Change comes for every organization whether they’re ready for it or not. The difference is whether you recognize and embrace it, or resist it until it crushes you and your business. For some businesses, change has meant moving from cash-based sales to adopting online sales or contactless payment systems, both increasingly popular options. For others, change has meant adding new tools or technology to their marketing tech stack to better engage with a younger, tech-savvy customer base. Take a moment to look at the impending change on the horizon for your performing arts organization. Can you embrace it, or will you stick your head in the sand?
Change is Hard… But Not Changing is Worse
A perfect example in the performing arts world is when the Board of Directors says, “We need to keep our traditional customer base happy and keep doing things ‘the way we’ve always done things.'” And in the next breath, they say, “We need to get more young people through the doors.” Does anyone else hear the disconnect? This will never happen without hard change! Younger people consume content in a vastly different way than older generations. And if you don’t start understanding these nuances, and keep doing things the way you’ve always done, expect your organization to be wondering why new, younger patrons aren’t coming through the doors!
Performing arts organizations need to change and adapt so they can still satisfy older patrons while attracting young new patrons. The best way to do this is to cater to older patrons by keeping the traditional program book but in a lighter format. That familiar feel of paper in their hands will leave your established audience members feeling well taken care of. At the same time, you can cater to the younger and more tech-savvy audience members by introducing digital program books. With digital program books, you can bring content to new patrons the way they WANT to consume their content: instantly, digitally, and interactively. The New Publishing Model does precisely this.
The New Publishing Model is the best possible kind of change: change for the better. Lower cost of production, decreased environmental impact and less waste, improved customer tracking and better marketing metrics, and a window into a whole new customer base? Who wouldn’t want that kind of change? As Joe Patti over at Butts In The Seats so eloquently says “new opportunities to open doors to new audiences isn’t going to bother long term supporters overall, especially if promoted well while maintaining a perception that long term supporters aren’t losing anything by it.“
Contact us today to learn how Audience Access can make the New Publishing Model your new reality.
