ArtsMarketing.org

Our society has changed - dramatically -- over the past few decades. We talk about it all the time in the context of business (flattening), government and politics (opening) and community (connecting). But what about arts, humanities and culture?

Everything is changing. When it comes to communicating with an ever-evolving audience, today's organization has more than enough tools to get the job done - blogs, podcasts, social networks, mobile, games, search, wikis, and much more. Still, the combination of rapid technological innovation and continuous social shifts has left many organizations struggling to stay focused and execute their ideas. Everything is changing and nothing we are doing is working anymore.

What's happening?

For starters, organizations too often look to technology as the solution to their problems. But it doesn't work that way. Successful communications and engagement is not about the technology - no widget or tool or database or network on its own will make your audience take an action. Technology can help host a vibrant conversation, facilitate an event or make delivery of information more efficient (and in some cases compelling). But the key is understanding how people use technology to create, consume, and share information and what their expectations are when it comes to interacting with folks like you.

At the same time, organizations are adopting technology solutions without embracing the new ways in which they must operate for those tools to truly delivery results. To be successful in communicating, engaging, mobilizing or really any kind of interaction with your audience today, you have to do more than deploy a set of tools - everything about how your organization needs to change to reflect how your audience gets and shares information and what type of information experience they expect when they connect with you, online or offline. Who you hire and how you train them must change. How organizations are managed and how people within the organization interact with each other, share information, collaborate and cooperate must change. Top down is done. New technology both facilitates, and has created a culture which has encouraged, bottom-up, community-driven, and open-source (in spirit, if not in practice) ways of management. You must learn how, as individuals and as organizations, to adapt to these changing times.

Here are a few things to think about:

1) Big things are afoot. The public is more engaged than ever before, more capable of collecting and sharing information with a wider audience - for free - than at any point in our history. This drives greater interest in media and art and the creation of a more diverse and interesting culture. This isn't simply about having more people sharing stories, showing off their talent, or building a following because the barriers to entry are lower. This isn't just about finding hidden talent far down the long tail of media and elevating them to the status of super celebrity because the institutional structures that once controlled everything are breaking down. The impact of technology and the internet on media and arts is profound. This is the beginning of a shift that will redefine every aspect of our culture and our society.

2) Think bigger. We must resist the desire to define or contain this new, emerging culture too quickly, to focus our attention on finding ways to marketing and monetize it above all. We should be thinking bigger. What is the potential for technology and the internet to redefine our culture, and what say do we want to have in that? What must be change, or adapt, within our society to support media and arts flourishing in the future. Gone are the days when the majority of the population would sit for hours to read a newspaper from cover to cover or tune in to watch a show on television. Our information experiences have changed and our focus and goals in terms of media and art should change as well. The idea that we will find a mass audience for anything, frankly, no longer exists. So instead, what can we do with small, dedicated, passionate audiences? How can the arts world connect with communities and individuals, bring together disparate ideas? If we aren't careful, media and art are at risk of following the same patterns that the news industry has followed -- becoming commoditized, and losing some of its value. But if we think bigger, we can elevate media and art to a role where it influences how we think, act, and perceive everything.

3) Lots of stories to tell. The news media is missing out on a huge opportunity. We should make sure our society doesn't miss out on the same opportunity. You see, there are an infinite number of stories about how technology and the internet are impacting the art world, about how cultural organizations are being created with new technologies, and new ideas are emerging because these tools and channels now exist. No single publication, channel or service has the ability to cover the full range of media and arts happenings - so they don't, leaving huge gaps in what is covered. Even though the marketplace for media and art has expanded, the long tail has flourished, the media is still picking and choosing what they want to popularize and promote. Not finding the stories that interest them most, the audience is forced to look to other sources (increasingly blogs and other alternative news sites) to receive what they consider a complete and instantly current information experience. But those who pay attention to the arts still spend too much time lamenting the lack of coverage, criticizing the news media for not doing a sufficient job. Instead, we should be seizing the opportunity to create that coverage, to tell those stories, and to elevate the discussion to the level we (and the rest of the audience) desire.

4) More! The very idea of art and culture, in general, should be bigger - more voices, more access to information, more collaboration. Fueled by technology, we all have the ability to learn or discuss whatever we believe is relevant, to produce and distribute information so that it reaches audiences any time, any place, with a more diverse (and deeply invested) audience, and through any device. Instead of a few companies, distributors, creators, or similar, there should be millions. Everyone is a gatekeeper and a storyteller now. Every person with a blog or cell-phone-enabled camera can create art. Every person with a computer and an internet connection can demonstrate their creativity to the world. It is happening every day. But we spend too much time trying to contain arts and culture, to define it and channel it. Instead, we should be looking to support and enhance it, to create more and better media and art.

It is easy to forget what life is like for people who don't spend all their time online, buried in newspapers, reviewing blog posts, creating media about arts and culture. It's easy to become disconnected from people who are not inside your organization or in this world every day. There are reasons why people engage with the group you work with, the issues you promote, and the programs you produce. There are reasons why they spend time watching, listening, reading, and experiencing various forms of media and types of art and culture. There are reasons why people log on to the various platforms we build and buy the products we sell. The reasons are personal, they are poweful, and they must be understood if you want to understand the potential for arts and culture in today's society.

We spend so much time talking about business models and monetization strategies. We obsess about the most effective and compelling ways to push information, which day of the week to send an email or what hashtag will register the largest following. But how much time do we really spend listening to, and hearing from, our audience - what they want, what they value, and how we can help? How much time do you spend delivering on what your audience wants, instead of trying to compel an audience to accept that what you are doing is important. The dirty little secret is you can do both. You must know the audience if you want to reach them - because what tools they use, when, and how will define that. You must know the audience if you want to create something they will help to promote or share - because the benefit they receive or the relationship they have with their community will define that. It is easy to forget. But it is also easy to watch and understand, and then adapt what are you doing to meet the audience's needs. And when you do, everything else will start to fall into place.