The case for rethinking your loyalty programme
Subscription sales have been on decline for years. A recent study compared fixed to flexible subscriptions, and discovered a silver lining.
2 min read
There’s an art to stretching time and budgets, and arts marketers know it all too well. With constrained resources and countless items on their schedules, it can be challenging to find the time to brainstorm new strategies and leveraging the tools to implement them.
If you're looking to brush up your current campaigns or start a new plan from scratch, here are five arts marketing strategies that you can use to boost revenue.
1. Upsell and cross-sell
Take a close look at the ticket buying path and brainstorm where to upsell patrons additional items they might purchase or cross-sell shows they might be interested in. Leverage data to see where it’s possible to ask patrons to add tickets to more shows, for a percent discount, and include a donations web component on your website to encourage online giving.
Look for opportunities to add value to existing offerings and sell them at a higher pricing tier. This might mean packaging a ticket with a drink package or backstage tour. Many patrons will opt for a premium experience when given the option, but no one will pay for it if they’re never made such an offer.
2. Pre-sell concessions and merchandise
Creating a memorable evening doesn’t have to start and stop at the stage. Encourage patrons to pre-order drinks or food online. This benefits their on-site experience and can help the theatre as well. Such strategies keep patrons from having to wait in a busy line. It also tells the front of house team how much inventory to stock, and makes room for more patrons to order on the day of the show.
This doesn’t have to stop at concessions. Think of creative ways to prompt patrons to pre-order t-shirts, souvenirs or other merchandise.
3. Set up Supplementary Events
Introducing experiences that relate to the main event can be a great way to increase your secondary spend. Consider post-show talks, meet and greets with artists, opening night receptions or any other event that can make for a memorable experience.
4. Segment, segment, segment
If you are looking for an easy way to improve marketing to your patron base, create a customer segmentation model. Segmenting an audience helps you determine what data is available to create strategies around and ultimately generates more revenue by delivering value to that specific audience. To learn more, 
5. Send automated emails
There are many email marketing tools out there to streamline key touchpoints with your patrons by scheduling automated emails. Pre- and post-show emails are great for building on patrons’ excitement from attending a show or to share practical and promotional information.
Drip campaigns that trigger a series of timed or action-based campaigns are another great tool. It’s worth taking the time to implement them to win back lapsed visitors, target members to provide more value to them, and to improve donor loyalty.
Email automation is a huge asset for busy marketers because they don’t require a lot of attention once they’re up and running. Automated campaigns are also versatile and can help move patrons up the funnel at any point in their journeys, from new attendees to repeat buyers and donors.
Time to get started
All of these strategies are building blocks. It’s up to you to apply your own arts marketing campaigns by seeing what fits your organisational goals and finding creative ways to make them take off. Together, these tools can round out existing strategies and increase your organisation’s revenue.
Spektrix is dedicated to providing arts organisations the tools to maximize their revenue and provide the best experience for their patrons. Learn how we can help your team increase secondary spend.
More insights and best practice ideas from Spektrix
Hailey Colwell is a former Marketing Manager at Spektrix