2013 Performing Arts Digital Marketing Benchmark Study

Transcription

1 Performing Arts Digital Marketing Benchmark Study Market Research Data from over 65 performing arts organizations July 2014

2 Table of Contents Introduction and Key Findings... 3 Paid Digital Media Biggest Obstacle... 5 Paid digital media budget... 6 Types of digital media purchased... 7 Tracking digital media... 8 Tracking digital media campaigns... 9 Google Grant rd party agencies Social Media Posting and preferred social media platforms Fans by budget size Insights and analytics Analytics Tracking website analytics E-commerce Analytics opinion Analytics Review Mobile Mobile-enabled websites Percentage of mobile traffic Percentage of mobile e-commerce Website Website traffic Online ticket sales Website redesign Site Maintenance Website upgrades Minor vs. major upgrades Time spent on website maintenance Adequate budget s per week open rate About the participating organizations About Capacity Interactive Benchmark Study page 2 of 39

3 Introduction Arts marketers often wonder how other, similar, organizations are managing their digital marketing efforts. Our clients ask us questions such as, How many s per week should our organization send out? and How often should we review our web analytics? We compiled data to create benchmarks to help you answer these questions for social media, digital advertising, analytics, , mobile and website maintenance across the performing arts industry. Since the digital space is changing at such a quick pace, it is more important than ever for arts organizations to use data to make smarter marketing decisions. We sent out our second annual survey during the spring of 2014 and more than 65 organizations responded with data from calendar year. Respondents were theaters, ballet and modern dance companies, opera companies, orchestras, presenters, and performing arts centers at universities across the United States. The organizational budget sizes ranged from under $1 million to over $31 million. The benchmarks reflect where our industry stands in regards to digital marketing strategy. Responses from last year s survey were compiled into a report that was downloaded over 400 times. This year, we were able to analyze data and data to draw comparative conclusions. My key takeaway this year is that most arts organizations improved their digital marketing noticeably in from, yet most are still not using it to its full potential. Digital marketing offers more precise ways of tracking and optimizing campaigns than traditional marketing methods can offer and in turn can lead to a greater return on investment. But we are still seeing that organizations, particularly smaller ones, are not fully implementing the tools to help them monitor and track success. This is very likely tied to limited budgets. In both of our surveys we asked, What is the biggest obstacle to digital marketing success? and in as well as, we found that budget is the biggest constraint. 65% of organizations responded in the survey that a lack of budget was their largest hurdle in terms of digital marketing efforts. More than half of organizations indicated in that they still did not have adequate budget to cover their website maintenance needs. We hope this report provides you with data points that will aid you in taking the appropriate steps to help your organization market smarter. Erik Gensler President Capacity Interactive Benchmark Study page 3 of 39

4 Key Findings Paid Digital Media The number of arts organizations spending 16% or more of their paid budget on digital media more than doubled (58% in vs. 2 in ) 95% of arts organizations used paid Facebook advertising and 77% used banner retargeting in, a 19% and 31% increase respectively from 7 of organizations are now taking advantage of the Google Grant program vs. just 56% in Social Media Not surprisingly, Facebook and Twitter continue to be organizations preferred social media platforms 76% posted at least once daily on Facebook and 71% posted at least once daily on Twitter Half of arts organizations reviewed reports about their social insights at least biweekly, but one third of arts organizations never meet to discuss their results Analytics Almost all organizations used Google Analytics as their web analytics tool in but 87% indicated they believe they were not using the tool to its full potential Most larger organizations are using e-commerce tracking on their analytics platform, but smaller organizations are not taking advantage of the ability to tie user behavior to sales Half of arts organizations either never reviewed their analytics reporting or only reviewed it quarterly via reports Mobile The percentage of mobile traffic continued to increase 6 of arts organizations offered the ability to purchase tickets on their mobile sites compared to 5 in 40% took advantage of mobile advertising Website Arts organizations sold about half of their tickets online 71% of arts organizations have redesigned their websites within the past 5 years; 20% are in the midst of a redesign 5 of arts organizations indicated they did not have adequate budget to cover their website maintenance needs Arts organizations were still conservative in how often they ed constituents, although 36% did send 2 or more s per week, an increase from 17% in Only 4 of arts organizations reported that collection was extremely important to their organizations General s, like newsletters, saw a decline in open rates, while more targeted s saw an increase in open rates Benchmark Study page 4 of 39

