Ideas

“Privacy is a substantial digital priority.” My colleague Ally Duffey Cubilette wrote these powerful words in February 2023, and since she put digital pen to paper, the privacy landscape has evolved at lightning speed.

Every single privacy change will impact arts marketers’ work. Hard stop. The old ways of collecting and using data are fading, and new processes will emerge. If you want your marketing strategies to be effective and legally compliant, you’ll need to update your data practices and remain flexible as things continue to change.

Almost all Americans watch television—around 80% on any given day. But the way audiences are watching has changed. Many now tune in to connected TV (CTV), which streams video content via a connected TV device (think smart TVs, Roku, AppleTV, AmazonFire, etc.). This video content is delivered “over the top” (OTT) instead of via a cable or satellite connection, through streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, and Amazon.

When it comes to consumer behavior, arts buyers have a style all their own—and we can break that down even further by artistic genre. Whether you're dealing with music mavens or visual art enthusiasts, understanding the distinct buyer behaviors of your audience is crucial for nailing campaign targeting.

While all of CI’s campaigns feature bespoke strategies, film audience targeting is especially unique. We’ve partnered with Film Forum since 2017 to tap into this group and track behavioral patterns over time. The result? A meticulously crafted marketing strategy that feels tailor-made for their audience.

Video remains the dominant content format on social media, so we’re always asked about optimizing the experience. The most common question we get from clients: how long should my videos be?

As your team’s investment in visual storytelling grows, determining the optimal video length for your audiences can be a helpful way to boost the performance of paid social campaigns. Let’s look at CI client data to see how different video lengths play out across Meta’s platforms.

With social platforms like Instagram and TikTok transforming into search hotspots, is investing in Google paid search (SEM) still a savvy move?

It’s a common question we get from clients, and we completely understand why. Social media is where consumers predominantly spend their time, and search is baked into the UI of these platforms, so it’s easy to assume people are gravitating away from traditional search engines.

If you’re stuck in a query quandary and wondering where to put your advertising dollars, don’t worry—we analyzed CI client data to help you better understand arts buyers’ search preferences. The short answer: Google still reigns supreme, but that doesn’t mean you should overlook other search methods; it all depends on your organization's goals and resources.

For every arts marketer, season announcement time brings with it excitement and anticipation, but also apprehension as one considers the responsibility of filling all of those new empty seats. 

With season announcements come subscription on-sales (or memberships or packages or whatever type of similar program your organization offers!), and given that subscriptions are in decline, renewal season requires all that much more strategy when your plate is already full.

In fact, as you’re reading this, you very well may be doing a great theater mask impression: 🎭. But fear not! With CI’s tips, you’ll be all smiles and strategy by the time you’re done reading.

Summer is the season of camps—and we don’t just mean the ones with tents! With schools out in your local communities, summer camps are a golden opportunity for arts organizations to inspire and nurture the next generation of artists, musicians, and performers. But in a digital space as crowded as your favorite beach, it’s not always easy to make a splash with your camp-focused digital campaigns. We’ve got you! 

How do you sustain a campaign for a long-running exhibition—especially when media dollars aren't unlimited, as is typical in the arts?

After the usual “dada,” “mama,” and “banana,” the very next thing my now-17-month-old daughter said was, “Hey Google.” She says it clearly enough that our Home device responds to her. She hasn’t quite mastered the next step of asking Google for whatever she wants (usually, to listen to her favorite song, “Stayin’ Alive”), but I’m sure she’ll figure it out any day now.

That’s because search is so ingrained in our lives that we may not even realize how frequently we use it. We turn to search instinctively any time we have a question or a need. According to HubSpot, Google handles an estimated 2 trillion searches per year and over 63,000 searches every second on average. Your search strategy should reflect the robust role search plays in our day-to-day lives—and your Google Grant, while a wonderful asset, can’t cover all of your bases.

Enter: paid search.

When you market a large volume of programs and initiatives, it can be tempting to run as many campaigns as possible—the more ads, the better, right?—but that doesn’t necessarily guarantee an equally significant payoff. When it comes to digital advertising, sometimes less is more. 

Intentionality is key, especially for multifaceted arts organizations with small (but mighty) marketing teams. We worked with Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art to streamline their campaign structure, mitigate audience overlap, and reduce their team’s workload, all while maximizing overall impact.