How not to be a Grinch when following up with holiday audiences
If you’re like me, the holidays seem like they ended months ago, but really, it’s only been six weeks. If you haven’t yet followed up with the audiences who came to your holiday events, it’s not too late. (In fact, it’s never too late, but the sooner you get started on making a plan, the better.)
By “holiday event”, I’m talking about The Nutcracker, A Christmas Carol, or any other show that tends to sell a lot of tickets and targets an audience that is different from your typical patrons. Whether it has a holiday theme to it or not, or frankly whether it is programmed in November and December or not, many organizations have a show like this in their lineup, and they behave a little differently than other productions. (See this earlier post about planning for them.) For the sake of clarity, I’m going to refer to them as “holiday shows” and “holiday audiences” throughout this post, but feel free to substitute in whatever is applicable to you.
But before we get started on what your follow up should look like, let’s pause for a moment. This entire post is based on the premise that holiday audiences are different from your typical audiences, and that therefore, your retention strategies should look different. Anecdotally, we know that holiday buyers tend to have a different relationship with arts organizations, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that that is true across the board. So, step one is looking at the data – or at a minimum, at your own anecdotes.
Get as much info as you can about your holiday audience. Start with your database. There’s a treasure trove of information there that you can use to compare this group to the rest of your ticket buyers. Here are some ideas to start with:
What percentage are brand new to your organization?
Have they attended before? If so, what did they see?
Where do they live?
Did they buy child tickets?
In addition to pulling data straight from your CRM, think about other options available to help you learn more about them – for example results of post-show surveys or services like TRG’s Data Center.
Once you gather all this information and compare this group to your typical audiences, find the ways they are similar and different. Mostly the same? Go ahead and carry on as you do for other shows.
But if they’re not the same, things should not continue as usual.
Here’s the thing, most holiday audiences aren’t going to start coming to everything you produce. So, if you start sending them weekly emails and non-stop brochures and postcards, they are going to get annoyed and block you out completely. You will have lost the chance to talk to them about the thing they are most likely to do – come back next holiday season.
There may be some who want to see a lot more at your organization and you want to give them the information they need to do that. Some may want to come back for some other well-known title or special event. Some might not come back until next year’s holiday event, or the year after that – and that’s OK. As much as we would love for every audience member to come to everything we do, we know that’s not realistic. We need to meet our audience where they are.
Knowing that a single strategy won’t be right for everyone, your next step should be segmenting the audience into a few smaller groups. These could be:
People who see lots of shows at your organization, including the holiday show
People who see one or two other shows at your organization each season
People who see only the holiday show and come year after year
People who came to your organization for the very first time
For each of these groups, you want to think of the next right step that makes sense for them. That part is important – “for them.” Practice empathy and put yourself in their shoes. Think about how you would feel as a consumer in each situation. As much as I preach the data gospel, it’s important to remember that we are dealing with humans.
For each of those segments above, here are some ideas:
People who see lots of shows at your organization, including the holiday show:
If this group is already attending a lot of your work, keep talking to them about everything. They have an established relationship with you and should be treated as such.
If most of your typical audience generally doesn’t attend your holiday show and you don’t market it a lot to them, just be sure that you do promote it to this segment who do attend.
People who see one or two other shows at your organization each season:
Look for a pattern. For example, if your holiday audience is also likely to see your big summer musical or youth theater productions, then give this segment a heads up now about similar shows coming up. Perhaps offer a discount for getting tickets now. Identify for them the next show that they might enjoy and make the case as to why it’s a good fit for them.
Include them in your target audience for select shows and monitor to see if they are responding, making adjustments as necessary.
People who see only the holiday show and come year after year:
Based on the data from the segment above, suggest another show for them.
But mostly lean into the fact that they are going to come back every year for your holiday show. Talk to them about early discounts, share group sales information, or perhaps set up a referral program.
Remember that loyalty doesn’t look the same for everyone. Introduce your colleagues in the development department to this segment. If they have a long-term relationship with your organization, even if it is only once a year, they may be just as likely as your subscribers to be good targets for donation asks or planned giving.
Keep in touch with them, but perhaps only monthly or quarterly – unless it is holiday show-specific content.
People who came to your organization for the very first time:
First off – welcome them! If you haven’t done this yet, do it as soon as possible. Perhaps there is some behind-the-scenes content you can share to strengthen the connection and remind them of the experience they had.
Let them know about what else you have to offer. Include everything but highlight the shows you think will be a good fit.
Then back off a little. Stay in touch, but don’t be a stalker. When you put next year’s holiday show on sale again, be sure to reach out then and continue to send information about other shows, but not on a weekly basis.
Holiday audiences chose to spend their time and money with you at a time of year when there is even more competition for both. Not only that, but they are choosing to make your show part of their holiday memories. That’s a precious honor that we shouldn’t take for granted. So, no matter what segment your audience members fall into, be sure to thank them and show your appreciation. Recognizing that there are real people and families behind each ticket order will go a long way toward making them feel welcomed to come back in the future – plus, if I’ve learned anything from watching Ebenezer Scrooge’s transformation year after year, it’s just the right thing to do.
I know looking back at last holiday season or thinking ahead to the next one may be at the bottom of your to-do list right now. So, if you need some help with your segmenting or messaging, let me know! I’m hardly ever not strategizing about holiday sales in the back of my head.