Don’t let the news get you down or mislead you

You may have noticed that the arts received a lot of national press coverage this summer and fall. Every marketer’s and PR director’s dream, right? Well, maybe not, since it’s mostly about the immense challenges our industry is currently facing.

I get it. It’s an interesting story – albeit a deeply terrifying and tragic one. But here’s the thing. I’ve read a lot of these articles and aside from making me sad, they make me angry. Not just because of the state of the arts, but because of what they say – and don’t say.

Yes, there are more theaters closing, suspending operations, or significantly cutting back staff than perhaps at any time before in our history. Yes, there are common obstacles that a variety of organizations are facing.

But here’s where the articles fail us. Interviews with a handful of leaders cannot properly paint a picture of what is happening with everyone in the industry. These writers haven’t done an in-depth study of the issues facing every performing arts organization in the country and then selected a few anecdotes to represent the whole. They couldn’t possibly. Not only would that require an incredible amount of time and resources, but for all that arts organizations have in common, every organization is also unique in their particular set of circumstances.

While there are things we can learn from hearing individual stories, we need to be really careful to not conflate their situation with anyone else’s.

Specifically, I react with skepticism to the claims that subscriptions are dead. Do audience habits look different than they did during the heyday of subscriptions decades ago? Definitely. In fact, at some organizations the traditional subscription model might not be the right fit anymore. But it absolutely does not mean that all arts marketers should throw in the towel and give up on them.

As someone who has increased subscriptions at three different organizations in the last 10 years, here are some things I believe.

Audience habits have been changing for decades in ways that have made our lives as arts marketers harder. Our entire culture has been changing so it would be impossible for theater going habits not to be affected. There is more competition from an endless list of sources. There are obvious things like more theater companies in existence. Then there are changes to our work culture. Many people are working longer hours and at jobs farther from home. They’re just too tired to even contemplate leaving the house again for a performance. Others are working from home and have lost the connection to their downtowns and city centers where their theaters are located. The list goes on and includes things we can’t possibly control.

So, the odds may be stacked against us. But these things are also true, and we can control them.

I believe that a lot of arts managers and marketers gave up on subscriptions and now we’re seeing the effects. They saw the challenges and started believing that subscriptions were dead. Even if they still offered them, they didn’t truly believe that they were the right product for our changing world. And that belief started to be reflected in how subscription packages were priced and promoted.

We started seeing so many more options for packages - designed to be more flexible and meet the changing needs of our audiences. But for a lot of people, it didn’t work – whether it was because there were too many options, and patrons, facing analysis paralysis, didn’t buy anything, or because these new options didn’t actually meet their needs. We stopped seeing the benefits of subscriptions being shouted from the rooftops. And we started seeing subscription numbers plummet. The more we tried to adapt, the worse we fared.

I believe that as an industry, we became so focused on meeting the patrons’ needs that we lost sight of our own. History is littered with companies which could not adapt to a changing world and went out of business because of it. Less obvious, but no less numerous, are the ones who are no longer around because they lost sight of their own business needs.

When subscription packages were first introduced, they spread like wildfire and revolutionized the industry because they were so good for the organization. They brought in cash up front, the cost of sale is low, the resulting audience loyalty allows for more experimentation, the retention rate is high, the conversion rate to donors among subscribers is high. All of these things are still true.

Every organization is different, so I’m not saying that there is a single solution that will work for everyone. But if subscriptions worked for your organization once and you wish you had more, don’t decide they’re dead until you try everything you can to revive them. Dedicate time and resources to building subscriptions. Ask for help if you need it* and only if you have tried for a few years and aren’t seeing progress, should you move on to something else. But make sure that something else meets those basic criteria – good for patrons and good for the organization. Whatever option is right for your organization and your patrons – go all in.

*I’d love to help determine if subscriptions might still work for you and then design a strategy to set you on a path toward growth. Contact me.