UK-based research and strategy firm, The Audience Agency, just shared the findings of a large-scale study about audience attraction, engagement, and retention.
What did they find?
Outdoor arts and cultural events “consistently attract an audience that is representative of the population as a whole.” These audiences include those that are typically lower on the engagement scale for other (read: indoor) arts and cultural institutions, including families and millennials.
So what’s the secret?
According to their research, it’s more than just the monetary offset (sure, free helps, but it's not the only thing you can try). Rather, “outdoor arts are accessible to all because the barriers that some other artforms face (strict timings and buildings) do not exist. They offer social experiences that audiences enjoy.”
Sound familiar to Creating Connection? We thought so:
“Results from our study show that the main motivations to attend outdoor arts and culture are ‘to be entertained’, ‘to enjoy the atmosphere’, ‘to do something new or out of the ordinary’ and ‘to spend time with friends and family.’" - Jonathan Goodacre
Can’t (always) take your work outside?
There might be more to glean from the findings that you can experiment with in your own programming. For instance:
“At most events audiences are given the freedom to roam around, join in when they want to and leave without feeling intimidated. They are in control of what and how much art they consume and engage with.”
(And) Communication with audiences is usually straightforward and to the point.
In the spirit of keeping communication simple: read more about these findings and The Audience Agency online and access our tools to start experimenting with how to refresh your communications and programming to help create connections through creative expression.