Buying the Right Prospect List

It's the season to sell next year's subscriptions and memberships. What are you doing to prospect? Remember, only prospectors find gold, and that means going beyond your current database of members, friends, and subscribers. With fewer arts attending households subscribing, smart arts organizations are reaching out to new households, and are carefully targeting to place their marketing materials in the most receptive hands.

Ten Tips for Successful Direct Marketing

• Make sure your asset base is outstanding. Have a clean, well organized house list. Invest in a bit of list hygiene if needed. You'll save a great deal in the long run.
• Know your audience. The more you know about your current stronghold attendees - their demographics, attendance/arts participation behavior, geographic location - the more you can shape a predictive model useful in identifying great new prospects.
• Know your market potential. Just how big is your untapped prospective audience? Where is that audience?
• Work together with others. Often, organizations band together to commission research and purchase lists, saving quite a lot in the process.
• Know your programming. Don't generalize - i.e. "the Broadway Audience." The audience for The Lion King is very different than the audience for Rent.
• Prospect and target. Go beyond house and traded lists. Recognize that people are constantly moving into your community, and that entire new neighborhoods are developed each year. Know that your programming claims a unique share of the cultural market, and that by doing the above analysis you can find the best qualified targets.
• Know your numbers. Don't think "we can afford to mail 10,000 pieces." Think "How many new prospects do we need to reach to gain an increase of 500 new ticket buyers?" Think about that in the context of your organization's current visibility and your market. A strongly visible organization in a good market can see a five percent return. An under-marketed or new organization in a weaker market might see a one percent return. Realize that gains might come incrementally, and that direct marketing is a multi- year investment.
• Reinforce. A single mailing might work in some markets. But your best bet is to plan on a suite of mailings, similar to the techniques use by retail catalogers. Change the cover and the incentive, but reinforce your message.
• Offer a range of options. Fewer people are interested in standard subscriptions. Offer gift cards, frequent purchase options, and other incentives to create a relationship.
• Say thank you. When you sell a membership or subscription, sell it with a thank you for the loyalty, the trust, and partnership with your organization.

Edited by Robyn Kelly, Web Publications Manager: rkelly@iac.in.gov.
The IAC, a public catalyst, partner, and investor in the arts, serves the citizens of Indiana by funding, promoting, and expanding the arts. Funding is provided by the State of Indiana and the National Endowment for the Arts.