Why are you having a one night stand with your ticket buyers?

Dan Meagher
Director of Audience Development and Digital Strategy for Diablo Ballet

I had a great time. You’re lots of fun. I’ll call you.

You both had some laughs. Had some fun. You clicked. You promised to call.

You never did.

You just had a ticket buyer one night stand.

It’s great that you have brought in lots of new ticket buyers. Huzzah! That was a great night you both will remember.

But what did you do to keep them coming back?

Let’s look at a few sobering numbers from consulting firm Invesp:

• Acquiring a new customer is five times as expensive as retaining an existing customer.
• 44% of companies admit they, “have a greater focus” on acquisition, while 18% focus on retention (the rest claim to have an equal focus).

And here’s the kicker….

• “Increasing customer retention rates by 5% increases profits by 25–95%.”

But you won’t believe me. Nope. You’ve been converted to be an acquisition-ite; one who only worships the new. Why? Because it’s easy. Set your digital marketing plan and *bingo*, you’ve brought the people in.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with bringing in new patrons.

But nothing comes easy. It takes work to bring people back.

You’ve spent a lot of money to get them in the door just to let them go? Confused? Me too.

What is your retention plan? Your cultivation plan? Why did you spend all that money for a one night stand?

Arts organizations don’t want to do the work needed to retain audiences they already have because it takes time. It takes staff and resources. It takes commitment.

Are you ready to commit?

It’s not about how many come…but how many come back.

The good news….you can get them to come back. It’s really simple. How?

You have email? Email a few?

Have a phone? Call some.

Have a note card? Write to them.

I can already hear some of you say “Can’t do. Takes too much time.” Or you can always blame that cool buzz word “Scaleability.”

So thanks for playing. Go back to the toy box. Cause nothing good comes easy.

Patron cultivation starts with one touch…the human touch.

And why is that touch so important? Because we have done a really good job taking the human touch out of everyday life. We communicate by email or eblasts. We text. We Skype. We have done everything possible to (supposedly) make our lives easier and better. Except we humans crave other humans. When we make a personal connection, it’s gold.

What if you spent a few less minutes prospecting and few more cultivating?

Here are some of things we do at Diablo Ballet that have helped bring in the company’s largest subscription rate in 25 years:

Tell me — Stop using your eblasts to just sell. (What did he say? OMG…he’s crazy!!). Stop telling me tickets “are going quickly” and tell me why they are selling so fast. Hot new playwright? New composer? A choreographer with an interesting backstory? That’s what we want to know. Just the facts, ma’am.

Pamper me — You know, those ticket buyers don’t have to come see your show. (Insert *gasp!*). But they are so make sure they have the best experience. Do you send an email a week in advance with deep info on the performance, music, or costumes? Even better, are you telling me about parking or where the bathrooms are? Let’s start the engagement before they walk in the door.

Notice Me — Maybe it’s my first time,. Maybe it’s my second time. Maybe I’ve been coming for five years. Let them know that you know. Leave a note card on their seat. Not a computer generated one…a handwritten one. Put your business card in it. Sit back because you will be blown away by the response.

Make 2019 the year for retention. Make a commitment. You had a good time. You want to see each other again. So call them.

Dan Meagher is an arts marketer who doesn’t want to exist in an industry that accepts “business as usual”. Bringing new visions to such performing arts organizations as the San Francisco Playhouse, Diablo Ballet, and the San Francisco Opera’s Merola Opera Program, his work in re-inventing how the arts engage and cultivate audiences has been recognized as a leading industry source. He currently is Director of Audience Development and Digital Strategy for Diablo Ballet in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Dan has been a guest speaker at several arts marketing conferences, including Americans for the Arts National Arts Marketing Project, Opera America, Arts Reach, Development Executives Roundtable, talking about audience development and the use of social media to engage audiences. His marketing work has been featured in the New York Times, The Guardian UK, the Clyde Fitch Report, Wired, USA Today and seen on CNN.

He has discussed his work with audience development on several podcast including The Business of Fun, the Well Attended, and Audience Development Specialists podcasts.

His disruptive arts marketing projects have been featured in popular industry books Standing Room Only: Marketing Insights for Engaging Performing Arts Audiences by Joanne Scheff Bernstein and Building Communities, Not Audiences: The Future of the Arts in the United States by Doug Borwick.

You’re invited to follow Dan on Linked In here.