For every arts marketer, season announcement time brings with it excitement and anticipation, but also apprehension as one considers the responsibility of filling all of those new empty seats.

With season announcements come subscription on-sales (or memberships or packages or whatever type of similar program your organization offers!), and given that subscriptions are in decline, renewal season requires all that much more strategy when your plate is already full.

In fact, as you’re reading this, you very well may be doing a great theater mask impression: 🎭. But fear not! With CI’s tips, you’ll be all smiles and strategy by the time you’re done reading.

HARNESS THE POWER OF PROMOTED POSTS

It’s 2023, which means excellent social content is a must. But who should you target with your posts? The most crucial segment to engage in these early on-sale days are your past subscribers, a.k.a. your low-hanging fruit.

While many of these individuals will be ready to sign up the moment you announce, many others will require a bit more reminding and convincing. One simple method to help make your case is to show up in their feeds with anticipated, relevant, and targeted social media posts.

• Cross-Channel Efforts Convert. We know: centering content in your on-sale strategy seems so obvious, but so many organizations aren’t taking advantage of this tactic, often hoping that an announcement email alone will do the job. A study about cross-channel coordination found that email openers who also saw a Meta ad were 22% more likely to purchase than those only reached by email.
• Promoted Posts Get Eyeballs. Paid social posts help you meet audiences where they’re at. After all, Americans spend over 2 hours per day on social media!
• Renewal Campaigns Are Budget Friendly. We talk a lot about how it’s far more expensive to acquire new audiences than to keep them. Often, acquisition work takes center stage at the expense of renewal efforts, but focusing on renewals is equally important and incredibly inexpensive. Renewal prospect lists are relatively small in size, so it doesn’t cost very much to saturate them with relevant promoted social posts.

During the American Repertory Theater’s (A.R.T.) 2023–2024 subscription presale—open only to renewing subscribers—we ran a brief Meta campaign targeting a list of these patrons. The ad they were served was a dark post with a reminder to renew, and it could only be seen by these users in their feeds; it never appeared on the A.R.T.’s timeline, grid, or stories. We spent $230 on the campaign, which yielded great results.

The Results