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One of my new year’s resolutions was to have a good look at social media use, especially for our own business.  However, as a ‘fully-paid-up-card-carrying member of the dinosaur club’ irritated by the facile ramblings of angst ridden teenagers, or those who post their breakfast ingredients on Facebook I was hugely turned off by the thought.  Like many cultural organisations we don’t have a dedicated team of digital brains working beyond the speed of light. So, coffee in hand and grump factor high, I bit the bullet and I was blown away on the first baby steps of my journey into the ‘dark side’ where I thought teenagers just poked, hung out and fell out.  I started my journey with stats because that felt sensible and I asked myself ‘what?’ and ‘why?’.  You know that Audiences UK loves stats and data because, used and translated well, the knowledge gained informs really sound decisions and even Eureka moments.  I am now going to indulge...

 

You have to admit it, the stats are globally impressive, especially for a novice like me.  By 2014, 50% of corporate sales will be through social network presences and mobile apps.  90% of consumers trust peer to peer recommendations whereas trust in advertising is just 14%.  If Facebook were a country it would be the 3^rd largest in the world. If Wikipedia were a book it would be 2.25 million pages long and take over 123 years to read. You Tube is the second largest search engine in the world (source:Social Media Revolution 2011).  The average age for social media users is 37 years old and more than half of the pensioners in the UK are now on Facebook (source: Social Media Findings in the UK).  Facebook is tops where it comes to sharing press releases but Twitter is much more effective in generating traffic.  Add images, video or audio and you can generate 3.5 times more traffic (source: PRNewser). We have really social media savvy audiences out there, but as a ‘business’ does culture make best use of our creative skills set and corporate personalities to woo them?  I’ll let you into a secret – blogging is hard, very hard, some have a gift but most don’t.  But it’s no longer a question of whether we use social media but how well we craft the content to engage.

 

And it’s the engagement which really appeals.  Social media is instant and there’s a further guilty pleasure – it’s very voyeuristic.  You can get to know people really well (if they’re interesting) and while you’re at it also run a really quick competitor analysis – how many Flickr photos do they have, Facebook likes, Twitter followers, You Tube channel views?  How do you as a cheerleader for your organisation and your own organisation stack up?  Sadly, it’s not just a case of being out there for the sake of it, you have to create information which is meaningful to your audience, and before that it is essential to identify your social media objectives.  This could be a ‘Keep it Simple’ approach where you may have just 3 objectives, say to amplify your event, increase awareness and increase reach.  Then consider the social media platform and create your strategy appropriately.  There are so many tools out there to make you into a social media dj – have a look at Buffer, Hootsuite, Tweetdeck and Sprout Social – most of these tools give you analytics too so you can track click rates and increases in your cyber traffic.  But think on – you have just 144 characters to get your message across and here creativity (good grammar and spelling) rules - you have to be a Conversationalist not a Broadcaster.  This is where ‘blending’ your personal and business profiles are either flawed or a resounding success.  Hone your skills if you’re a reluctant tweeter like me and just have a go.  Perhaps use Social Media Week starting 13^th February as your foray into this strange new world?  Personally, I’m not renewing my membership to the dinosaur club this year, instead I’m watching trending, analysing traffic and trying to be engaging – for at least an hour a day.  #hardwork.

 

So, the truth is out there, but comes with a word of warning – what happens in Vegas stays on Flickr, Twitter, You Tube Facebook...

 

Gerry Wall, @audiencesgerry

General Manager, Audiences UK

 

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Over the last few months, doing a mix of arts marketing lecturing and market research with arts organisations, one contrast in particular has struck me.

Marketing textbooks are unanimous about the importance of market segmentation. For example, here’s Liz Hill in Creative Arts Marketing: ‘One of the most important tasks of the marketing function in an arts organization is to identify the most appropriate ways to divide up their potential audience' (for a host of more examples, see this link).

But when I’ve asked arts marketers about it (and I’m talking about those from a range of places, art-forms and scales of organisation), surprisingly few have a formal segmentation in use. Most react guiltily, as if it’s something they know they ought to have. Others assume that ‘segmentation’ just refers to Arts Council England’s Arts Audiences: Insight (and whilst this model is interesting, useful and well-made, in most cases not the only, or the most appropriate, model that they should be using).

This contrast between the belief that segmentation is necessary for effective marketing and the number of organisations that aren’t using it can lead to one of three conclusions:

1)      effective marketing isn’t possible

2)      the textbooks are consistently wrong

3)      more marketers should be using segmentation.

We can, I hope, agree to discount the first of these (otherwise, as marketers, we’d be faced with questions that, to quote Philip Larkin out of context, ‘bring the priest and the doctor / in their long coats / running over the fields’).

For the second, there’s certainly a risk of bias in textbooks towards marketing approaches that work better for larger organisations than most in the arts. But the consistency, including in textbooks written by those with arts industry experience, belies this explanation. So does our hands-on experience as marketers. Other parts of marketing (e.g. pricing, competitive positioning, the marketing mix, the Ansoff matrix) both make much more sense and are much more effective, in relation to segmentation.

