Be brave, be bold: What we can learn from marketers

Earlier this month, 750 arts and cultural marketers gathered in Brighton for the Arts Marketing Association (AMA) Conference 2024.

This year’s theme of Be Brave, Be Bold chimed with our members who shared examples of how they are doing exactly that to put audiences at the heart of their organisations. 

Without their dedication our cultural sector would be in freefall. So, what can we learn from them?

Resilience

Everyone in the sector is tired of being resilient. As budgets contract and the pressure on earned income increases, marketing teams keep on finding new ways to engage audiences. This requires adequate resources. Investing in marketing is investing in audiences; without them the sector fails. 

Marketers need support to take considered risks, spend time with their peers, be inspired and develop skills. They also need fair pay. We recently released salary guidelines in support of this. Despite struggling financially and pressure on every cost centre, we should be aiming towards meeting these salary guidelines.

It would be tone deaf not to mention the abuse marketers regularly receive from audiences – both in venues and online. In general, members support each other and are supported by their organisations, but experiencing personal abuse while working hard to engage audiences is more than any arts professional should have to endure. Which brings me to…

Wellbeing

It’s challenging to maintain a sense of wellbeing in the current environment. While the sector advocates for ongoing support, we have to realise we can’t do everything we want or need to. 

But what should go? For ACE-funded organisations, there is an open door to reduce activity by 15%. Talk to your marketers about how to do that, relieve some of the pressure on them. 

There is also a marketing recruitment challenge as many left the sector during the pandemic – and continue to, as they see better working conditions and pay elsewhere. This talent drain makes it even harder for those who remain. They need support to develop the skills and knowledge of new entrants to the workforce.

Strategy and impact

Marketers are essential to business development. They understand an organisation’s value proposition, they communicate it daily and they know what’s resonating, what’s not and what needs to change. They understand the audiences that are the lifeblood of an organisation. 

Arts Professional’s Arts Sector Finance Investigation highlighted just how difficult things are. Engaging with audiences and stakeholders is essential – and your marketers are the experts in this area. 

Marketing/community/learning teams know about the impact your activity is having on audiences. They love data, they gather insight and can share this to support decision-making. Does your organisation make enough use of their skills and knowledge?

Curiosity

Marketers are inherently curious, especially about audiences. Who are they, who aren’t they, what makes them tick, how to shape an offer to be relevant and inclusive. 

Attendance at cultural offerings is best when communities are heard and involved in planning. If you are curious about something, talk to your marketers. They may already know the answer.

Our members stay up to date with developing technology and are embracing AI. They need support – at a governance level – with how to work with this safely and ethically. There’s a gap in guidance here which, over the coming months, we hope to fill by issuing policies and training in partnership with other sector support organisations.  

AI practitioner and trainer, Jocelyn Burnham, led a very informative session at our conference with a rallying cry to leaders to shape AI themselves, to train it on their own data (within GDPR), to address the confidence deficit in our organisations, and to set up AI working groups.

Inclusivity

Our members do outstanding work opening up the sector so it is welcoming and inclusive. For example, at our conference, E-J Scott, Curator of the Museum of Transology, and Anna Cornelius, Head of Communications and Marketing for the Wellcome Collection, shared how they have put to use Trans-Inclusive Culture guidance. 

This guidance helps marketers prepare to respond to the, often negative, reactions they have to face around these issues. Conference delegates also heard from Unlimited, who shared their Accessible Marketing Guide, an essential part of any organisation’s toolkit. 

Collaboration

Marketers are great at building networks. They champion sharing data and ideas. They are natural collaborators, keen to work right across organisations and teams towards a common purpose and shared objectives. 

Harness this collaboration and involve marketers in breaking down silos and getting team working together effectively. 

How to thrive

At this month’s AMA conference, actor, director and playwright, Rikki Beadle-Blair talked about being brave and bold. His words resonated with marketers, reminding them why they drive themselves so hard to build relationships with audiences and communities. 

“The thing you can get out of this simple experience of working with people, of serving people, of encouraging people, of connecting with people, the thing you can get, all the time, not always in the way you want it, but in the way you give it, is love.”

Arts marketers love audiences, and they love culture. They work tirelessly to put audiences at the heart of organisations, and they are telling leaders they need support – your support – to thrive. 

So, my plea to you, on behalf of our members, is to prioritise a well-supported, resourced and empowered marketing team who will be essential for your success.

Cath Hume is Chief Executive Officer of the Arts Marketing Association.
 a-m-a.co.uk/
@amadigital | @CathHume

This article, sponsored and contributed by the Arts Marketing Association is part of a series to share the innovation and resources that arts marketers and senior leadership need to develop their skills.