How We Helped ICA/Boston and The Guthrie Theater Expand Channels To Win New Audiences

If you’re an arts marketer, you’re no stranger to the duopoly of Google and Meta in the digital advertising space. These platforms have long been the go-to channels for acquiring ticket buyers, members, and donors. They’re reliable, familiar, and effective—but they’re also incredibly competitive. As ad costs rise and algorithms become more complex, arts organizations are left wondering: how do we stand out in an oversaturated market?

This is a question we considered with ICA/Boston and the Guthrie Theater last year. To help these organizations get even better results, we focused on diversifying ad spend by expanding to platforms like TikTok and Spotify. With their growing user bases and unique targeting capabilities, these channels offered both clients an excellent opportunity to reach new audiences.

ICA/BOSTON REACHES YOUNG MUSEUM-GOERS

The Institute of Contemporary Art / Boston (ICA), a CI client since 2015, is a beloved contemporary art museum in Boston and was founded as a sister museum to New York’s Museum of Modern Art. In preparation for their summer programming, the ICA looked to expand their platform presence beyond Google and Meta with the ancillary goal of engaging younger audiences. We helped them dive into TikTok and Spotify to increase brand awareness and recall.

TikTok Engagement

The ICA already had an active TikTok presence—particularly in the summer when interns bolstered content creation efforts—so we took things a step further and leaned into TikTok’s ad capabilities from April through Labor Day. Most of these ads also ran on Meta during this time.

Campaigns featured trending sounds and fresh perspectives, such as their “Ask a Museum Worker” video, which showcased behind-the-scenes insights and encouraged audience interaction in the comments. Another standout? Their use of the viral “360” sound to highlight the Wordplay exhibition, which added a playful, relatable angle.

Collectively, these efforts generated 807 new followers (nearly 400 from their engagement campaign alone) and over 17,000 profile visits. While measurable direct ticket sales were limited, the campaign successfully expanded their reach to audiences in their mid-twenties.

Spotify Success

Spotify boasts over 600 million active users, around 62% of whom are under age 34, which made it the perfect platform for the ICA’s goals. We tested both video and audio ads, and even repurposed video content from Meta to work smarter, not harder.

These Spotify campaigns expanded the ICA’s reach and delivered measurable results that proved its potential as a key acquisition tool. The ads drove nearly 300 ticket purchases, over 11,500 key page views, and an above-average click-through rate (CTR) of 0.82%. Video ads performed exceptionally well, with a CTR of nearly 2%. Best of all, the majority of clicks came from the 18–24 age group. Score!

Expanding into TikTok and Spotify allowed the ICA to innovate their digital marketing mix during a strategic moment of opportunity. The summer’s active exhibition schedule made it an ideal time to experiment with these platforms, and they’re already planning to reinvest in Spotify next summer. Unfortunately, due to evolving restrictions in the U.S., the ICA has put their paid TikTok efforts on hold for now—but by maintaining an experimental mindset, the museum is well-positioned to embrace emerging opportunities and sustain growth in an ever-changing digital landscape.

THE GUTHRIE FINDS MUSICAL THEATER FANS

The Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis is a historical theater that sparked the resident theater movement after opening in 1963, and has been a CI client since 2015. Like the ICA, the Guthrie found success on Google and Meta but wanted to reach a wider audience.

We worked together to identify Spotify as an opportunity for diversification for their summer 2024 production of Little Shop of Horrors. Since Little Shop is a musical and Spotify is a music streaming platform, this felt like a natural step to expand beyond Google and Meta. We also had enough wiggle room in the marketing budget to run a Spotify campaign while still covering the cost of their typical Google and Meta placements. 

For this experiment, we ran both video and audio ads. The video ad featured a vertical performance clip of the iconic song “Suddenly, Seymour,” offering a recognizable tune and a glimpse into the production. We started by targeting users based on Fan Bases, Genres, Geography, and Interests, but eventually narrowed the focus to only Geography and Interests based on performance.

Despite Spotify being primarily an awareness channel, the Guthrie saw significant conversions. Their Spotify campaign drove 161 purchases and more than $10k in revenue for an estimated ROI of 147%. The campaign CTR of 1.07% is more than double the Cultural Compass average of 0.47%. (Pro Tip: We found that the video ad CTR was significantly higher than the audio ad CTR, which indicates that it’s important to have video content in addition to audio content for Spotify campaigns!)

Spotify has since become a regular part of the Guthrie’s marketing mix. So far, we’ve helped them plan Spotify campaigns for A Christmas Carol and A Midsummer Night’s Dream as part of their 2024–2025 season.

THE BOTTOM LINE

While Google and Meta will likely remain cornerstone platforms for digital advertising, diversifying your spend and embracing alternative channels can unlock new opportunities for growth. With the right content and strategy, ICA/Boston and the Guthrie were able to increase their reach and welcome even more people to the transformative power of the arts.

READY TO SHAKE UP YOUR MARKETING MIX?

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