Which leaves the third option. That, despite the pressures of social media presences to maintain, brochures to sign-off, sales reports and press releases and direct mail to produce, segmentation shouldn’t be ignored. That it can make thinking about these, and a whole range of other tasks, a whole lot easier. That the marketing strategy that so many people dread having to write can be fun and creative: you just need a clearer idea of the various ‘who’s to use for the central communication question of ‘who and how and what?’.

Segmentation can be ‘off the peg’ (like Arts Audiences: Insight, ACORN, MOSAIC or MHM’s Culture Segments) or bespoke (which really can be as cheap and simple or as complex and expensive a process as you choose). It can be based on who people are, what they do or what they think and feel. There are pros and cons to each of these approaches. But the key thing is that it’s possible, whatever your situation. I’ll post more about the whys and hows of segmentation on www.olivermantell.co.uk, but in the mean time I’d urge you to commit some time to think about how you’ll make better use of this important marketing approach.

Oliver Mantell, Arts Marketing and Research Consultant

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At this time of the year, when we have newly made memories of streaming into theatres, concert halls and churches for pantomimes, carol services, nativity plays and festive cultural fayre, and museums were filled with rosy faced children making Christmas puddings as a cultural experience, it is a good moment to take stock of the emerging landscape around audiences as we enter 2012.   Audiences UK published the first Audiences Manifesto in March 2010.   This was an important contribution by the Chief Executive of Audiences UK, David Brownlee, which advocated for audiences and showed how important they are for the health of the arts and cultural sector.   Has the work of the audience manifesto been achieved?    Is there more work to do which might become New Year resolutions for all of us as the Xmas glow of merriment begins to dissipate?

 

As with all manifestos it was a considered reflection on the state of affairs and a call to action.  The manifesto speaks to different communities and audiences.  It has a message for political leaders, funders, local authorities, arts organisations and practitioners.

 

The motto on the front of the manifesto is, “great art needs great audiences need great art”.   This motto is expressed as an exclamation mark, a point to note and to attend to. 

 

So, even from the outset, this is not just a call to improve financial sustainability.  Larger audiences lead of course to healthier more resilient organisations.   But the motto posits a direct link between the quality of the work and the quality of the audience.  Great art needs a great audience.  Audiences have to participate and engage richly and deeply in the art.   And for art to be great it needs a deep engagement with its audience.   Great art is engaging.  Great audiences engage deeply.  As a strap line it remains sufficiently gnomic to keep us occupied and encourage us to experiment with new and diverse ways of extending how we create and present work to wider and more diverse audiences for the health of our audiences and the work itself. 

 

The National Campaign for the Arts published “the UK’s first ever Arts Index” on 5th December 2011.  This new national index for the arts was welcomed by the Culture Minister, Ed Vaizey.   The index includes 4 indicators around audiences which are:  (1) Adult attendance, (2) Adult participation, Children and young people engaged (3) and Adults digitally engaged(4) .  

 

And what is the conclusion for audiences from the Index?  Well,

 

Adult attendance remained static at just under 70% of the UK population, despite the recession. Meanwhile, the quality of experience recorded went up by five points. Active participation in the arts went down by four points, however. This area of work has fallen victim to cost-cutting and we anticipate a bigger reduction still with next year’s funding cuts.

 

While this is a good message and implies that audience numbers did not drop at the start of the recession in the same way that corporate giving and personal philanthropy dropped, it also means that 30% of the population don’t attend or participate in the arts.  And while we also know that 45.2% of the adult population engage in the arts three times or more per year (Audience Manifesto, p6) that means that over half the population are not regular participants.

 

In the manifesto the situation of audiences was similar and it concluded: “In England, significant growth in subsidy has not been matched by a proportionate growth in audiences.”  And calling on a conclusion from the Theatre Assessment (ACE, 2009), it said: “Increasing the number of people who regularly enjoy the increased range of performances on offer will be a priority for us”.   “Growing audiences won’t only increase the value of public investment, it will also increase earned income for cultural organisations during challenging economic times.”  (Audience Manifesto, p4)

 

In England within the arts this drive to increase audiences and deepen engagement became “Strategic Goal 2: more people experience and are inspired by the arts.” (Arts Council England, Achieving Great Art for Everyone, p 12,30,31). And this goal is also present in the new document on museums and libraries (Culture, knowledge and understanding: great museums and libraries for everyone, Arts Council England).

 

Earned income is a crucial indicator because it is income directly produced from engagement with the public unlike public funding or subsidies from development agencies (such as the arts councils).   We know that earned income from audiences produces more resilient business models and therefore stronger organisations. 

