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  2. Key Takeaways

    How did arts organizations of different size, location, and sector perform in 2018? We analyzed what kinds of organizations tend to spend the highest and lowest levels of marketing expense per person who attends.

  3. Trends

    Overall, in-person attendance rose over time, while marketing dollars spent per person were lower. Is this the future of patronage for arts & cultural organizations? We analyze by sector, size, and geography.

  4. Performance Drivers

    We identified what drives performance in the areas of managing marketing expenses and attracting in-person attendees and participants. See the results

  5. Resources

    Our mission is to provide valuable insights and useful tools to help arts and cultural leaders tell their story, overcome challenges, and increase impact. Find real-time stories, webinars, and testimonials from our community and partners.

  6. More Details

    A Breakdown of our Methodology and Tabular Data Observations

Tracking Trends for Marketing Expenses per Attendee

Marketing Impact

Margaret Jenkins Dance Company, San Francisco, CA. Photo by Margo Moritz

Trends

We found that in-person attendance rose over time, while marketing dollars spent per person were lower. The efficiency seen in the overall trend belies the struggles of most arts and cultural sectors.

Demand challenges are rising in the performing arts. With two exceptions, all performing arts sectors saw attendance declines over time. The average organization in the music, dance, and theatre sectors spent more in marketing to attract fewer people, while orchestras and opera companies spent slightly less in marketing and attracted fewer people. Only general performing arts organizations and performing arts centers, which tend to offer popular fare with well-known titles, attracted more attendees over time and spent less to do so. This is one metric where a downward trend – i.e., less dollars spent to attract each attendee – is a good sign.

  • Overall, growth in marketing expenses fell short of inflation by 4.3%.

  • There were 4.4% more attendees in 2018 than in 2016.

  • Adjusting for inflation, the net results was an 8.3% decrease in marketing expenses relative to attendance.

Response to Marketing Over Three Years

  • Marketing expenses per attendee decreased over time. After adjusting for inflation, the index dropped 8.3% between 2016 and 2018. The average organization spent less in real dollars but attracted more people.

Trends by Sector

  • The Arts Education, Dance, and Music sectors experienced growth in this index that surpassed inflation. These sectors are having to spend more in marketing to attract every person who attends.
  • Between 2016 and 2017 the Dance sector increased its average marketing spend per attendee significantly, surpassing the Symphony Orchestra, and General Performing Arts sectors during that time. This trend was not driven by an outlier.
  • The Opera sector annually outspends all other sectors on marketing per attendee.
  • Art Museums and Arts Education spent very similar levels on marketing per person who enters the doors. The same can be said of Other Museums and Music organizations.

See Our Trend Table

*1,530 organizations that provided data each of the 3 years.  The 2018 trend figures vary from the 2018 stand-alone figures because they represent the activity of a subset of organizations followed over time.

We Compared Marketing ROI to Total Program Revenue

>> Read the full story.

Key Note

As organizations grow, they tend to spend more on marketing to bring in each attendee.

Comparing Small, Medium and Large Organizations

  • There were not big variations in marketing expenses per attendee over time for the average organization in any budget size. However, organizations of every size averaged a downward trend, meaning they spent less to bring in each attendee.
  • The chart visually drives home the pronounced gap in this index as organizations go from Medium to Large.
  • In inflation-adjusted figures, average total marketing expenses decreased over time for Small, Medium, and Large size organizations by 1.3%, 11.6% and 15.0%, respectively.
  • Large and Medium organizations experienced marketing expense declines that were higher than their attendance declines from 2016 to 2018. This resulted in marketing expenses per attendee that diminished somewhat over time.
  • Small organizations brought in more people and spent less in real dollars to do so, driving the decline in the index. 

See the Trend Table

How Response to Marketing Varied Across Markets

In all markets except Chicago, San Francisco, and Small markets, the average organization became more efficient over time, spending less on marketing to bring in every attendee.

  • The biggest decrease in this index occurred in New York. It should be noted that the drop was due to a 15.4% drop in total marketing expenses coupled with a 4.9% increase in attendance. It took a lower amount of marketing expenses to bring in more people. A similar but less pronounced trend was seen in Large and Very Small markets.
  • The biggest increases in this index were in San Francisco and Chicago, where the decreases in average attendance were greater than the drop in real marketing expenses. Organizations spent more in marketing to bring in fewer people.
  • All markets experienced attendance growth except Chicago, San Francisco, and Small Markets, with the highest growth in Los Angeles at 14.5%.
  • Organizations in L.A., Medium markets and Small markets increased their marketing spend in excess of inflation over time. In NY, Large markets, and Very Small markets, marketing expenses were lower in 2018 than in 2016 in both nominal and real dollars. In all other markets, growth in marketing expenses fell short of inflation.

See the Trend Table

Explore

  1. Key Takeaways

    How did arts organizations of different size, location, and sector perform in 2018? We analyzed what kinds of organizations tend to spend the highest and lowest levels of marketing expense per person who attends.

  2. Trends

    Overall, in-person attendance rose over time, while marketing dollars spent per person were lower. Is this the future of patronage for arts & cultural organizations? We analyze by sector, size, and geography.

  3. Performance Drivers

    We identified what drives performance in the areas of managing marketing expenses and attracting in-person attendees and participants. See the results

  4. Resources

    Our mission is to provide valuable insights and useful tools to help arts and cultural leaders tell their story, overcome challenges, and increase impact. Find real-time stories, webinars, and testimonials from our community and partners.

  5. More Details

    A Breakdown of our Methodology and Tabular Data Observations

Read Next

Performance Drivers

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