purchase) email lists since chorus concertgoers frequently attend other arts performances. Our research at Shugoll indicates, perhaps surprisingly to some, that choral ticket buyers most often attend theater, more so than opera or the symphony, so these organizations are great targets for list trades or buys.Chorus America's research indicates that choral singers attend arts and culture events in much higher percentages than the general public, and also that choral singers attend choral concerts (other than their own) in high numbers—48 percent attended one to three other choral performances while 30 percent attended between four and 10 choral performances in a year.

Social media like Facebook and Twitter are great ways to reach potential ticket buyers and build relationships with them, but once you have established a social media presence, you have to invest time in developing friends, fans, and followers—posting status updates or tweeting with no followers accomplishes little. You will also need to develop original content and a regular schedule for posting to have an effect on audience building, and at least some of this content must be unique to these media.


This article is adapted from the special audience issue of The Voice, Spring 2011, "The Face of Today's Audience."