Ideas

Ask the Industry features advice from arts marketers in their own words. We hope you can learn from them and it will spark new ideas at your organization.

This month, we’re asking, “What are some unique ways to highlight the benefits of becoming a subscriber or member?" 

Kerry Ingram (Museum of Fine Arts, Houston), Karina Kacala (Opera Philadelphia), Jackie Ortiz (Pasadena Playhouse), and Vanessa Ramirez-Sparrow (Museum of Fine Arts, Houston) answer everything from creating unique content for different audiences to keeping subscription and membership campaigns fresh each year. 

Ask the Industry features arts marketing practitioners from organizations across genres and budget sizes. This is advice from arts marketers in their own words - we hope you can learn from them and it will spark new ideas at your organization.

This month, we’re asking, “What tools do you use to manage a centralized calendar (for content and/or project management)?”

Ashley Haraburda (National Ballet of Canada), Aly Michaud (Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park), and Lee Bowen, Jennifer Rensenbrink, Isaac Risseeuw, and Marsha Walker from the Minnesota Orchestra answer everything from choosing the right software for your organization to making the case for them in a world of tight budgets.

It’s January—time to break in those new hats and scarves, pick out a fresh calendar for the office, and get organized for the year ahead. Before we plunge into all 2018 has in store, we’re dusting the holiday cookie crumbs off the files on our desks, pouring a cup of coffee, and looking back at that blur of a week that covered Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Giving Tuesday (remember that week?...when your inbox practically burst into flames?).

Happy National Electronic Greetings Day! While e-cards may be going the way of the telegram (remember those? yeah, me neither…), today is still a great reminder that we all enjoy being on the receiving end of a cheery “hello”, “happy birthday” or “just for laughs” greeting!

It’s November. That means brisk weather and crunchy leaves underfoot. Your mind turns to Thanksgiving and you start to panic. Not about the perfect green bean casserole but about #GivingTuesday - one of the most anxiety-inducing hashtags out there.

It’s a simple concept, and anyone familiar with the Tessitura Software origin story will recognize “Know to whom you are speaking” as a key design goal back in 1999 when the product was first innovated as an enterprise-wide, unified-CRM solution for non-profit arts organizations. Back then, it was more about solving problems like making sure that subscribers, who were also major donors, did not receive a generic request for a $50 donation with their subscription renewals.

If I told you you’d lose 68% of your customers next year, you’d probably be a bit worried, right?

I am thrilled to be keynoting Capacity Interactive’s Digital Marketing Boot Camp for the Arts this October. “Prepare to get your geek on.” That tagline is music to my geeky, data-loving ears.

As the Chief Market Engagement Officer at IMPACTS, my job involves translating big data concerning trends in audience behaviors and perspectives, and making it both accessible and actionable to the hard-working folks who run cultural institutions. I work with boards and executives at major institutions regarding data-informed best practices related to earned revenue, the visitor experience, creating access programs that actually work, and cultivating donors. My focus is on how audiences think and behave. After all, it is living and breathing human beings that arts organizations aim to educate and inspire.

It is easy to get distracted by shiny buzzwords and new channels offered in digital marketing. Sales reps call and email. Board members share articles about this or that new tactic or targeting technique. Don't take the bait!