Let’s go over four, upcoming trends for cultural organizations
Want the below information as a .pdf white paper? It’s right here: IMPACTS Trends Report Summary on Know Your Own Bone.
Data and analysis indicate four trends that promise to influence market perceptions and, in turn, audience engagement strategies for visitor-serving organizations in year 2014. In an effort to share this intelligence and spawn impactful industry discussion, I will be I will be posting articles here to Know Your Own Bone offering both in-depth analysis of these key trends and their respective implications for visitor-serving enterprise. This series of articles will debut on Wednesday, 5 February, and continue thereafter on a weekly basis as a four-part series.
Summarized below is a preview of the trends that I will explore in the upcoming Trends Report series on Know Your Own Bone:
1) The increasing importance of social mission in driving attendance
To be posted on 5 February: Data support the increasing importance of highlighting an organization’s social mission in order to maximize contributed and earned revenues alike. An analysis of financial performance for many visitor-serving organizations reveals an interesting empirical observation: Generally, organizations perceived by the market as the most credible, authoritative “social good” actors also achieved better financial performance indicators (e.g. higher earned revenues, more contributed income) than would-be peer organizations that promote themselves primarily as “attractions.” The observation of this perceptual and performance delta attests to data concerning the evolving purchase/giving motivations of the US population…and especially millennials (a “sector agnostic” and “super-connected” generation heavily influenced by social mission).
2) Utilizing social media to cultivate donors and promote giving
To be posted on 12 February: In 2014, successful organizations will understand the need to look beyond “vanity metrics” (i.e. fan and follower count), and focus on the quality and strength of the varied relationships formed on social platforms. The days of “one size fits all” social media practices are officially over. Fundraising and donor engagement initiatives will continue to evolve in the online space (in addition to in-person and other, more traditional engagement methods), and this evolution will necessitate more informed, personalized donor cultivation leveraging real-time digital platforms. Instead of viewing “online giving” as a donation conveyance channel, organizations will realize that it is an increasingly important (and expected) component of a broader donor cultivation and retention strategy, and that it – like all other fundraising communication methods – is more about the people than the platform.
3) Adjusting strategy for changing audiences on social platforms
To be posted on 19 February: Many professionals understand that audiences and behaviors on specific social media platforms shift over time; however, IMPACTS has identified a disproportionate concern among visitor-serving organizations about which platforms are “in” and “out” in terms of efficiently engaging their respective audiences. Specifically, there is concern about Facebook’s evolving demography and the correlative impact of this shift on organizational engagement strategies and tactics. This article will propose a framework for contemplating ongoing social media platform evolution that underscores the need for a broader, more integrated online strategy based on reputational equities and how to best communicate these brand attributes and differentiators to your audiences.
4) The need for more informed, data-driven pricing practices
To be posted on 26 February: Austerity measures and the loss of heretofore “reliable” funding mechanisms pitched many European cultural organizations into a tenuous financial state and catalyzed a conversation concerning the sustained solvency of visitor-serving enterprise worldwide. In an increasingly competitive market where volume-based increases are less likely remedies to the new economic reality that emphasizes earned revenues, 2014 will mark the year when organizations will need to “get smart” about leveraging data to develop intelligent, efficient price indices. In turn, analysis of an organization’s pricing structure will likely – and necessarily – foster additional discussion concerning the creation of more effective affordable access programming.
I hope that you will find the analysis of these trends and topics helpful to both you and your organization! If you want to follow along with the weekly series without fuss, please subscribe to Know Your Own Bone below to have them delivered to your email inbox.