5 Paid Digital Media For two years in a row, the biggest obstacle for digital marketing success is lack of budget. 65% of arts marketers reported not enough budget as their biggest obstacle for digital marketing initiatives. This is down slightly from our survey (65% vs. 71%). Additionally, 55% of survey respondents, slightly fewer than last year, find determining ROI to be a substantial obstacle for digital marketing success. Biggest obstacles for digital marketing initiatives in & Not enough budget 65% 71% Determining ROI 55% 6 Not enough internal knowledge No clear digital strategy 41% 36% 35% 36% No leadership support 18% 20% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% Benchmark Study page 5 of 39

6 Paid Digital Media Since, arts organizations are allocating a significantly larger share of budget to digital advertising. Over half of arts organizations spent 16% or more of their paid media budgets on digital media. In, only a quarter of arts organizations allocated as much of their budgets to digital media. Percentage of total paid media budget spent on digital media in & < 5% 30% 5-10% 18% 26% 11-15% 20% 20% 16-20% 21-30% 6% 1 20% % 7% > 40% 7% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% Benchmark Study page 6 of 39

7 Paid Digital Media Facebook ads and retargeting are preferred digital advertising channels. All types of digital media saw an increase in use since our survey. Almost every arts organization indicated they now use Faceboook ads (95%). Retargeting saw the most significant increase year over year (77% vs. 46%). Video ads also saw a significant increase (39% vs. 2). & Types of digital media purchased Twitter ads 1 Facebook ads Banners: Direct buys Search Engine Marketing 76% 75% 68% % Banners: Retargeting 46% 77% Banners: Via content networks 30% 51% Video ads 2 39% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Benchmark Study page 7 of 39

8 Paid Digital Media Arts organizations are focusing more on measurement, but there is still room for growth. Only of arts organizations in were not tracking their digital media campaigns at all, down 12 percentage points from. There was a significant increase in the number of organizations tracking click conversions from to (53% vs. 80%). 98% tracked clicks in versus 8 in. How arts organizations tracked digital media in & Clicks 8 98% Click conversions 53% 80% View-through conversions None 1 47% 45% Don't know 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120% Benchmark Study page 8 of 39

9 Paid Digital Media Arts organizations are not using ad serving tools to track their paid digital media efforts. Analytics platforms such as Google Analytics are the most prominent method that arts organizations use to track their paid media campaigns. Only 16% of arts organizations tracked digital media campaigns through a 3 rd party ad server in, a percentage that increased only marginally in to 19%. Although this method is more costly, it yields more accurate results. How arts organizations tracked paid digital media campaigns in & Analytics platform 71% 79% Metrics from the vendor/site 63% 78% Run through an ad server Do not track 3% 8% 19% 16% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Benchmark Study page 9 of 39

10 Paid Digital Media More arts organizations are taking advantage of free AdWords advertising through the Google Grants program. Google Grants provides not-for-profit organizations with $10,000 a month in free AdWords on Google.com. 7 of organizations took advantage of this program in vs. just 56% in. Percentage of arts organizations that used a Google Grant for AdWords advertising in No 4 Yes 56% Percentage of arts organizations that used a Google Grant for AdWords advertising in No 28% Yes 7 Benchmark Study page 10 of 39

11 Paid Digital Media More organizations are spending through their $10,000 monthly Google Grant, but many still have room to grow. 33% of organizations were able to spend over 70% of their monthly $10,000 budget in versus 27% in. Still, approximately 2/3 of organizations spent only half, or less than half, of their total grant budget per month % 21-30% 31-40% 41-50% 51-60% 61-70% 71-80% 81-90% % Percentage of the $10,000 monthly Google Grant budget used on average in & 0-10% 5% 7% 7% % 19% % 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% Benchmark Study page 11 of 39

