Do you want to know more about your audiences and contribute to sector-wide research? Find out about our newest project and how to get involved.

Know who you want to target? Here's how.

10 personas for UK cultural audiences. These are a great way to visualise your audience once you know where they're coming from.

In its second year, the North West Audience Survey is currently gathering data on arts and heritage audiences in Derry and Donegal. Please find our first snapshot of our findings, which looks at audiences with disabilities.

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

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

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.

Insights into film audiences in Belfast, and ideas for growing cultural film audiences.

How to engage with family audiences - from your programming, to customer experience and marketing.

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

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

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

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.

Insights into arts and craft audiences in Belfast, and ideas for increasing visitors to your gallery.

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

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

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

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

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

Find out how NI audiences engage with culture online.

In its second year, the North West Audience Survey is currently gathering data on arts and heritage audiences in Derry and Donegal. Please find our third snapshot of our findings, which looks at the impact of who audiences attend with.

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

Who is attending outdoor events in Belfast and how you can increase your event attendees.

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

Interested in targeting young people? Or increasing loyalty in your current audience of young people? Then read on.

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

Older people are a growing population - both in Northern Ireland and globally. Here's how to make your cultural offering and marketing appeal to this group.

In its second year, the North West Audience Survey is currently gathering data on arts and heritage audiences in Derry and Donegal. Please find our second snapshot of our findings, which looks at the impact of age on audiences.

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.

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

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.

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

The raw data from our North West Audience Survey contains survey responses from 4,420 participants across 39 Donegal County Council and Derry City and Strabane District Council organisations collected from April 2022 to March 2024.

Hand-picked reports on cultural audiences and attendance.

Find out how lockdown has impacted audiences in NI

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

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

Find out the results from our third 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.

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.

Global Web Index's report on millennials' online behaviors and their attitudes to digital and marketing.

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.

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

How engaged Older People (65+) 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.

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

This 2016 report profiles the visitors to six Northern Irish museums.

The iBeholder pilot was developed to help us discover new ways to gather audience data for non-ticketed visual arts organisations and boost the audience experience. This report details everything that happened throughout the project and the insights we uncovered during the pilot.

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

A look at what Northern Ireland's ticketing data tells us about audience attendance trends across the year.

This report is about the impact of Covid-19 on people's interactions with technology, virtual events, audience expectations and monetisation of digital.

Cultural organisations in England get their overview of cultural audiences from the Taking Part Survey.

For the first time, we are sharing artform reports from our IMPACT Survey, using responses gathered from 29 organisations between September 2023 and July 2024. This report details the motivations, behaviours, and demographics of Theatre audiences.

For the first time, we are sharing artform reports from our IMPACT Survey, using responses gathered from 29 organisations between September 2023 and July 2024. This report details the motivations, behaviours, and demographics of Visual Arts audiences.

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.

Find out what NI visual arts audiences think about coming back, what they've been doing over lockdown and what they'll feel comfortable doing in the future.

For the first time, we are sharing artform reports from our IMPACT Survey, using responses gathered from 29 organisations between September 2023 and July 2024. This report details the motivations, behaviours, and demographics of Comedy audiences.

For the first time, we are sharing artform reports from our IMPACT Survey, using responses gathered from 29 organisations between September 2023 and July 2024. This report details the motivations, behaviours, and demographics of Music audiences.

Over the past couple of years, we have been working on an exciting venture known as the North West project. This initiative revolves around the collection of data concerning arts, culture, and heritage audiences in Derry and Donegal. Now, we've decided to put together all the stuff we've learned from it in one place.

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.

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 Northern Ireland, as well as differences by Belfast venues and regional venues.

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 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 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 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 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 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 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 eighth stop was at Coleraine Town Hall in the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough council area.

Report of findings from Act 1 of the 'After the Interval' survey in NI and ROI

Earlier this month, we were invited to take part in the Festivals Forum, where we presented some of our findings on festival audience attendance over the last 4 years. The meeting provided us with great insight into trends from across NI festivals. Eve discusses in this report.

This comprehensive report from UK Theatre analyses sales data across a wide range of genres and venue types.

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.

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.

This resource from Tourism NI shows how you can market and create cultural experiences that appeal to older tourists.

The raw data from our IMPACT Survey contains survey responses from 2,921 participants across 35 organisations in Northern Ireland collected from September 2023 to March 2024

Find out the results from our fourth and final survey for Culture Beyond Covid for Heritage: the Heritage Panel

Full report of findings from Act 2 of the 'After the Interval' survey in NI and ROI

Research into the media preferences and habits of over 25,000 US performing arts customers.

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

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

Ofcom have released their report into what the people of Northern Ireland are watching and listening - and how and where they are doing it. Here's our quick summary of the report - and the implications for the cultural sector.

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.

Surveys, postcode mapping, focus groups, and visitor profiling.

Get an evidence-based strategy to deliver your objectives.

Uncover the insight in your box office data.

Strategy, reporting, and campaign delivery.

Mystery shops to understand and improve your visitor experience.

Have the confidence to gather the data you need.

Unsure where to start? Book a free one-to-one audience development session.

Book a free one-to-one chat about your audiences.

Book a free one-to-one chat about your audiences.

Book a free one-to-one chat about your audiences.

Book a free one-to-one chat about your audiences.

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

There is a two-way relationship between you and your most loyal audience members. Understanding this relationship thoroughly and using this understanding to develop similar feelings of loyalty with other members of your audience is the key to increasing retention. Let's Talk Loyalty at our next free workshop!

A webinar to share our findings for NI and ROI with the sector, 3 weeks into the 'After the Interval' survey.

Our free events give you the practical skills to unlock your potential audiences.

