In the ever-evolving world of higher education performing arts, first-year student engagement is one of the most powerful yet underutilized campus audience development tools. First-year students in a higher education situation are not only eager for new experiences and to find their niche, but they’re also forming new habits and loyalties that can last their entire college careers – or longer, if you play your cards right.
For college theatre programs like yours, this presents a unique and lucrative opportunity to cultivate lifelong patrons through intentional, well-thought-out loyalty-building strategies. By making a student’s first experience with your theatre meaningful, impactful, and memorable, you lay the groundwork for a lasting connection that benefits both the students and your program at large. If you’re looking for ways to grow your on-campus audience and want to hone in on first-year students, On The Stage explores a few reasons why these students matter to the success of your program, as well as offers strategies to reach them, engage them, and stay connected for the long haul.
Freshman college students are, by definition, creating fresh starts. This means they’re exploring new routines, interests, and habits. Thus, if you reach them early enough along in their higher education journey, your theatre programming can become part of their regular campus life.
Investing in first-year students now means you have a chance to build real, strong, and lucrative relationships that last at least throughout their college career, if not longer. This means longevity in revenue and engagement.
First-year students are often the most highly motivated to form new relationships and stay social. This means that they’re highly connected, or looking to be. If they enjoy a performance of yours, they’ll refer your programming to friends, or, even better, bring new patrons with them to the next performance.
Along the same lines, first-year students are always on the hunt for groups to be a part of and communities to accept them. You can be that place! First-years are simply looking for a place to belong, and the theatre offers them a creative, welcoming space that meets that need.
A fresh crop of students attending your shows brings new perspectives, younger voices and minds, diverse backgrounds, and myriad interests that can help enrich your theatre’s relevance and reach on campus.
First-year students grew up with smartphones, the internet, and social media. This means they are active online, likely have an impressive follower base, and can become valuable ambassadors for your program through user-generated content, like blog posts, reviews, social media content, or even peer-to-peer recommendations.
Freshmen have very few, or zero, preconceived notions about your specific theatre programming. This means they’ll be more willing to take a chance on new, experimental, or diverse programming that breaks the mold. Thus, you’re able to take more creative risks without the fear of an empty auditorium.
Now that we’ve covered why first-year students matter to the success of your theatre program, you may be wondering: “Well, how do I recruit them?” There are a variety of ways to reach freshmen without seeming – gasp – desperate for engagement or new audiences. We present a few ideas.
Partner with campus life offices or the dean to offer short performances, open houses, or free tickets during orientation events. This primes first-year student engagement from day one and places your theatre program front and center as an established, go-to campus experience.
Set up a visually engaging booth at student involvement fairs with mini-performances, giveaways, and clear information about your upcoming season. By doing this, you position your theatre program as a vital part of the higher education performing arts experience.
Freshmen are always looking for events tailored just for them. Make sure that in your marketing strategies, you’re reaching out and providing precise communications to freshmen. Make sure your events are freshmen-friendly and offer them a non-intimidating chance to make new friends and form stronger connections with their peers.
Unless they’ve got a parent’s credit card on file, most first-year students are, well, sort of broke. That’s why making your theatre programming accessible is so important – you don’t want to price out potential loyal patrons.
Consider tiered ticketing prices, “first-year free” ticketing incentives where every freshman can attend one event for free, referral discounts, or heavily discounted ticket packages to get more freshmen involved in your offerings. After all, lowering the barrier for attendance is an essential first step in loyalty-building strategies.
Consider recruiting passionate upperclassmen to act as “theatre guides,” whose main job is to invite and accompany lower-classmen to theatre events. This peer-to-peer approach not only strengthens campus audience development but also creates social incentives for attendance while increasing your campus credibility. Win-win-win!
Use ticketing systems to collect and analyze attendance from first-year students across the season. You can do this by creating a ‘first-year’ ticket category or requiring student ID classification to measure how many new audience members are attending and returning. This, in short, is crucial for evaluating loyalty-building strategies and understanding how you’re faring with first-years. Additionally, make sure you’re tracking season ticket renewals if that’s something you offer.
The best way to measure your success and stay connected to your audience members, no matter their age, is by gathering feedback. Consider sending out pre- and post-show surveys to see what your audience members liked and what needs to be improved.
Additionally, post polls and ask for feedback via your social media platforms for increased engagement. If you aren’t sure what to ask, make sure to focus on things like how they heard about the performance, their likelihood of returning for another show, and what things would make them more likely to recommend your theatre and its offerings to others. This is all valuable data that can help shape future campus audience development plans.
Email marketing is crucial on college campuses, especially larger schools where it’s difficult to personally connect with each student. You can capture student emails through event sign-ups, giveaways, and other marketing tactics to create a first-year-specific outreach list. Then, you can send out regular newsletters with show updates, student discount offerings, behind-the-scenes content, and personal messages to keep your college theatre and its programming top-of-mind.
Consider offering a loyalty program, rewards system, punch card, or exclusive first-year perks, then track that usage in your state-of-the-art system. High participation rates reflect strong engagement and indicate which of your loyalty-building strategies are working the best. Thus, you’ll know what to keep for next marketing season and what to toss.
Run social media campaigns targeted at first-year students and track those engagement metrics – everything from shares to likes to click-throughs and RSVPS/ticket purchases. Social interaction can be an early indicator of higher education performing arts interest in the freshman class, even before tickets go on sale.
Turning first-year college students into loyal patrons, while an excellent audience retention strategy, is also essential for the long-term success of any college or higher-education theatre. With the right approach to campus audience development and first-year student engagement, you can cultivate a new generation of passionate supporters – some of whom could become lifelong fans.
If you aren’t sure how to get started on that recruitment and retention journey, On The Stage can help. OTS can make the entire process seamless, offering powerful tools for ticketing, marketing, engagement, and loyalty-building strategies, all tailored to the unique needs of various educational institutions.
Whether you’re launching your new collegiate season or aiming to grow your audience bit by bit, On The Stage can help you connect, engage, and retain the student patrons who will shape the future of your theatre. If you’re ready to get started, book a personalized demo today.