Case Study: Arkansas Symphony's Membership and Ticket Sales Growth

The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra (ASO) first launched a monthly membership program in August 2017. Seeking to amplify the effectiveness of their membership program, ASO began a partnership with TRG Arts in April of 2023, a collaboration that quickly catalyzed a remarkable 80% surge in monthly memberships. This case study delves into the synergistic strategies and impressive results of ASO's successful expansion in both membership and ticket sales.

Membership Growth Strategies

When TRG began work with Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, the first thing we looked for were ways to leverage their present demand. ASO’s Jurassic Park concert was a perfect opportunity for a high demand program that could grow membership, and so membership became the only way to get Jurassic Park tickets! After 5 consecutive months of netting 10 new members or less, Jurassic Park brought in a net gain of 65 new members.

With the encouraging success of Jurassic Park, formal campaign planning for membership acquisition began in May 2023. This involved more structured marketing and promotional strategies aimed at increasing awareness and interest in ASO's offerings through direct mail, email and paid social media​. Their campaigns made the value of their memberships clear, advertising 29+ concerts for only $9/month through their outbound marketing channels.

ASO and TRG Arts continue ongoing experimentation and learning in various areas, especially in maintaining robust reservation rates amidst a growing membership base. The strategic goal for the year is 50% of members reserving tickets for every concert, and so far ASO is succeeding with 56% of their members reserving at each concert.

From April 2022 to March 2023, ASO had a solid growth rate of 19%, but the partnership between ASO and TRG Arts has been able to further improve that growth to 80% from April to September 2023 and achieve a staggering 135% rise in new subscription sales of their fixed series packages for FY24 compared to FY23!

Single Ticket Sales Growth

ASO achieved encouraging results in single ticket sales in fiscal year 2024 as well, starting with their opening weekend concert in September 2023. This concert, featuring "Pines of Rome," marked the highest single ticket revenue for a classical season opener since the 2010-11 season. This achievement is notable because it was accomplished without the draw of a blockbuster title. Only midway through the season, ASO’s main series concerts are up 38% in revenue and 10% in tickets sold over last year by this point. Alongside the significant increase in ASO's membership, these achievements indicate a growing and robust demand for the orchestra's offerings in general.

Diversifying marketing efforts with postcard mailings and paid digital and social media ads are complementing traditional email and organic social media approaches at ASO. This year’s Black Friday results are in, and the result was a 302% increase in ticket sales and a 105% rise in revenues compared to the previous year's Black Friday! ASO’s strategic emphasis was on increasing ticket sales volume rather than revenue alone, but the ROI came with it! The total investment for ASO’s marketing efforts yielded a 177% return!

Conclusion

TRG Arts is glad to be celebrating with ASO on their impressive 80% growth in memberships and record setting ticket sales for their opening weekend and Black Friday sales. Their accomplishments, driven by a blend of creative marketing, leveraging demand and an internal culture of continual learning offer an effective playbook to other organizations seeking sustainable growth and deeper community connections.