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

A comprehensive toolkit and checklist to help you welcome LGBTQ+ audiences to your venue, festival, or event. Produced in collaboration with Outburst Arts.

This toolkit will help you to make small and easy changes to your venue and online presence to welcome disabled audiences.

Use this template to create a powerful one-page persona that helps you focus on your target audiences.

We've talked audience development with hundreds of organisations across Northern Ireland (and further afield!). So here are some of the most frequently asked questions we hear about understanding and growing cultural audiences.

There is wealth of free information about your current and potential audiences available through your social media and website. Here's how to access it and build a picture of your online audiences.

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

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

Find out what social media is best for your organisation based on your audience, pros and cons for each platform and the type of content audiences engage with the most.

Our definitive guide to audience development for arts, culture, and heritage. Use this guide to develop your own unique audience development strategy.

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.

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.

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

New Era, New Audience: How can we make the arts appeal to the wider public during the pandemic and beyond? is our first guest blog of 2021, written by playwright Rosemary Jenkinson.

There are different ways to segment your audience. In this toolkit, we're giving you tips to create your own successful segmentation.

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.

VR is an exciting new opportunity for arts, culture, and heritage. But is there really an audience for it, and can it be used as an audience development tool? Fiona Bell reports from the Culture Geek conference.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

Our Client Relationships Director Laura took a closer look at Taylor Swift's behaviour with her fans and realised it was exactly what we talk about when we talk about audience development.

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

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

An interview with Sarah Hughes, on how business partnership can be as an audience development tool.

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

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.

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

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

Social media 'stories' are pictures or video that usually disappears after 24 hours. So why would you bother using them? One reason is that they are very popular with younger audiences. 

Author: Paul Hanrahan - Culture Republic

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.

A run-down of all the ways to find out about your current and potential audiences. These range from simple and no-cost solutions, to more sophisticated box office systems.

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.

Duncan Webb asks how we can cross the cultural political divide.

Author: Duncan Webb, The Clyde Fitch Report

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

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.

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

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

Three proven ways to get performing arts audiences to re-attend.

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.

Our insights director Chris looks at the ticketing trends and what they say about where people get their cultural fix in NI. Do ticket-buyers in Belfast stick to city venues - and vice versa?

How and when does an interest in an artform translate into attending and participating in it? In June, our resident BOSS Eve attended the 'Interest Into Action' TEA Break session hosted by the Audience Agency. This session led Eve to doing some investigating into this concept of her own with some very interesting results.

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 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.

Carrickfergus Museum transformed an empty space within their building into an area specifically designed for a new audience. We're looking at how they succeeded and how they integrated it into their regular programming.

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.

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

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

Author: Jane Wells, First Art

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

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.

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.

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 you can use images to connect with your audiences.

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.

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 Earagail Arts Festival asked their audience and wider public about their motivations and barriers to attend the festival. They uncovered data that helped them to evaluate their impact and refine their purpose.

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.

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

We've asked Zoe Seaton at Big Telly Theatre Company what it's like to adapt live theatre online, how to price digital performances and tips for NI organisations.

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.

Thinking BIG! is a guide to building and using strategic marketing plans for arts organisations by consultant Stephen Cashman

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.

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

Author: Sian Dudley, Arts Professional

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

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.

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.

Another reopening guideline, with an audience-focused twist.

This toolkit will help you to understand Instagram Insights better; to know what information it can give you and how to refine your content for your audiences based on this data.

'The Touring Marketing Map’ is a mind map guide created by the AMA to help motivate organisations with their marketing campaigns.

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

Some audience development controversy from the Theatre 2016 conference.

Real-life examples of how focusing on the audience can unlock an organisation’s potential.

The fifth and last step of audience development is the big scary evaluation. Reviewing what you've done and assessing the impact you've made shouldn't be a chore. Read our blog to see our take on the most important step of audience development.

Last month, we sat down with representatives from organisations across Belfast to discuss their thoughts on the impact of various art forms on audiences. Find out how the meeting went in our latest blog written by our Sector Programme Coordinator Eve Murtagh.

Thrive's visitor profiling project to learn more about the visitors to six Northern Ireland museums.

The Audience Agency give their top to-dos for venues who want to start attracting cultural tourists.

Author: Anne Toreggiani and Helen Palmer, The Audience Agency

In this blog, we’re giving you some easy tips for writing great copy.

A toolkit to strengthen your relationship with audiences post-pandemic

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?

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

This toolkit will help you to understand Twitter analytics better; to know what information it can give you and how to refine your content for your audiences based on this data.

This toolkit will help you to understand Facebook Insights better; to know what information it can give you and how to refine your content for your audiences based on this data.

Results updated weekly from the Covid-19 'After the Interval' Act 1 National Audience Survey.

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

Results updated weekly from the Covid-19 'After the Interval' Act 2 Audience Survey.

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

Our Client Programme Coordinator Sarah introduces our latest resource: Another reopening guideline, with an audience-focused twist.

This spider chart will help you to visualise how you’re doing at loyalty and to focus your effort on the things you need to improve for strengthening your relationship with your audiences.

Welcome to this year's third theme: What is your real purpose? What is the change you want to see?

A roadmap for digital tailored to Northern Ireland’s arts and culture organisations’ needs

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.

With this toolkit, review your loyalty game and identify areas to work on next.

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.

How the Grand Theatre in Blackpool put the audience first when designing their website.

Author: Andrew Howard and Markerle Davis, Culture Hive

The latest news and views from thrive.

We worked with Shannon Yee to find an audience for her immersive theatre installation. An example of how communication with box office and front of house staff is vital for marketing alternative theatre.