Leading with Frequency: How Stronger Relationships Build Stronger Futures

S2E06 • Tue, November 11, 2025 • Duration: 47 mins

Leading with Frequency: How Stronger Relationships Build Stronger Futures

In the arts world, success isn’t just about bringing in new customers; it’s about building long-lasting relationships with those you already have. The key to sustainability lies not in finding more first-time visitors, but in encouraging your existing audience to return again and again (and again).

This episode explores why frequency, or deepening the rate at which customers come back, is the most powerful strategy for arts organizations.

We take a hard look at why the arts sector must prioritize relationship-building over transactional strategies and discuss the leadership shift required to truly make frequency a part of your organization's culture.

Key Takeaways to Put Into Action:

• Are Subscriptions Really Dead? No, but the mindset is. Subscriptions, memberships, CYOs and flex passes all still work when they’re tools for one thing: driving frequency.
  

• Prioritize Returning Patrons: Focus on retaining loyal patrons, as they are your most reliable source of long-term success.

• Recency Leads to Frequency: Get people back sooner; it’s the first step toward loyalty and one of the simplest, most powerful growth levers you have.

• Build Recurring Revenue: Prioritize audience return rates to create steady, repeatable revenue instead of relying on occasional sales.

• Organizational Alignment Drives Growth: Align marketing, development, and box office teams to create a unified strategy that nurtures long-term engagement.

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