Rachel Ciprotti

The ancient story of David, a young man who defeated the giant Goliath using only a small stone and a slingshot, is an apt metaphor for the situation most (perhaps all?) arts organizations find themselves in these days. The marketing world has become entirely fragmented, with hundreds of different channels competing for the attention of every consumer – that means every potential audience member. We are all inundated with emails, ever-multiplying social networks, television, radio, print, digital magazines, review sites, event sites, crowdfunding, discount ticket sites, etc, etc.

How can we cut through the clutter? How can we get our message across when the channels are overflowing with behemoth corporations spending the equivalent of our yearly operating expenses on a month’s worth of Facebook ads?

Don’t lose hope! Have faith that you can succeed, as David did. I have four suggestions for you, weapons better suited to our modern world than a slingshot.

Find Your Place: Discover which channels work for you.

Newspaper ads, Twitter, YouTube, Email blasts, Flyers – I have seen all of these make a huge difference for one or another organization, and I have seen all of them fail miserably. Find out which channels reach your core audience. Focus extra attention on one or two for a significant period of time (perhaps even a full season) and see if you find a measurable increase in engagement, sales, or audience. Drop any that didn’t work and re-focus your energy on new marketing channels until you find those that work best for your specific needs.

Magnify Your Reach: Collaborate. Collaborate. Collaborate.

Nonprofit arts organizations don’t have the dollars to advertise everywhere we’d like to, but we do have avenues open to us that for-profit institutions can rarely find: collaboration! Ask other organizations in your area to advertise your events, and do the same in return. It doesn’t have to be an organization within your genre, either!

But to get an even more powerful boost, collaborate more intimately. Produce an event or a series together, have a joint fundraiser, or simply go halfsies on a promotional booth space at your local arts festival. Creating a more meaningful impression on an established arts audience could be the key to opening new audience or donor segments for you. Think outside the box on this one – your partners don’t even have to be arts organizations. What about a historical society or a cultural group like an ex-pat society or an Alliance Francaise?

Expand Your Thinking: Diversify. Diversify. Diversify.

I’m not talking about diversifying your marketing channels here. I’m talking about diversifying your staff and your stakeholders. When the vast majority of your staff, Board, donor base, and/or audience all belong to similar socio-economic background or ethnicity or age bracket or gender or what-have-you…you are crippling your growth potential and your innovation potential. I’m not sure it’s possible to overestimate the positive impact of opening your organization to a more diverse group of people and experiences. Stop being afraid and start taking real steps to broaden your organization’s horizons. The ideas and strategies that will flow naturally once you have a diversity of thinkers in the room are Marketing Gold!

Improve Your Looks: Do not underestimate your look and feel.

The impression given by your website, the graphics and photos posted on social networks, and the printed materials you produce are critical. Consumers today are accustomed to seeing beautifully made things – thousands of them every day! If your appearance looks amateur…than the assumption is your product is amateur. Make a commitment to hire professional designers and photographers for your major visual needs. It’s better to have two or three stunning images you can re-use all season than to create new, but amateur-ish materials for every exhibition/concert/email blast.

As it was only about a month that I started as the General Manager for the Atlanta Chamber Players, I do not yet have an exciting case study to share with you (check back next year!). These are the thoughts I have put together as I tackle managing my own small organization. I look forward to our conversations at NAMPC in my hometown of Atlanta! Please comment below with your suggestions and questions on my ideas, or if you have a question on where to stay, eat, or play in Atlanta!

Share your ideas and thoughts with Rachel Ciprotti during the Roundtable: What Activism & Advocacy Teach us about Audience Engagement discussion at our National Arts Marketing Project Conference, Nov 7 – 10 in Atlanta!

The Arts Marketing Blog Salon is generously sponsored by Patron Technology.