 

The Arts Index confirms: “Business contributions and individual giving fell by 17% and 13% respectively from 2007/08 to 2009/2010)” (Arts Index, Dec 2011) although in this period “the arts remained healthy through recession thanks to stable levels of  Arts Council England  and Local Authority funding combined with Lottery funds to mitigate recession.”  The cuts to Local Authority funding will take effect in England in 2010/1011.   We can hope that the Catalyst initiative may change the situation on individual giving in the years to come. The index has established both the position of this sort of funding before the investment in Catalyst and also establishes the downward trend which Catalyst has to take account of.  In future years the Arts Index will show the effect of this investment of resources into philanthropy and we will be able to see if this apparent trend south turns into a journey north.

 

So what can we conclude from all this as we begin to tackle the challenges of 2012:

 

1.  Growing and deepening our engagement with audiences still matters.   There is no room for complacency. Audiences matter probably far more than philanthropy and in the future increased audiences (and earned income) need to address the gap made when Local Authority funding reduces further.   Although lots of good work has been done deepening our relationships with audiences even more needs to be done.  Developing our audiences needs to be a pressing concern for all CEOs and a topic for discussion with their boards.

 

2. Trying to reach out to new and diverse audiences is tough and needs data, insight and creative leadership.   Remaining focused on the audiences is a challenge for and a requirement of the whole sector. The Audience Manifesto concluded: “It is not demographic factors alone that determine levels of engagement with the arts.   With the right infrastructure, appropriate opportunities to take part and good audience development practice we can get more people engaging more often with the arts” (Audience Manifesto, p8)

 

3. The envisaged benefits to be gained from succeeding in these endeavours will be stronger communities, stronger organisations, arts and culture making a greater contribution to economic life and, of course, greater art.   Deepening engagement increases personal well being and community resilience in a way that personal large scale philanthropy does not.

 

4. The infrastructure has evolved since our first audience manifesto.  Great work has been done to define a strategic goal around audiences in England.  Work has also been done to link English cultural institutions linking different parts of the cultural ecosystem (eg arts development with museums, libraries, archives, film and music education).  There are still untapped benefits to realise from this synergy of cultural players both nationally and on the ground around the country.  There is immense talent, experience and leadership to draw upon for our newly emerging joined up cultural landscape.  The potential for collaborative working and sustained and meaningful investments around audiences arising from this new context has never been better. 

 

5. We are about to embark on a year of unheralded cultural abundance.  An immense amount of public and lottery money has been invested into sport, art and culture.  With this huge investment in what we have a right to expect will produce events and experiences of high quality, it is reasonable to expect as a legacy an immense uplift in audiences, high levels of engagement and new opportunities for earned income in the medium term.

 

So what can we do by way of practical New Year resolutions to realise some of these benefits:

 

1. Decision making needs to take account of sound evidence, learning and innovative risk taking.  Simple stuff, but most of us find this hard to do personally and we all know it is hard to sustain an organisational and leadership style which actively encourages and rewards empirical based decision making, a focus on audiences and a culture of active learning around audiences and data. 

 

2. The audience manifesto is still a great tool for initiating new conversations around audiences, culture and art, how the offer we provide for audiences connects with our organisational aspirations and how we engage with more people and engage more deeply with our audiences as respected counterparties.

 

3.  A time of change requires us to closely scrutinise our business.  By how much would our audiences and/or earned income streams have to increase to address the possibility of no funding from local authority/arts council or other development agency?   Do we have a will as organisations to reach out to these extra audiences? How long will it take to reach these desired audience numbers and how much do have to invest to see such a change in our business models?

 

4.  How often do our boards discuss the audience, what information do we use to focus this discussion, what information do have which shows how we are doing with our audiences year on year (in terms of quality of experience, regularity of attendance, satisfaction and other indicators and measures)?  How are we developing as an organisation in our approach to audiences?  How are we doing in comparison with others in our sectors?   While once it may have been enough to check and be happy with the number of satisfied attendees from the “happy sheets”, this may no longer be sufficient for even the smallest arts and cultural organisation.  Reaching out to new audiences requires innovative approaches which combine the skills of the artistic/cultural leaders and the marketing/business administration leaders of our organisations.

 

5.  If the big society agenda is about community cohesion and resilience we know that “most engagement in the arts happens locally and that communities enjoying experiences together are more likely to be happy and cohesive.” (Audiences Manifesto, p 10)  Culture and the arts have a significant enabling role to play in realising improved levels of community resilience and cohesion.   The Arts Manifesto (p8) concluded: “We believe that a stronger civil society lies in the experiences shared by a community and the opportunity for everyone to get involved, and that participating in the arts, crafts or cultural activities is often a first step towards greater civic engagement.”  If the Big Society is an initiative to address a social problem of community fragmentation and incohesion as much as increasing levels of economic inequality, it will be realised, if at all, in part or in total, through cultural activities.  These are topics we all need to think about and plan for if we want to play our role as civic leaders.

 

So does the Audience Manifesto still matter?   Yes, it does and it still gives us pause for thought.   Great art needs great art needs great audiences!  Yes, and we are not there yet! 

 

Michael Noonan

Chair of Audiences UK

 

 

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