It’s not what you can afford, it’s what you value.

Imagine you are standing outside holding a $20 bill. Suddenly a bird swoops down, snatches that bill from your hand and flies away – bird and money never to be seen again. Not cool, bird. Not cool.

You’re undoubtedly pretty annoyed with that bird, but does losing that $20 actually affect your finances in a significant way? For many people, probably not. So, if you could afford to lose that money, you could afford to spend it. You might buy a shirt or a nice lunch. But would you buy a coffee that costs $20? Probably not.

Assuming that you could, in fact, afford to spend that amount of money, why not spend it on coffee? Because coffee – even the fanciest kind – probably isn’t worth $20 to you. On the other hand, if you were up all night with your toddler and have a big presentation at 9:00 am, you might pay double that amount without hesitation. That’s because it’s not only* about what you can afford, it’s about what you value.

We all know this. There are events we wouldn’t attend even if someone gave us a free ticket and others that we might pay a scalper three times face value to get into. How much value you place on an experience, a product, or a cup of coffee might be wildly different from its price.

We instinctively know this to be true as consumers, but often forget about it as arts marketers.

Sometimes we think we can advertise low-priced tickets, discounts, pay what you will nights, or even free tickets and that lines should immediately start forming around the block. Hardly ever happens. Even though we think we’ve made the tickets so affordable! But pricing alone is not enough.

Remember too, that no matter what price you are charging, here are other costs like gas, parking, dining, or childcare. You’re also asking people to make a commitment of time. That’s time they could be spending in a myriad of other ways. People have to believe it will be worth it.

So, try communicating the value, not just the price and see what happens to your marketing and your results. This isn’t to say that the value messaging can’t have anything to do with prices and numbers, but it might also be tied to elements like the experience.

For example, some patrons aren’t very price-sensitive and are willing to pay for a premium experience but still want to know that they are getting a good deal. Letting them know that they can save 20% by becoming a subscriber or save $50 by signing up early can be an important motivator.

For others, it is the chance to witness a specific performance, event, or exhibit. The value for them may be tied to the chance to see a well-known artist’s work in-person. Perhaps you are producing the “event of the season” that everyone in town is going to be talking about. You are selling not just admission, but rather the opportunity for your patrons to be – to borrow a lyric from an excellent example of this phenomenon – “in the room where it happened.”

Perhaps it doesn’t even matter to some patrons what is actually happening on your stage or in your exhibits. The value may come from the experience of attending your organization. Is your venue grand and elegant, where patrons can feel like royalty for a night? Is your venue intimate, delivering a visceral, up-close-and-personal experience?

The truth is that your organization has many things that patrons value. Otherwise, your doors wouldn’t still be open. Make sure you understand what they value and incorporate it into your marketing strategy. Remind people what makes your organization worth their time and money so that when that bird who stole your $20 bill drops it in front of one of your patrons, they want to spend it with you and not on a really expensive coffee.

*What patrons can afford is still part of the equation and offering a range of price points is important for reasons outside the scope of this post.