12 Paid Digital Media More arts organizations are using 3rd parties or agencies to assist with digital campaigns. 59% of arts organizations used an agency or 3 rd party in, up from 4 in. Organizations of all sizes used agencies or 3 rd parties. $31 million + Percentage of arts organizations by budget size that used a 3rd party in 18% $26-30 million $21-25 million $16-20 million 3% 3% 6% $11-15 million 21% $6-10 million 35% $1-5 million 1 < $1 million 3% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Percentage of arts organizations that used a 3rd party/agency to purchase any portion of their digital media in Percentage of arts organizations that use a 3rd party/agency to purchase any portion of their digital media in No 58% Yes 4 No 41% Yes 59% Benchmark Study page 12 of 39

13 Social Media Facebook and Twitter continue to be arts organizations preferred social media platforms. In, 100% of arts organizations posted at least a few times a month on Facebook, and 96% posted at least a few times a week. 99% of arts organizations tweeted at least at few times a month and 95% tweeted at least a few times a week. While close to 60% of arts organizations reported having an Instagram account, fewer than 40% posted regularly. Frequency in which arts organizations post content on the following social networks in Facebook 29% 25% 2 20% Twitter 4 20% 9% 2 Youtube 18% 69% Instagram 5% 7% 18% 2 Blog 5% 13% 33% Tumblr 15% 18% Pinterest Google + 18% 15% 16% More than 2xs a day Twice a day Vimeo 16% Once a day Flickr Foursquare 20% 16% A few times a week A few times a month Benchmark Study page 13 of 39

14 Social Media Arts organizations used Facebook more frequently in. 5 of arts organizations posted to Facebook at least twice a day in, up from 45% in. Frequency at which arts organizations posted content on Facebook in vs. Do Not Use A few times a month 8% A few times a week Once a day 16% 20% 2 29% Twice a day 20% 25% More than 2xs a day 25% 29% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% Benchmark Study page 14 of 39

15 Social Media Organizations of all sizes saw growth in Facebook fans. Arts organizations at all budget sizes saw an increase in their number of Facebook fans from to. Average number of Facebook fans by budget size in v. $ million 95, ,000 $21-25 million $16-20 million $11-15 million $6-10 million $1-5 million < $1 million 43,500 33,000 35,000 25,500 11,203 6,254 30,371 25,200 4,294 3,202 3,000 2, ,000 40,000 60,000 80, , , , ,000 *Data heavily influenced by participation of larger organizations in vs.. Benchmark Study page 15 of 39

16 Social Media Arts organizations of all budget sizes saw growth in Twitter followers. Arts organizations of all budget sizes saw an increase in their number of Twitter followers from to. Average number of Twitter followers by budget size in v. $ million 21,429 38,333 $21-25 million 6,167 9,667 $16-20 million 14,887 20,350 $11-15 million $6-10 million $1-5 million < $1 million 6,048 4,301 9,640 8,310 3,453 2, ,000 10,000 15,000 20,000 25,000 30,000 35,000 40,000 45,000 *Data heavily influenced by participation of larger organizations in vs.. Benchmark Study page 16 of 39

17 Social Media Most organizations continue to check their social media insights monthly or weekly. The number of arts organizations checking their social media insights monthly remained the same from year to year, but slightly more checked daily and slightly fewer checked weekly in than in. Frequency at which arts organizations reviewed Social Networks in vs. via reports Daily 1 16% Weekly 25% 35% Every other week Monthly 7% Quarterly 6% 18% Never 9% 1 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% Benchmark Study page 17 of 39

18 Social Media Approximately 1/3 of arts organizations never meet to discuss social media results, but 1/3 meet twice a month or more. There was an increase in organizations that meet daily, weekly or every other week from just 20% in to 3 in. Still, 1/3 never meet to discuss results. Frequency at which arts organizations reviewed Social Networks in vs. via meetings Daily Weekly 1 21% Every other week 6% 9% Monthly 15% 2 Quarterly 19% 2 Never 3 33% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% Benchmark Study page 18 of 39

19 Analytics Google Analytics was still the overwhelmingly preferred web analytics tool in. 98% of arts organizations report using Google Analytics in. A small number of arts organizations used qualitative surveys like 4Q () and click visualization tools like CrazyEgg () to work in conjunction with their click-stream analytics. Tools arts organizations used to track their website's analytics in & Other Google Analytics 98% 9 Omniture Crazy Egg WebTrends 4Q 6% Do not track 8% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Benchmark Study page 19 of 39

