Local artists revamp marketing strategy

Its latest play, “Love Letters,” runs through March and builds a portrait of a couple – from childhood on – based on their love letters. To promote it, the staff and volunteers tailored their promotions to coincide with a Valentine’s Day theme and dating. They encouraged audiences to bring dates, and they also offered a raffle for a weekend getaway.

Their marketing efforts change from play to play as the company tries to raise its profile locally and gain visitors from Baltimore and Washington, D.C. So far, both efforts have been a challenge. The staff has sought advice from the Maryland Small Business Development Center and is also trying to use social media more. 

Just like any business, local arts organizations are constantly seeking new ways to reach audiences and keep them coming back for more.

“People just don’t seem to grasp that they have this wonderful gem right here. Instead of going all the way to D.C. or Baltimore to see good (plays), they’ve got it right here,” said Beth Dolezal, a volunteer and member of the Bay Theatre’s board of trustees. ”All of the arts even have that issue. I don’t think people in Annapolis understand the wonderful culture that they’ve got.”

Nationally, the public’s relationship with the arts has fluctuated. The National Endowment for the Arts’ 2008 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts found that American audiences were getting older and their numbers declining. Since 1982, attendance at performing arts staples such as classical music, ballet and dramatic plays experienced double-digit rates of decline. The next survey of the arts will be completed this year, but it won’t be released until next year. In this one, NEA officials will explore a fuller spectrum that includes participation via electronic media and personal arts creation.

J. Ernest Green, musical director of Live Arts Maryland and the Annapolis Chorale, is not concerned about the perceived decline in interest.

“My philosophy tends to be if there is a declining interest, it’s a two-way street,” Green said. “It’s because we’re not engaging people in what we do and/or we’re not communicating what we do effectively so that they become engaged. It’s our job as arts presenters to try to engage the audience.”

Over the past two years, Green’s organizations have focused on promoting events on a local level. But they also use social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to expand their presence regionally.

“This topic is really a callenge for all of us in the arts world because it is the one thing that we all have to figure out how to do,” Green said.  

Locally, there has been an ongoing effort to make Annapolis an arts destination. The Studio of the Arts opened in 2009 and provides an art studio and gallery to a collective of artists. At Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts, the Annapolis Opera has been reaching out to students as a way of attracting young people to the art form. The Ballet Theatre of Maryland – also located at Maryland Hall – expanded its classes to the Eastern Shore and the Chesapeake Arts Center in Brooklyn Park.

The Annapolis Collection Gallery helped launch what became known as Gallery Row. That allowed businesses in that area of West Street such as Whitehall Gallery, Tsunami, 49 West and Back Creek Books to offer cross promotions. Staff members aim to attract passersby by switching their window display to coincide with Rams Head events. 

Last year, Westfield Annapolis mall featured the gallery’s work in the space that Borders once occupied. At that time, 95 percent of the sales there came from zip codes beyond the immediate area.

“It was very successful and (shoppers) continue to come in and say, ‘I saw you at the mall,’ “ said Katherine Burke, owner of Annapolis Collection Gallery. “We all have our Facebooks, our websites, our email lists and we all promote each other. When we have one event, we’re all linked to each other.”

At the Bay Theatre, the staff tries to package its plays by encouraging visitors to see a play, have dinner and stay at a hotel. The theater’s Facebook page is mainly used as a resource to find actors. 

Its next play – “The Belle of Amherst” – starts March 30 and is about Emily Dickinson. It is expected to reach anyone interested in history, and possible promotions could be held at St. John’s College and Annapolis Bookstore.

“Live theater is always challenging. This is not Bow Tie, it is not the cinema,” said Janet Luby, Bay Theatre’s artistic director. “This is an elevated art form. It requires some thought, culture and sophistication on the audience’s part. That is a smaller group than the masses.”

Article source: http://www.hometownannapolis.com/news/bus/2012/02/21-27/Local-artists-revamp-marketing-strategy.html