When an audience survey is all you’ve got, make it count
This week a Boston-based choral group reached out, asking for advice on how to upgrade their post-concert audience survey. While I’ve never been a big fan of the audience survey, the reality is that there are many arts organizations who lack the resources to launch a comprehensive qualitative study of their Insiders and Outsiders.
And yet, most audience surveys are not formulated to uncover truly actionable information. For example, the Post-Concert Evaluation Survey for Choral Audiences created by Chorus Connection asks audiences to do the following:
Rate the musical quality of the performance. But most audiences aren’t sufficiently trained to do this—and we shouldn’t expect them to be.
Indicate whether they were happy with the price of the tickets. But the tickets wouldn’t have been purchased if the consumer was truly unhappy with the price. And are any arts organizations in the position to lower their ticket prices these days?
Rate aspects of the venue such as acoustics, seats, restrooms, location. I’m guessing most organizations wouldn’t shift venues just because a handful of folks were dissatisfied with their seat cushions.
Indicate where they heard about the concert. Data like this doesn’t lead to a comprehensive understanding of the customer journey, with its pivotal triggers and complex forces at play.
While the Chorus Connection survey did provide space for the audience to write about why they ultimately decided to buy tickets, I suspect that most respondents would leave a perfunctory answer, as consumers are known to do when participating in a survey or focus group. Without sufficient guidance or prompting, many consumers don’t recognize—or aren’t motivated to offer—the deep context around their purchase motivations and whether their expectations were satisfied.
And it’s this deep context that arts organizations need in order to predict and influence customer behavior.
Is it possible for a survey to gather useful insight from your audiences without resorting to the usual questions that lead down the road to nowhere?
Pinpointing the Deeper Why
Business theorists tell us that in order to create marketing that resonates with real people—and to create products that serve them well—we need to understand the circumstances that prompted real people to buy. What progress were they seeking to make in their lives by “hiring” this concert? And, equally important, how did we deliver on this expectation?
In the absence of a 1-on-1 qualitative interview, I suggest opening the survey with a question designed to help respondents narrow in on their deeper why, followed by a second question intended to reveal the extent to which the organization met those aspirations:
1. Help us understand the needs of our audiences. Which 1-3 factors motivated your choice to attend our performance?
I needed a deeper connection to the divine/mystical/Universe
I needed a night out; something different from work and everyday life
I needed more beauty in my life
I needed some time to unplug and de-stress/shut out the world
I needed to be around people; to feel more connected socially
I needed a pick-me-up for my mood
I needed a way to access/process emotion
I wanted to share an experience with a friend/loved one
I wanted to expand my horizons and try/learn new things
I purchased or received these tickets as a gift
I’m supporting a family member or friend who performs with your organization
Other (please specify)
2. Help us measure our success and better serve our audiences in the future. Rate how well those 1-3 needs/motivations were satisfied by our performance.
Providing examples of potential “jobs to be done” helps customers think more critically about why they “hire” a product (in this case, a concert). It gives them the language to use when thinking about their needs and the solutions at their disposal—as well as a vocabulary to employ when talking to friends about their experience. Knowing why you “hire” something can serve as a catalyst to utilize it more effectively—and may help audiences become more invested in exploring future offerings.
For your part, how might you use this language in your marketing? How might you innovate around these needs in the audience experience?
Gathering Social Proof
Another advantage of an audience survey is the opportunity to capture social proof—testimonials from real people that prove you can deliver what you promise.
Social proof is a key element in today’s marketing. With consumers’ declining trust in traditional advertising, the voice of a real customer carries tremendous weight. McKinsey reports that online reviews, social media conversations, and word-of-mouth recommendations from friends, family, and influencers account for more than 60% of a brand’s visibility during a customer’s purchasing timeline.
Don’t miss out on this opportunity. Invite audiences to provide feedback in their own words:
3. Featuring audience feedback in our marketing helps us reach a more diverse audience. Please consider contributing a review of your concert experience.
For example: What were you seeking out of the experience? What was the experience like? How did it make you feel? How did it affect you or your life?
Not everyone will respond to this invitation, but there will always be a few nuggets that can be employed to lend more authenticity in your marketing. (Bonus points if the respondent gives permission for you to include their photo next to the testimonial when you reach out to thank them for their feedback.)
Tracking Demographic Data
Lastly, it’s important to acknowledge that demographic data can be uncomfortable to ask for—and give—but is also a useful tool for measuring the success of diversity initiatives. I suggest a framing that helps respondents understand the value of providing this information and, in essence, invites them to join you in your efforts to diversify your audiences:
4. We are deeply committed to bringing the benefits of choral music to an increasingly more diverse audience. Tracking audience demographics helps us measure our success on this initiative.
Please share your [age bracket/ethnicity/income level/gender] if comfortable doing so.
Want a deeper dive? Here are more ways to suss out the needs of your target audiences.
And of course, getting to know your Insiders through surveys or qualitative interviews must be balanced by efforts to understand your Outsiders as well.
But understanding the deeper motivations for your customers’ ticket purchase is a great step towards creating more relevant marketing and more customer-centric programming.
