What does art mean to people's lives? This year, we are going places to meet 100 audience members in all 11 council areas of Northern Ireland to find out. Our third stop was at Portico of Ards in Portaferry, Ards and North Down Borough.

Find out how lockdown has impacted audiences in NI

Find out how NI heritage visitors have engaged with heritage organisations and sites since Covid and how you can use these insights to plan for the future.

In this snapshot, find out what arts and culture experiences represent for NI audiences, why they attend and what it gives them that other things don't.

In this snapshot, find out how NI audiences' engagement with culture online has changed, what they enjoy about it and what they don't.

Find out what NI audiences think of emails and newsletters, and what they want to hear in your communication to them.

In this audience snapshot, find out how NI audiences feel about returning to in-person events.

We ran our first focus group with our Audience Panel and they had a lot to say about how they find out about upcoming arts and culture events.

What does art mean to people's lives? This year, we are going places to meet 100 audience members in all 11 council areas of Northern Ireland to find out. Our seventh stop was at Canal Court Hotel in Newry, Mourne and Down.

What does art mean to people's lives? This year, we are going places to meet 100 audience members in all 11 council areas of Northern Ireland to find out. Our sixth stop was at Millennium Court in Portadown, Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough.

In this audience snapshot, learn about NI audiences' summer plans.

What does art mean to people's lives? This year, we are going places to meet 100 audience members in all 11 council areas of Northern Ireland to find out. Our fourth stop was at High Rise in Lisburn, Lisburn and Castlereagh City.

What does art mean to people's lives? This year, we are going places to meet 100 audience members in all 11 council areas of Northern Ireland to find out. Our fifth stop was at Antrim Castle Gardens in Antrim, Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough.

What does art mean to people's lives? This year, we are going places to meet 100 audience members in all 11 council areas of Northern Ireland to find out. Our second stop was at the Millennium Forum in Derry~Londonderry.

What does art mean to people's lives? This year, we are going places to meet 100 audience members in all 11 council areas of Northern Ireland to find out. Our first stop was at the Duncairn in Belfast.

In this audience snapshot, find out what NI audiences first do when going to a venue, their pet peeves and how venues make them feel.

Get to know Jan, our accessibility persona created from the data collected during our Audience Panel.

Get to know Frank and Nancy, our Older Frequent Attender persona created from the data collected during our Audience Panel.

How do NI audiences perceive arts and culture? Find out in our latest audience snapshot.

What does art mean to people's lives? This year, we are going places to meet 100 audience members in all 11 council areas of Northern Ireland to find out. Our eighth stop was at Coleraine Town Hall in the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough council area.

Get to know Jill, our Young Family persona created from the data collected during our Audience Panel.

What does art mean to people's lives? This year, we are going places to meet 100 audience members in all 11 council areas of Northern Ireland to find out. Our tenth stop was at Carrickfergus Library in the Mid and East Antrim district council area.

Find out what art form NI audiences connect with the most and what prevents them from engaging with some art forms.

Get to know Darren, our Young Infrequent Attender persona created from the data collected during our Audience Panel.

What does art mean to people's lives? This year, we are going places to meet 100 audience members in all 11 council areas of Northern Ireland to find out. Our eleventh stop was at Seamus Heaney Homeplace in the Mid Ulster district council area.

What does art mean to people's lives? This year, we are going places to meet 100 audience members in all 11 council areas of Northern Ireland to find out. Our ninth stop was at the Fermanagh House in Fermanagh.

Discover the insights from the Missing Audiences for Northern Ireland - Wave 2 survey.

Discover the insights from the Missing Audiences for Northern Ireland - Wave 1 survey.

Conversations and views from the public and the arts sector on what Arts Council England should focus on.

Young adults aged 16-24, commonly referred to as Gen Z by marketers, are often considered a challenging demographic to engage. This report, developed by the creative agency We Are Social UK, offers deeper insights into their lifestyles and behaviours. You can read the complete report via the link or read the summary below, written by Alice Bresciani, We Are Social's former Senior Research and Insights Director. We recently created an audience snapshot for this age group and the art forms they're into.

Strategy, reporting, and campaign delivery.

Mystery shops to understand and improve your visitor experience.

Time to nominate your favourite NI organisation and celebrate how they have found new ways to connect with their audiences in spite of the year's challenges.

The Arts Collaboration Network sent a document to the NI Executive, MLAs and NI MPs asking for urgent and ongoing support.

The Arts Collaboration Network's statement following the announcement from Communities Minister Carál Ní Chuilín of a £4m Creative Support Fund.

Our CEO Fiona attended the Family Arts Conference and learnt a lot about ticket prices. Read her blog to find out her key takeaways.

Before we can see the effects of GDPR, here's a breakdown of how well Northern Irish venues are capturing contact details and permissions for their ticket buyers.

The Age Friendly Guidelines from Family Arts Campaign provide practical steps to welcome older audiences.

In this guest blog Alan Ballany of Culture Republic gives his thoughts on what stricter standards around data anonymisation mean for cultural organisations under GDPR.

Our CEO Margaret updates on the movement towards a citizens' assembly for the arts on the island of Ireland. How it could happen, and what it could mean for the cultural sector here.