20 Analytics Almost all arts organizations use Google Analytics but full implementation including e- commerce tracking is heavily correlated with budget size. In, 46% of all surveyed organizations enabled their analytics platform to track e-commerce, up from 3 in. Organizations with annual budgets of $16 million and above were far more likely to have e-commerce tracking set up on their sites. $31 million + $26-30 million $21-25 million $16-20 million $11-15 million $6-10 million $1-5 million < $1 million Percentage of arts organizations by budget size that used e-commerce tracking in 0% 7% 29% 40% 75% 89% 100% 100% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120% Percentage of arts organizations that have e-commerce set up on their analytics platforms in Percentage of arts organizations that have e-commerce set up on their analytics platforms in No 66% Yes 3 No 5 Yes 46% Benchmark Study page 20 of 39

21 Analytics Most organizations report that they are not using web analytics to its full potential. 13% of organizations felt that they used web analytics to its potential in, up from 8% in. Percentage of organizations that believe they used web analytics to its potential in Percentage of organizations that believe they used web analytics to its potential in No 9 Yes 8% No 87% Yes 13% Benchmark Study page 21 of 39

22 Analytics More organizations are meeting to discuss their website analytics, although 33% still report they never meet for these discussions. 2 of organizations never reviewed analytics reports and 33% never met to discuss their website s performance. 17% met weekly in, up from 6% in. Frequency at which arts organizations reviewed their web analytics in vs. via reports Daily 7% Weekly 15% 16% Every other week 7% Monthly Quarterly % Never 2 30% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% Benchmark Study page 22 of 39

23 Analytics Frequency at which arts organizations reviewed their web analytics in vs. via meetings Daily Weekly 6% 17% Every other week Monthly 10% 6% 8% 13% Quarterly Never 33% 33% 33% 4 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% Benchmark Study page 23 of 39

24 Mobile Arts organizations are embracing mobile. In, 6 of arts organizations had a mobile-enabled website (compared to 45% in ) and 35% were planning on implementing one soon. Percentage of organizations that had a mobile or mobile-enabled website in Yes 45% Planning 35% No 20% Percentage of organizations that had a mobile or mobile-enabled website in Yes 6 Planning 35% No Benchmark Study page 24 of 39

25 Mobile The percentage of mobile traffic among arts organizations continued to increase. In, 55% of organizations saw approximately 30-50% of their web traffic come from mobile devices. 50% and below <45% < 40% <30% Average 27% < 25% < 20% <15% <10% < 5% Percentage of arts organizations' web traffic from a mobile device in & 3% 6% 6% 10% 11% 13% 13% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 19% 19% 19% 21% 23% 26% How arts organizations built their mobile site in On a licensed platform 35% Other 21% Custom Built 4 Benchmark Study page 25 of 39

26 Mobile More organizations are offering e-commerce on their mobile sites and are using mobile advertising. Percentage of organizations that offered the ability to purchase tickets on a mobile site in vs. Yes 5 6 No 11% 1 Planning 25% 33% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% Percentage of organizations that used mobile advertising in vs. Yes 21% 40% No 43% 69% Planning 7% 17% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% Benchmark Study page 26 of 39

27 Website Organizational budget size strongly correlates with an organization s monthly website traffic. The amount of website traffic grew across the board from to. Average monthly website visits by budget size in vs. in thousands $26+ million 2,078 2,459 $21-25 million $16-20 million $11-15 million $6-10 million Average Visits Average Visits $1-5 million < $1 million Benchmark Study page 27 of 39

28 Website On average, arts organizations sold 49% of their tickets online in. Almost all types of organizations saw an increase in percentage of tickets sold online in. Average percentage of online tickets sold by type of organization in vs. Average 49% University 30% Theater 45% 43% Presenting Organization Orchestra Opera Company 27% 4 39% 50% 49% 56% Modern Dance Company 51% 48% Ballet Company 5 60% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% Benchmark Study page 28 of 39

