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One of CTAM's primary goals is to facilitate networking among our members.
Networking is the sharing of experiences, talents, ideas, issues and solutions
This page is dedicated to providing all CTAM members with viable marketing ideas.
CTAM gathers marketing ideas from many sources and Mary Lou Britton
organizes them for publication in The Callboard, CTAM's bi-monthly newsletter.
If you have a marketing idea to share or if you would like to comment on or expand on
a previously published idea, contact Mary Lou Britton at mellbee@earthlink.net
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...from the July/Aug 2007 edition of The Callboard
Marketing thoughts at large: Market Research on the Cheap
by Mary Lou BrittonWe all know that theatre groups (and other arts groups, for that matter) should do market research to understand who their audience is, what they want to see, and how much they are willing to pay. Unfortunately, for-profit marketing research firms are beyond the budgets of most groups, unless their services are donated or underwritten. But inventive, progressive groups can do some of their own market research very easily and without too much cost.
Simply analyze your member and patron address lists to see where they come from.
Volunteers can stand in the lobby for a show and count the people over-50 and under...or whatever other age dividing line you want. (It’s generally easy to guess if people are over 50 or not!)
Design a written or e-mail (or website) questionnaire to ask vital questions. Offer a prize incentive of free tickets to your lighter-attendance upcoming performances. You can use questionnaires designed by other groups as a basis, rather than trying to create your own from scratch.
Join forces with several neighboring groups (including your competition!) to survey audiences. Share costs and results.
Search the internet for results from other such surveys from similar areas. The arts behaviors of 15,000 people in Michigan would probably mirror those from, say, Illinois or Kentucky .
A recent article in Dramabiz magazine talked about the results from a collaborative survey in the Boston area conducted by Janet Bailey Associates (www.janetbaileyassociates.com). They confirmed that audiences have become more last-minute in their ticket-buying behavior.
“I don’t think we ever realized just how dramatic the shift has become,” says Bailey. “Less than 9% of the under-35 age group purchased their tickets ‘well in advance,’ compared to 45% of the 55+ age group.” Conversely, more than two-thirds of the under-35 age group purchase tickets on the day of the show or a few days ahead, compared to only about one-fourth of the 55+ age group.
That’s interesting stuff for groups that still base their marketing and publicity efforts on attracting a ‘season’ audience.
Other interesting tidbits from the Boston study:
Few people in the audience have children under 18.
The internet has become a prevalent information source.
The degree to which the audience enjoys the intimacy of the smaller theatre space.
The general appreciation for the quality of the productions done on a smaller budget.
To read more about the Boston survey, check out www.bostontama.org/survey/index.html.
Although I’ve not thoroughly investigated, I hear good things about www.surveymonkey.com to either get your survey out or to tabulate your results. It’s apparently as cheap as $20 a month for the period of your research. Your respondents on your website or by e-mail are given a direct link to your survey or you can individually enter the responses from a written survey you distribute. Either way, the results are tabulated and returned to you with charts, graphs, percentages and whatever razzle-dazzle you select. Such a deal!
But I encourage all CTAM member groups to at least do some sort of market research so you know you’re heading in the right direction and presenting theatrical fare that enough people in your community are willing to pay to see so you can stay in business.