Our client director Fiona shares her tips on how to facilitate a meeting or ideas session. How do you get everyone working towards the same goal, get those ideas flowing, and actually agree on some practical action points by the end of the day?

We have partnered with the Insights Alliance (Indigo Ltd, Baker Richards and One Further) to deliver the Missing Audiences survey in Northern Ireland.

GDPR has had a major impact on email marketing. There are new and more rigorous standards on who you can email to. Here's what that means for marketers.

As we move towards spring, it's a fitting time to take a moment and consider December, a pivotal time of year for the arts. With recent reports suggesting a downturn in sales for pantomimes and Christmas shows throughout the UK, it's worth examining whether this trend extends to Northern Ireland as well.

Limited time to get the word out about what you do? Or not sure where to start? Download our communications plan template and get all angles covered.

Clever use of social proof can help you use your current audience to encourage new visitors to your cultural venue or events.

Have questions on the IMPACT Survey? Read on for more information.

Bristol Culture's museum and gallery shops were losing money, but by using audience data and testing new strategies they were able to turn things around.

Author: Zak Mensah, Arts Professional

In this short toolkit, we’re giving you tips on the different tools you can use to find out more about your new visitors.

Want to know why some of your most loyal audiences haven't yet come back to your organisation? There's a way to find out. Take part in Missing Audiences.

A toolkit to strengthen your relationship with audiences post-pandemic

The Arts Collaboration Network have issued a statement following discussions about the impact of Covid-19 on the NI Arts and Cultural sector #InThisTogether

An interview with visual artist Ellie Niblock on her first experience making work for and with an audience.

We ran Hitchhiker's Guide to the Arts in 2014 to see if planned group visits could increase engagement from those who don't normally attend cultural events.

In July 2022, we began work on a fascinating project: Northern Ireland in 100 Stories. For the past year, we met with a total of 120 people from across all 11 council areas in Northern Ireland to find out what arts and culture means to their lives. As we near the end of the project, we wanted to gather in one place all the resources that came from it.

Are cultural organisations too focused on new audiences - at the expense of encouraging and rewarding loyal visitors? Here's how and why arts organisations should be promoting audience loyalty.

A guest blog by Kim Mitchell from MoMA New York. Kim talks about communications at the top end of the art world, and the challenges of working with a world-renowned brand.

Margaret Henry talks about the importance of looking after your own well-being in the arts, culture, and heritage sectors and brings the top five tips back for increasing your resilience  from this year's CO3 conference.

We are now taking registrations for wave 2 of Missing Audiences in Northern Ireland, which will open on 31st January 2022.

A guest post from Robert Jones of brand consultancy firm Wolff Olins. Robert talks about how a clear purpose is becoming more and more essential for cultural organisations.

Our Client Programme Coordinator Sarah updates us on the All Ireland Performing Arts Conference.

Read the Arts Collaboration Network's latest statement on 27th January 2021

The ISLAND Arts Centre is our Audience Delight Award winner for best socially distanced festival for families. Read our case study to find out how they did it, how their audience found it and tips for doing it yourself.

Some audience development controversy from the Theatre 2016 conference.

How to move first-time attendees up the loyalty ladder? Find out how the California Symphony became audience-focused and created incentives based on their audiences' behaviour.

Our former Client Relationships Exec Catherine talked to the person behind the hilarious (and informative) social media accounts of The Museum of English Rural Life. Read our case study to find out how they succeeded in diversifying their online audiences with a single tweet.

Some people who used to be regular audience members haven't yet returned to cultural organisations. There are ways to entice them back. Read our blog to find out.

Change in the cultural sector is often associated with fighting funding cuts - but organisational change is essential to survive and thrive in our fast-paced environment. Our CEO Margaret Henry shares her thoughts and experience on the challenges and benefits of change.

If you want to know what makes NI audiences click and stick, sign up to our Audience Panel newsletter to receive fresh insights straight to your inbox.

In this blog, our former Client Relationships Exec Catherine talks about all the things to consider for filling your space with experiences audiences will love.

Your website is often where your audience member starts their visit. If it's not accessible - what message are you sending to potential disabled and d/Deaf audience members? Here are some practical steps to make your website more accessible.

Today is a new chapter for Audiences NI as we launch a new brand but also a new name – Welcome to thrive.

Why you might already be doing research without knowing it... and how to choose the right research method to find out what you need to know.

Our client director, Fiona Bell, shares her thoughts about our new normal during lockdown and how it impacts the Arts.

We ran a series of workshops to support arts and culture venues to think creatively about how to improve their Access for Disabled People. This is what we learned.

Our latest Foundations report, indicates a fresh wave of individuals engaging with arts and culture in Northern Ireland following the pandemic. We wanted to take a closer look at both emerging and diminishing audiences more closely.

Our Client Programme Coordinator Sarah looks at examples of how organisations outside of the arts and culture sectors exceed their audiences' expectations. Read her blog to find out her key takeaways.

Here are the answers to some of the most common questions we've been getting from the cultural sector on GDPR.

Margaret Henry reports back from the Creative Industries Federation Brexit Conference and asks if we're missing some Northern Irish voices in the debate.