29 Website Most arts organizations have websites that are less than three years old. 56% of arts organizations redesigned their websites within the past 3 years. Last website redesign, & Survey responses Currently redesigning < 1 year ago 1 year ago 2 years ago 3 years ago 4 years ago 5 years ago > 5 years ago 9% 8% 10% 11% 10% 16% 15% 1 15% 16% 19% 20% 26% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% Benchmark Study page 29 of 39

30 Site Maintenance Most arts organizations use external programmers to manage major website upgrades. 65% of arts organizations used outsourced programmers to tackle major website upgrades. In and in, many arts organizations used in-house programmers to manage minor website upgrades. How arts organizations managed website projects in In-house programmer(s) 10% 43% Outsourced programmer(s) 2 65% Both 20% 33% Minor maintenance / website bugs Major upgrades No resource 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% Benchmark Study page 30 of 39

31 Site Maintenance Arts organizations spent significantly more time in on both minor and major website upgrades than they did in. Average number of hours per month spent on website upgrades in vs. Minor upgrades / website bugs Major upgrades Benchmark Study page 31 of 39

32 Site Maintenance The amount of time spent on website upgrades is linked to budget size. Organizations with larger budgets allocated more resources to maintain and upgrade their websites than organizations with smaller budgets. $31 million + $26-30 million $21-25 million $16-20 million $11-15 million $6-10 million $1-5 million < $1 million 2 Average number of hours per month spent on website upgrades by budget size in Minor upgrades / website bugs Major upgrades Benchmark Study page 32 of 39

33 Site Maintenance However, only 46% of all arts organizations feel they have the budget to cover website maintenance. Only 6% more arts organizations reported that they had adequate resources to cover expenses associated with website maitenence in than. Percentage of arts organizations that felt they have an adequate budget to cover website maintenance needs in Percentage of arts organizations that felt they have an adequate budget to cover website maintenance needs in No 5 Yes 46% No 60% Yes 40% Benchmark Study page 33 of 39

34 Arts organizations are still conservative in how often they . In, 27% of arts organizations sent their constituents less than one per week and 38% sent constituents just one per week. Number of s sent each week in & < Once a week 27% 41% 1 38% 41% % 15% 17% 4+ 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% Benchmark Study page 34 of 39

35 General s, like newsletters, saw a decline in open rates, while more targeted s saw an increase in open rates. open rates for targeted pre-show and post-show s remained the highest at 47% in. Triggered s based on user behavior had the next highest open rate at 3. Average open rate by type of in & Triggered s based on user behavior 2 3 Pre/Post performance 47% 4 Newsletters Show Promotions 2 27% 27% 23% Donation appeals 2 21% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% Benchmark Study page 35 of 39

36 About the Organizations & Respondents' role Director of Marketing 53% 50% Marketing Associate/Assistant 18% 18% Executive/Managing Director Web Producer/Programmer/Web Team 3% 3% 5% 13% Digital Marketing Director/Associate 7% 15% Other 8% 7% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% Benchmark Study page 36 of 39

37 About the Organizations & Organizations by type Theater 39% 46% Presenting Organization 16% 2 Opera Company Ballet Company 8% 6% 7% 11% Orchestra Modern Dance Company 3% 7% Other 11% 17% University 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50% *The Other category includes theatrical management companies, artistic service organizations and museums. Benchmark Study page 37 of 39

38 About the Organizations & Organizations' annual budget $31 mill % $21-30 mill 5% 8% $11-20 mill $6-10 mill 18% 20% 18% 3 $1-5 mill 21% 27% < $1 mill 8% 18% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% Benchmark Study page 38 of 39

39 About Capacity Interactive Capacity Interactive is a premier digital marketing consulting agency serving America s leading cultural organizations. Practice areas include digital advertising, website redesign project management, web analytics, search engine optimization, social media strategy, and online fundraising. We host an annual conference in New York City called Digital Marketing Boot Camp for the Arts and offer a website plug-in called Leadacity, to help organizations collect more addresses and Facebook likes. Our mission is to help our clients engage audiences, build community, and market smarter. Capacity Interactive 648 Broadway, Suite 1010 New York, NY Benchmark Study page 39 of 39