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Visitor Research –
the view from Britain
Sarah BoilingConsultancy Director
Today
• The Audience Agency
• Audience research in the cultural sector
• Visitor Finder
• Ten research essentials
The Audience Agency
Audiences at the
heart of culture
• A UK federation of small organisations
• Inconsistent and ignored at national level
• 2011 – funding withdrawn
• 2012 – The Audience Agency formed
• Merger Audiences London + All About Audiences
• 2015 - Two offices, fifty staff, £2m turnover
The Audience Agency - history
Our purpose
Supporting resilient and healthy cultural organisations
which:
• Matter to the public
• Understand and meet their needs
• Balance social, artistic and financial aims
• Maximise income and investment
Our approach & services
• National resources + local knowledge
• Co-operative - Not for Profit - Give-and-Gain
• Audience planning
• Expert audience research and analysis service
• Evidence, impact measurement & evaluation
• Engagement services
• Specialist advice and consultancy
• Facilitation and collaboration
Evaluate, inform policy and practice
Action-research, consultancy, collaborate
Interpretation, advice
Context, analysis, benchmarks, profiling
Primary research
Audience
Development
Knowledge
Information
Data
Our approach
Audience research in the
cultural sector
1997 – 2010 ‘New Labour’
• ‘Instrumental’ value of
culture
• Focus on under represented
groups
• Targets and measurement
• Free admission to National
Museums 2001
• Museums, Libraries, Archives
Council (MLA)
2010 …. Coalition
• Recession + ideology = reduced public funding
• ‘Bonfire of the quangos’
• Focus on fundraising and philanthropy
Large organisations
• Well resourced
• In house expertise OR budgets
• Sophisticated view
• Some ticketing data
• Visitor insight informs planning
Medium scale
• Less well resourced
• no specialist research staff
• Some ongoing research
• Otherwise Infrequent - need to
know basis
Small
• Very limited resources and
infrastructure
• No ongoing research
• If at all, on an opportunity basis
• But – DO have a valuable
personal/anecdotal understanding
of their visitors
Performing arts
• Ticketed so closer financial relationship to audiences
• Transaction data and sophisticated reporting
• Less likely to undertake primary research
Audience research in the cultural sector
Challenges
• Where power resides –
cultural issues
• Creative leadership
• Box ticking fatigue
• Lack of skills and
resources
Opportunities
• Financial imperatives
• Big Data
• Need for evidence
• Proving the value of
research
Audience/ Visitor Finder
The opportunity – Audience/Visitor Finder
• Arts Council England commission
• National audience data programme – Audience
Finder, designed and delivered by The Audience
Agency
• Provide the tools and support for organisations to
obtain, understand and use audience data
• Individually and in context
• Museums strand of Audience Finder = Visitor Finder
Evaluate, inform policy and practice
Action-research, consultancy, collaborate
Interpretation, advice
Context, analysis, benchmarks, profiling
Primary research
Audience
Development
Knowledge
Information
Data
How it works
• Builds on Audience Finder infrastructure
• Collect – Understand - Apply
• Regional clusters of museums facilitated by
Audience Agency staff
• Agree their key issues/objectives
• Select appropriate questions from a standard set of
quantitative research questions
• Museums own staff undertake fieldwork
• Training, support and advice
• On-line dashboard displays their key data
• Cluster report and workshops to discuss implications
Visitor Finder clusters
Success factors
• Go where there is interest and appetite
• Existing networks more productive
• Museums need to be a minimum size to benefit
• Skilful facilitation required
• Step away from the questions …
• Regular communication
Proving the value of research
• Outdoor Arts sector proved their audience reach =
increase in ACE funding
• London orchestras identified infrequent attenders =
collaborative promotional campaign = £64,000 ticket
income
• Dublin galleries = evidence for advocacy to tourism
bodies
• Cambridge Museums = Curating Cambridge
campaign
Research - top ten tips
Research – top ten tips
1. Need clear objectives – what will this
information enable you to do ?
2. Check the information you need doesn’t already
exist
3. Choose the right method
4. Do the VUMI test
5. Involve internal colleagues (but stay focused)
6. Use standard questions if available to give you
context
7. Test your questions
8. Ensure a representative sample - minimise bias
9. Share the findings - internally and with visitors
10. Use what you learn
