Arts Marketing, Fundraising & Box Office Blog | Spektrix

Deepen Relationships with Your Performing Arts Management Software

Written by Holden Wertheimer-Meier | March 1, 2024

Form deeper audience relationships. Explore how your performing arts management software empowers you to understand and connect with your audience with ease.

 

Imagine better audience relationships

 

Audience relationships matter now more than ever. Changes in audience behavior mean that getting audience members to go from single ticket buyers to repeat attenders is crucial to building community and revenue. Robin Cantrill-Fenwick, CEO of Baker Richards, describes a patron’s second booking as “the most valuable booking of all. It’s one of the hardest wins; it’s the start of a pattern, not just a chance visit. And it’s the first real opportunity to build frequency and loyalty.”

 

 

How can we drive reattendance?

With Spektrix, growing relationships with your audience members is as simple as 1, 2, 3.

 

1. Use data to understand what your audience wants


2. Serve them offers tailored around their interests


3. Keep it flowing with automation


 

1. Use powerful data insights to understand what your audience wants

 

Spektrix empowers you with robust data insights that show you exactly what your patrons want. Getting the answers you need from your data is easy. We offer a suite of standard reports which show trends in audience behavior. We also offer the capability to build custom reports so you can get really granular and specific to your organization’s questions. 

But what use are features you don’t know how to use? Our arts ticketing software is designed around your needs, making it intuitive to learn and achieve more. We ensure every user is empowered to achieve their goals with our digital Support Centre, with regularly updated guidance on how to use the system, a suite of on-demand training videos that teach you the essential functions in Spektrix, and a robust program of webinars, which share practical and strategic guidance that enables users to leverage Spektrix functionality to meet and exceed your goals. We’ve got lots of resources spotlighting audience loyalty, which gather insights from new data on changes in audience behavior and share strategies that your organization can implement to strengthen relationships. 


2. Serve patrons offers tailored around their interests

 

With Spektrix, it's easy to build a flexible loyalty plan that meets every patron’s needs. Our intuitive technology and robust automation means you can experiment to find the right solution for your organization and still drive efficiency. Ahead, learn from Spektrix users who have leveraged our technology to build stronger relationships with their audiences and work smarter, not harder. 

 

Increase first-timer reattendance with your performing arts management software

 

When Cincinnati Shakespeare Company (Cincy Shakes) in Ohio moved to a larger venue, they knew that getting first time visitors to attend would be crucial in the mission to fill their theater. They developed a Welcome Back Program to target first-time patrons, using personalized emails to speak directly to this segment and effectively urge them to return. With Spektrix, they were able to automate this campaign, so that once they set it up, they could sit back and watch the campaign continuously reach out to first time visitors. 

The result? A huge boost for reattendance: 20% of new households returned within the same season. Not only did the campaign achieve a great outcome, but because of the powerful automation capabilities within Spektrix, staff time was freed up by replacing repetitive tasks with automated processes.

"We’re seeing really promising results with the Welcome Back Program, and especially on the functionality that Spektrix has been able to bring to help make those things more automatic. We’re now able to be really granular with our messaging."
- Jeanna Vella, Director of Marketing & Sales, Cincy Shakes

 

Grow loyalty by serving attractive offers to returning customers

 

With a powerful database that connects patron behaviors across ticketing, marketing, and fundraising activity, you’re empowered to quickly build a complete picture of your patrons’ needs and target them with the most relevant invitations.

Within Spektrix, you’ll have access to numerous features designed to promote closer audience relationships, reattendance, and loyalty. Mix, match, and target different offers from flex passes to philanthropic memberships, using simple segmentation and automated customer lists to understand exactly what you’re offering to customers at every stage.

Drive flexibility for patrons with Ticket Subscriptions

 

Prior to implementing Spektrix, Grand Opera House in Dubuque, Iowa, had experimented with several different loyalty models, from labor-intensive offerings of 15 separate subscriptions to an "Opening Night" package which invited subscribers to be the first to see every show. Nothing seemed to be resonating with their audience, and the team was exhausted from lots of manual set up required by different offers. Then, they switched to Spektrix. 

"It's not complicated anymore. Subscribers can pick out their seats right away, or they can wait - because who knows what they're going to be doing next August?"
- Michelle Blanchard, Box Office Manager, Grand Opera House

Grand Opera House put the Ticket Subscriptions feature in Spektrix to use, which is designed to make it easy to build subscriptions that are as flexible as your patrons’ schedules. With Grand Opera House’s previous ticketing software, patrons weren’t able to redeem subscriptions online. This meant that the subscription process required lots of extra work for both the patrons and the box office team. Now, audience members can add a subscription to their cart and start redeeming tickets instantly in the same online transaction. Patrons don’t have to call the box office to make changes to their tickets, and Michelle and her box office team appreciate the extra time Ticket Subscriptions give them to focus on the other aspects of their jobs. 

 

Why choose? Combine loyalty offers to meet everyone’s needs

 

Flexibility matters to today’s audiences. But for Toledo Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA), it was important to balance calls for flexibility with the needs of their already loyal customers who favor the fixed subscriptions they know and love. In 2021 TAPA switched to Spektrix, and were able to make both fixed and flexible subscriptions a priority. 

 

“You can’t deny the amount of money we’ve brought in by making this feature available. It’s a no-brainer to give people the flexibility.”
- Vanessa Gardner, VP of Marketing & Operations, TAPA

Since highlighting this offer, TAPA has grown revenue and loyalty. It's easy for patrons to renew, redeem, or adjust their commitment with a flexible range of  subscription options. The simple setup and intuitive reporting within Spektrix empowers teams to try things out and build on what works best.

 

3. Use automation to deliver consistent, efficient value to patrons

 

 Maintain a flow of consistent, relevant messaging with your patrons to keep them aware of and invested in your organization. With automation in your performing arts management software, you can set things up once and reap the benefits. In Spektrix, it’s easy to automate regular communications that make a big difference to your patrons. For example, automated pre- and post- event emails deliver useful information that will set your patrons up to have the best possible experience in your venue and grow their relationship with your organization. 

Having ticketing, marketing, and fundraising information accessible in your CRM also means that you can automate emails to donors based on their behavior.

Some examples of how you might put this into practice:

  • Did a patron just donate to your organization?
    • Send them a personalized, automated thank-you email to let them know you appreciate their support.
  • Did a patron make a donation this time last year, but hasn’t donated since?
    • Send them an automated ask that thanks them for their contribution and invites them to continue extending that support.
You can also automate a campaign of emails to donors that share the impact of their donations and make them feel included in the work of your organization. With automation, maintaining and strengthening relationships with your audience is the gift that keeps on giving. 

 

With Spektrix, your patrons experience the difference

 

Spektrix provides you with all the tools you need to grow strong audience relationships: Robust behavioral data that empowers you with insights on what your patrons want. Flexible software solutions that enable you to offer multiple kinds of offers and subscriptions. Powerful automation features that make staying in contact with patrons easier than ever. Make a difference for your teams and your patrons by making the switch to Spektrix.