Want to know more about the details of the IMPACT project? Read our FAQs

In this blog post, our CEO Fiona explains her take on the differences, and how audience development is the only way to meaningful change.

Our CEO Fiona recently traveled to the North West to chat with a group of older people to understand more about their engagement with arts and culture. She wrote a blog to let us know what she learnt.

How much will your audience pay for a show or experience? And do lower prices de-value your product? Here's the research behind effective pricing strategies.

Read our third guest blog from the Changed Future series, written by Charmain Jones.

We sent Fiona off to Culture Geek in the sweltering London heat. Here's some of what she brought back - the best examples of games to engage audiences in galleries and museums

How trying to serve and attract everyone can harm your cultural organisation.

Using scenarios can help develop a rounder view of your audience, and give insights where personas just don't apply.

Read our third guest blog from the Changed Future series, written by Paul Connolly.

What is the ultimate stage of loyalty? How can you bring your audiences to see you as their BFF so they will support you at all times? Read our blog to find out.

The focus is often on new audiences coming through our doors, but what does it take to get them to visit your organisation time and time again? Read our blog to find out.

Our Client Relationships Director Laura Cusick is back from maternity leave. Read her blog to find out more about how she plans to lead our team to further support you and the rest of the sector.

Covid had an impact on how cultural organisations are collecting and using audience data. With our last thrive survey, we were able to find out what changed and what it means for audience data in NI going forward.

Our latest Dreams guest blog is by Damien Coyle, Chief Executive of University of Atypical. He reflects on the past 12 months, what we can learn and what we must remember.

With the new StopCOVID NI app up and running, Sarah looks at the implications of GDPR in contact tracing and what it means for your organisation.

Outburst Queer Arts Festival introduced their own ticketing strategy 'More if/Less if' to make their programme more accessible. They're one of our 2019/2020 Audience Delight Winner.

In order to reach diverse audiences, including the LGBTQ+ community, you'll need to track who is visiting or engaging with you. Here's how to ask about gender and sexual orientation in surveys in a sensitive and practical way.

Why green issues matter to audiences and how the cultural sector is well-placed to make a positive impact on the environment.

Read our second guest blog from the Changed Future series, written by Beth Frazer.

In this guest blog, Sarah McAvera from Golden Thread Gallery, shares her experience of attending "free" cultural events with her family, which often come with hidden prices. She explores whether this outcome is inevitable or if organisations can implement changes to provide more budget-friendly and accessible family programming.

We found that demonstrating the value of arts and culture, and the impact it can have on people and their communities is not an easy task. EastSide Arts' project 'The Gert and Friends' is a great example of how it can be done through co-creation.

Happy New Year! We're opening the year with a new theme: strengthening your relationship with your audiences and loyalty. It is as important as ever when our cultural spaces remain closed. Read our blog to find out more.

Our top tips for designing and running a survey. Find out how to create useful survey questions and get the response rates you need.

In early July, Sarah and Maurane hopped over to sunny Brighton for the Arts Marketing Association
conference. Maurane was invited over as a speaker and Sarah decided to tag along and mingle with over 750 representatives from the UK’s cultural sector. The conference, themed "Be Bold, Be Brave," featured thirty-five talks over two days. Here are some key lessons in bravery that Sarah learned.

The Around the Town Festival in Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland, highlights the impact of community-driven efforts on local culture. Led by Positive Carrickfergus, the festival aimed to showcase the town’s potential and boost its arts scene. For this case study, our Client Programme Coordinator Sarah spoke with Creative Producer Lynn McKenzie to find out how she and the team turned community aspirations into a successful festival through collaboration, planning, and responsive organising.

When audiences visit your organisation for the first time, what can you do to build a lasting relationship with them? Read our blog to find out.

A recent visit to Dundee shows a city that is investing in people-focused culture and heritage. What are the lessons for Belfast's future cultural strategy?

The Duncairn is our Audience Delight Award winner for Best Community Vibes. Read our case study to find out what is it about them that makes their audiences click.

Last August, we invited Olly Davies from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe to share his experience of using audience data to make positive lasting changes to their overall strategy.

How Hull Truck Theatre improved the accessibility of their website and online booking process.

Author: Danielle McLoughlin

How using focus groups helped The Crescent understand how their audience sees them, and led to a new brand and website that's showcasing the best of what they offer.

As we're noticing the impact of the latest Apple update on social media advertising, we wrote a blog to explain what it's all about and the challenges it brings to arts and culture organisations.

Read our first guest blog from the Changed Future series, written by Lucretia Devlin.

YouGov and Experian have been collecting data on the cost-of-living crisis and its impact on consumers. We wrote a blog about the implications for arts and culture audiences.

Community Asset Transfer (CAT) has been successfully utilised across the UK, yet Northern Ireland has seen only one major success story so far – the Open House Festival's ownership of the Court House, Bangor. Its triumph prompts an important question – Why aren't more Northern Irish communities trying out asset transfers to revive cherished local buildings?

Last June, The Crescent Arts Centre decided to try something new for their Belfast Book Festival: a Pay What You Want scheme. Read our case study to find out how it went.