by Mathew Stone, Co-Founder of Stone-Olafson
Market research is often seen as a dry, tedious process filled with endless charts, data, and long surveys. However, the true goal of market research is to understand people, and that’s where its value lies. To engage a wider community, research doesn’t need to be complicated, but it does require careful thought. By asking the right questions and taking a more human-centered approach, arts organizations can unlock meaningful engagement. Here are several principles to guide your approach.
1. Know Your Audience: Who’s Who in the Zoo?
The first step in any research project is to understand who your current audience is. Start by gathering basic demographic data—such as age, gender, location, and cultural background. These indicators give you a snapshot of who is connecting with your organization. But understanding your audience doesn’t stop there. Once you have this data, compare it to the wider community to identify potential gaps. Are you reaching all the groups you want to engage? Are there certain demographics you’re over- or under-representing? Identifying these gaps can provide opportunities for growth and higher engagement.
For example, research often shows that communities interested in the arts tend to be younger than the actual audience attending events. By addressing these demographic gaps, you can significantly boost engagement. It starts by identifying who is currently connecting with you, and then expanding to reach new audiences.
2. Get to the WHY, Not the WHAT
In today’s fast-paced world, audiences are constantly seeking new experiences. However, asking people what they want is often not the best way to uncover how to engage them. People often can’t articulate exactly what they’re looking for, but they know it when they see it. Instead of asking what they want, focus on the why—why they attend your events or engage with your content. Understanding their motivations can unlock new ways to design experiences that align with their desires, leading to deeper engagement.
By identifying the motivations behind your audience's actions, you can offer experiences that resonate with them on a personal level. This audience-centric approach can also guide your messaging, helping you craft communications that speak directly to what matters most to them.
3. Focus on Experience and Expectations, Not Just Satisfaction
Many organizations measure success by asking how satisfied their audience was with their experience. However, satisfaction is a limited metric, especially when the benefits of art are often emotional or intangible. Instead of satisfaction, focus on measuring the overall experience. Use simple questions like: “How would you rate your experience on a scale of 1 to 10?” This allows you to gauge the emotional impact of your event and isolate areas where you’ve delighted your audience (8-10 ratings).
Beyond the overall experience, it’s also crucial to ask if the event met the audience's expectations. A question like: “Did this experience greatly exceed, exceed, meet, just fail to meet or completely fail to meet your expectations?” helps you understand whether your programming aligns with what your audience was hoping for. This kind of feedback helps refine future programming, ensuring you meet or surpass expectations next time. This immediately makes your research more forward-looking and by focusing on experiences and expectations, you can create programs that consistently delight audiences and build long-term loyalty.
4. Keep Surveys Short and Sweet
Surveys can be a powerful tool, but it’s important not to overwhelm your audience with lengthy, intrusive questions. Audiences have limited attention spans, and long surveys often lead to poor data or, worse, disengagement. Treat surveys as an opportunity to engage your audience, not just gather data. Keep your surveys short—ideally 6 or 7 questions—so people are more likely to complete them.
Another key to success is making surveys dynamic. Rather than asking the same questions every time, consider rotating in new questions based on previous insights. This keeps the survey fresh and helps you learn something new each time. Over time, your surveys can become an ongoing dialogue with your audience, offering new insights and strengthening your relationship with them.
Arts organizations serve a vital role in creating connections, sparking creativity, and enriching our lives. But to fulfill that role, organizations must engage with diverse audiences and create experiences that resonate. Understanding who your audience is, why they engage, and how they experience your events will help your organization remain connected, relevant, and successful.
For more resources on how to ask the right questions and improve your engagement, feel free to reach out:
Mathew Stone
Stone-Olafson
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