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. It sounds like we have a commitment problem. Áine explores how to use data to better understand audience engagement.

When it comes to engagement, do you see yourself as more product-led or people-led? Our Head of Sector Development Laura has gathered together some excellent resources together that can help you find the answer!

The Taking Part Survey researches engagement with museums and galleries in England between 2005 and 2016.

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

A national survey from Arts Council of Ireland looking at attendance and participation in the arts in ROI.

This resource from The Wallace Foundation in the USA gives some refreshingly fact-based strategies for attracting millennials.

How engaged Older People (65+) are in Arts and Culture in Belfast and what art forms they are interested in the most.

How engaged Adults (35-49) are in Arts and Culture in Belfast and what art forms they are interested in the most.

How engaged Young Adults (16-24) are in Arts and Culture in Belfast and what art forms they are interested in the most.

Find out how NI audiences engage with culture online.

Find out who are the NI audiences willing to pay for culture online.

Discover the insights from our Culture Beyond Covid audience research for ticketed and non-ticketed organisations.

Our Foundations report shows what the ticketed landscape was like in Northern Ireland in 2019-2023. It uncovers insights into audiences for venues and festivals across Northern Ireland and identifies benchmark figures for our region.

Our Foundations report shows what the ticketed landscape was like in Northern Ireland in 2019-2020. It uncovers insights into audiences for venues and festivals across Northern Ireland and identifies benchmark figures for our region.

Our Foundations report shows what the ticketed landscape was like in Northern Ireland in 2020-2021. It uncovers insights into audiences for venues and festivals across Northern Ireland and identifies benchmark figures for our region.

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.

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.

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 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 tenth stop was at Carrickfergus Library in the Mid and East Antrim 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 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 eighth stop was at Coleraine Town Hall in the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough 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 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 third stop was at Portico of Ards in Portaferry, Ards and North Down 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 sixth stop was at Millennium Court in Portadown, Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon 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 seventh stop was at Canal Court Hotel in Newry, Mourne and Down.

Find out the results from our first Culture Beyond Covid for Heritage: The Heritage Panel

Insights from the ticketing data of up to 343 cultural organisations across the UK, Ireland, USA, and Canada.

This report from Arts Connect explores how people aged 10 to 19 relate to arts and culture.

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

This report from NISRA gives the overall picture on who is living in Northern Ireland, and covers population growth, travel and transport, technology use and more.

What's the standard for digital marketing in the arts? Here are findings from a survey of 180 U.S. arts organisations by Capacity Interactive.

Our IMPACT report helps us learn more about who audiences are, how they behave, why they attend and how they feel after attending a variety of artforms.

This report from Culture24 explores after-hours events in museums and their role in the night-time economy.

The Continuous Household Survey is an annual public survey done by the Northern Irish Government. Here's how to access the results, and why you should read it.

This research explored UK audiences' behaviours during lockdown, their wants and needs post-Covid and marketing opportunities for arts & culture organisations moving forward.

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

This in-depth qualitative study looks at arts audiences from 20 organisations across the UK, uncovering why people attend shows, events, and galleries - and what holds them back from engaging more.

Join us at The Duncairn to chat all things loyalty and engagement. How do you develop a committed relationship with your audience?

Practical ways to create an email strategy that increases sales and improves customer loyalty.

How group visits can be used to increase engagement from hard to reach audiences.

Author: Jane Wells, First Art

How East Durham Creates used an audience-led approach to change the low levels of arts engagement in the area.

Author: Nikki Locke, East Durham Creates

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.

We want to grow the amount of research into cultural engagement in Northern Ireland. Read our blog to find out more about our plans for this year and how you can take part.

Interested in digital and user-generated content? Here's how the Royal Ontario Museum used visitor photos as part of their visitor experience, and as a data source too.

Author: Ryan Dodge, Digital Engagement at Royal Ontario Museum

Talking to your audiences online and encouraging them to post comments and interact is a great way to draw attention to your offer, and increase audience loyalty. Here are the best ways to get started, and deal with any negative comments too.

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 receiving venues can make the most of their visiting companies' fans.

Author: Sian Dudley, Arts Professional

Our family friendly toolkit will help you to welcome families and anticipate their needs.

