What can we learn about arts marketing from how people consume information about elections? Here are three observations:
- Low information deciders: Even on important decisions, like who to vote for in elections, some people just don’t look into it that much. Some people literally decide who to vote for on the drive to the voting location. Arts marketing is often wordy and marketers throw more and more information at people, thinking that more information will help audiences decide to purchase, participate, or attend. But for many people, they’re not interested in more information. They don’t think it helps them make a decision and can even overwhelm them into just opting out. For these folks, evocative images and taglines that convey the essence of the experience in one glance are more effective. Give them an immediate sense of how they will feel at your event.
- Move fast if you want to have a chance of people actually watching your online content: Nothing is more cringe to me than seeing an arts organization post a video on social media using a trend that was over three weeks ago. Cut out all those layers of approval and get your content out fast. The Washington Post had a great article about Kamala Harris’s social media team and how they get their content out quickly. There’s interesting stuff happening everyday at arts organizations – get more of it out on your social media channels.
- Lead with story and character, not theme: Many people aren’t ideological, or simply don’t have opinions about many issues or topics, even public policy issues that affect their daily lives. If they feel that way about policy issues, it’s likely that messaging about an arts event that describes it as about a social issue won’t move them. Most people to the arts for entertainment and something different to do than just staying at home with their friends and family. Emphasizing a theme or social topic, or framing it as “important” can make the event or experience you are offering seem too abstract. Highlighting the topic in the art doesn’t give them the information they want, which is what the experience will be like. Is the play funny or dramatic? Will the concert be energetic or chill? Is the feeling in the gallery casual or formal? Consider instead emphasizing the story, the characters, or the experience to draw them in, and trust they’ll get the message the art is sending.
The 2024 Presidential election has been called the “vibes election”. Believe me, I wish people didn’t just vote based on vibes and everyone spent serious time looking at high quality, factual information to inform their vote. But looking at the reality of how some people consume information, let’s see what we in the arts can do to get more people in to experience art so we can do our part to contribute to improving our society.
Take a step back and look at the totality of your marketing messages. What vibes are you using to draw in your audiences?
