Measuring the Power of Prospecting
Understanding how our digital marketing efforts actually connect to ticket sales and audience growth is key in today’s arts and culture landscape. How can we use data to track and measure new-to-file patrons and really understand the value of digital prospecting strategies? Here we will dive into practical frameworks, real examples and results, and some ideas you can take back to your team, whether you're working in marketing, box office, or audience services. Let’s dive in —
Why Prospecting Matters
In the arts, culture & entertainment landscape where competition is fierce and patrons have more choices than ever before, it may not be enough to rely on natural year over year growth, or lean solely on your existing patron database. It’s important to actively seek out and win over potential audiences, and that's where patron acquisition comes in.
It sounds obvious, but the more patrons you have, the more revenue you have the potential to generate. This is especially true of long-term growth. We can look at just revenue goals alone, and feel like all is going well as long as we are hitting those numbers - but in order to attain sustained growth we need to be attracting and converting new patrons as well as building loyalty with our existing ones. When we talk about prospecting and acquiring new audiences, we want to be clear about how we are approaching objectives; not all channels and tactics are winning strategies for finding new audiences. An important aspect to acknowledge as well is that taking the leap into investing more in finding new audiences can feel daunting, but with the right marketing mix and tactics, the investment proves successful.
Setting Objectives: A Framework for Smart Prospecting
Let’s talk about what it really means to grow your audience through new-to-file growth. Prospecting isn’t always a straight path. So before we dive into tactics, it’s important to step back and define a framework that looks at three core components, objectives, targeting, and channels.
// What are you trying to achieve? These are our Objectives.
Awareness - Getting your name out there
Action - Driving ticket purchases
Re-engagement - Bringing back lapsed patrons
// Who are you trying to reach? This is how we define our Targeting.
Prospecting - Net-new audiences unfamiliar with your brand
Remarketing - People who’ve shown interest but haven’t converted
Retention - Existing patrons you want to keep engaged
// How will you reach them? Defining what Channels are at play.
Traditional media (print, radio, outdoor) is great for awareness but hard to measure
Digital channels (social, search, display, email) offer precision, attribution, and real-time optimization
To truly grow your database, shift from broad awareness to focused conversion. That means targeting net-new audiences with measurable digital tactics that let you track what’s working and what’s not.
Measuring Real-Time Impact
Prospecting can be expensive and hard to quantify, especially when looking at cost per transaction alone. By looking at alternative metrics, we can see which campaigns are driving actual growth.
An organization investing 70% of its digital spend into prospecting may only see 35% of transactions directly correlated to those efforts. That might seem discouraging until we look at KPIs through custom tracked data, which reveals what is going on prior to purchase to give us higher-intent indicators to optimize against.
This insight allows us to nurture these new audiences more cost-effectively, through channels like email marketing or direct mail. Once our new audiences are known to you and identified in your ticketing system, you can re-engage with them strategically and cost-effectively.
What Counts as New-to-File?
Clarifying what exactly “counts” as new-to-file will help segment your audience more effectively and measure growth with greater accuracy. Definitions vary, but general we can determine these bucks broadly -
// True NTF: No prior account or engagement, or no engagement for a set number of years
// Lapsed Patrons: May be considered NTF after a long period of inactivity (e.g., three seasons, or pre/post pandemic)
// Retention: Patrons who return within a defined window after their first visit
When it comes to building out new audiences and planning for future growth, prospecting isn’t just about casting a wide net, it’s about building a smarter, more sustainable audience pipeline. By aligning your objectives, targeting the right people, and choosing measurable channels, you can leverage digital marketing tactics to not only drive growth, but measure it. When you track the right metrics, you’ll gain the clarity and confidence to invest in strategies that truly make an impact.