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

The Kids in Museums Manifesto, created with input from children, young people, and families, offers simple guidelines for making museums and heritage sites more welcoming and enjoyable for all.

Colleen Dilenschneider argues that free admission matters less than we may think - and backs it up with ticketing and attendance data from the US.

Author: Colleen Dilenschneider 

Maurane Ramon shares her thoughts as an arts marketer new to Northern Ireland’s geographical, cultural, and political landscapes.

Audience development. It’s an objective that is close to our hearts here at Thrive. This summer, we decided to delve deeper into it, meeting with people from various parts of Northern Ireland’s arts and cultural sector (festivals, producers, galleries, and venues) The aim? To get an insight into the unique challenges each group faces around building and maintaining audience relationships.

A toolkit to strengthen your relationship with audiences post-pandemic

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.

Nicholas Penny, former director of the National Gallery in London, questions the attention paid to visitor numbers in determining the success of cultural institutions.

The action-research report from Cinegi profiles their efforts to bring filmed theatre, ballet, and opera to libraries and village halls across England.

We recently deactivated our Instagram account. We're telling you why in our latest blog.

In our latest guest blog, Niamh Kelly, Youth Ambassador at Reimagine, Remake, Replay writes about co-curation with audiences, and in this instance, with young people. Could it change museums' relationships with their audiences for the better?

This toolkit, created by Museums Association, will help you to measure and evaluate the positive impact your museum has on your community

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

We recently designed and delivered research for Belfast Stories in which we took a creative approach to craft our questions.

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

What ticketing data can tell us about the effects of funding cuts on the arts in Northern Ireland.

When you're starting any kind of research - the first thing to do is to check what's already out there. Here are our top free online sources of audience information.

In 2018, six museums across Northern Ireland hosted late-night events to attract new audiences and change perceptions about museums.

Queen's University Belfast student Isaac Ellis looked at our audience survey data to identify hidden trends and insights.

Mark Zuckerberg recently announced major changes to how Facebook prioritises content in newsfeed. How is this going to affect cultural organisations, and what can we do about it?

Fiona Bell asks whether arts venues go out of their way to be truly welcoming to everyone - or are we in danger of simply talking the talk?

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

Working with the Barbican to gather insights into what young people want from their membership in future.

Our CEO Fiona reflects on the latest trends in people's behaviours and attitudes post-Covid.

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.

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.

Every year, we mine box office data to uncover insights into audiences for venues and festivals across Northern Ireland. Data includes overall benchmark figures for NI, as well as differences by Belfast venues and regional venues.

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.

How National Theatre of Scotland is using digital creatively to improve access and grow Deaf audiences.

Learnings from the Hull UK City of Culture conference around how we measure and talk about the benefits and impact of culture.

Musing on the language around cultural audiences - can we borrow some ideas from sport?

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.

How can you know more about your audiences? We're listing free tools that you already have access to and tips on how to use them.

When it comes to collecting audience data, free, non-ticketed spaces always ask us the same question: how can we learn more about the people who come through our doors without a ticketing system?

How Art UK and the Audience Agency increased visits to their online collection and resources from BAME audiences and those aged 16-24.

Authors: Katie Moffat and Richard Turpin

Libraries are routinely reaching audiences that other cultural organisations struggle to. What can we learn from libraries about attracting a more diverse and representative audience?

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.

Audience development is about building relationships and this is what we will be focusing on to support the sector over the next 12 months.

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.

The Foundations 2019-2023 report was made to study look at the ticketing landscape in Northern Ireland in recent years, including festivals. We learned a lot from it. So, we decided to talk to a few Northern Ireland festivals that weren't in the report. We wanted to find out what they thought about the trends for the next year.

How can the NI arts and cultural scene adapt to social distancing measures after the lockdown? Our Chief Executive Margaret Henry tries to find out.

Grassroots venues play a vital role in maintaining the longevity of the music sector. In this blog, Eve explores the challenges facing local grassroots music venues and what could be done to support their long term success.

The significance of arts and culture is frequently downplayed, yet it profoundly shapes people's lives. The Northern Ireland in 100 Stories project has gathered first hand accounts from people across the region demonstrating the impact arts and culture have on local residents. In this blog post, Laura examines the key themes from the project, highlighting how integral arts and culture are to are to local communities.

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.