We all know the deal - every dollar must work harder right now.
Arts organizations can no longer afford to just hit “repeat” on last year’s campaign plan. Whether you’re selling single tickets, season packages, or memberships, a thoughtful refresh can bring both clarity and creativity to your next campaign; a chance for arts and culture leaders to reimagine, reconnect, and re-energize the way we build relationships and drive revenue.
Here are four future-focused shifts to help guide your planning:
1. Reassess Your Target Audience
Your audience today might look different from the one in your database two years ago… and that’s okay.
Too often, we market to the audience we had, not the one we have. Look at your data to see who’s really engaging now. Speak to them differently than those who have not returned for 18 months+. Also consider your most recent event and the engagement opportunities it affords you. Do you have a list of new first-timers drawn in by a blockbuster? Loyalists who keep showing up to your more specialized programming?
Consider your most recent events:
- Who attended for the first time?
- Who keeps coming back to niche or mission-driven work?
- Who’s been absent, but may be ready to return?
The better you understand the different journeys people are on with your organization, the more thoughtfully you can invite them to take the next step.
2. Revise Your Value Proposition
The most compelling campaigns start with empathy. In a world full of choices and distractions, what motivates someone to choose your experience?Are you leading with what matters most to your patrons right now?
Whether it's flexibility, price, or belonging, your campaign should speak to the emotional and practical reasons people choose to attend. The reasons audiences attend are varied and complex, but if your campaign leads with what you want to say, pause and flip the perspective.
Speak to your audience’s motivations for coming: to connect and socialize, to experience art and beauty, to be entertained and inspired.
Check out this insightful blog about why audiences attend live art and how marketers can speak to these motives.
Read: It's Not About You: Patron Values and Arts Marketing
3. Rebuild Relationships
In tough times, relationships are your most valuable asset.
Every ticket buyer, donor, and email subscriber represents a relationship that can be deepened. Campaigns don’t just need to convert; they can also connect.
Reconnect with recent buyers, show appreciation, and use your campaigns to deepen engagement; not just close sales. Remember the patrons who donated back tickets and supported you through the pandemic?
Relationships are really what you have – look to build upon them at every turn – this goes for the newest audience member to the most established donor.
Small gestures of appreciation, moments of surprise, and consistent touchpoints can remind people that they’re part of something meaningful. And that feeling leads to lasting loyalty.
4. Reallocate Resources
Every team is being asked to do more with less right now. That’s why it’s more important than ever to use your data to guide your decisions.- Which segments are most likely to convert?
- Where is your best return coming from—email, paid social, personal outreach?
Invest accordingly. Auditing your marketing efforts can help better align them to campaign success. Test and learn, test and learn.
This isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about cultivating a mindset of curiosity, testing, learning, and making smart adjustments over time. Progress is the goal, not perfection.
Ready to Rethink Your Next Campaign?
If these steps resonate but you’re unsure where to start, we’ve got you.
💡 Take TRG’s free Marketing Assessment — it’s designed to give you a snapshot of your campaign-readiness and offer tailored insights based on your responses.
In just a few minutes, you’ll uncover where your strengths lie and where there’s room to grow.
Rethinking starts with re-knowing. Let’s get started.