Putting a ring on it- why can’t we commit?

Our sector has a problem with commitment. There, we said it.

It’s not a fear of commitment per se. But we do have a problem.

Our annual benchmarking report Foundations shows consistently each year that the vast majority of customers do not return the following year. And they don’t come more than once during the year.

And we’re not alone. Others are highlighting the data on these issues too.

I recently attended TRG Art’s webinar Of Price and Progress: Understanding Recovery and Inflation's Impact on the Arts Sector. This webinar looked at data from their Arts and Culture Benchmark to explore recovery and growth in the arts post-pandemic.

They reported a 29% increase in revenue and a 15% increase in the number of tickets sold since 2019. This sounds like good news, but they also found underlying trends which are a cause for concern. It seems that those ticket sales are generated by fewer people who are coming less often. And for a sector that already had a problem with engagement, that is a very worrying fact.

Essentially, they see higher frequency customers being replaced by new and less active customers. As TRG describes it there is a “tendency to over-attract and under-retain”. 75% of new buyers do not return within two years, and 80% of ticket buyers visit once per year. It was hard work getting our audiences back after Covid, and it turns out we got some new audiences along the way, but if they’re not coming back that makes for a lot of hard work in the future.

The Dating Analogy

Here at thrive we describe audience development a bit like your love life. It’s about the journey from a first date to a marriage proposal: from first impressions to a first date, then dating and a long-term relationship. Trust, respect, and communication are how you strengthen relationships in general, and with audiences. Getting to know them, letting them get to know you. Then doing things for them so that they know you, understand you, and feel seen, heard, and appreciated by you.

If we use this analogy with TRG’s data and our own Foundations data, the sector is spending a lot of time on Tinder but never getting a second date.

That’s fine if we always want to play the field - but 'dating' is expensive. And takes a lot of effort. TRG estimate that it is three times less expensive to retain a customer than find a new one. It’s expensive to go on a lot of first dates, we want to impress with a fancy restaurant and expensive drinks. But the real stuff: building and maintaining a real authentic connection is done on the sofa in your jammies. It’s also cheaper than buying a new outfit every time.

As TRG posed to those attending the webinar, “Your teams are under increased strain; needing to work harder, find and manage more relationships, often with more programming to generate pre-Covid engagement.” We hear you. For a sector with limited capacity and scarce resources, wasting effort seems to make little sense.

Every organisation is different. Some may be bucking that trend and seeing high levels of re-engagement and commitment in their audience. They might see from their data that they can actually afford to date a bit wider. But getting a second date is the easiest and cheapest starting point for most. It might involve some segmenting to establish what this new audience looks like:

• What are their expectations for the first date?
• Did you deliver?
• Did they look bored?
• Did you look presentable in person?
• Are you following up after the first date?
• Did they tell you to call? When? And how often?

Listen to the Data

There is also an important lesson here for all of us here about listening to the data and what it tells us. If we are just looking at revenue we won’t see the engagement problem.

Foundations examined ticketing data from 25 NI arts organisations, tracking trends from pre to post-Covid. It saw an impressive 39% increase in attendance and revenue for participating venues and festivals. 300k more people attended with £4m more raised at box office. Like the rest of the UK, if we’re just looking at the number of dates we're going on, our romantic life looks dandy. It’s only by looking at who is interested in getting to know us and ringing us for a second date that we can see what’s going on. If two tickets are being bought instead of one, that’s great. But more of them are being bought by two different people who came once and are not coming back in 2025. One person buying one, then another, and who is primed to come a third time as soon as you announce your new programme makes for a far less lonely place to be.

Foundations showed that 13% of audiences attended the same venue pre- and post-covid. Only 18% attended a venue more than once in 2022-23. 59% of audiences haven't come back after Covid.

We’re getting ghosted, guys.

At the risk of stretching this already over-laboured analogy even further, and at the risk of sounding like the nagging mother who wants grandchildren, isn’t it time to put a ring on it?

Want to develop your relationship with your audience? Get in touch to book an audience appointment with us.