Audience of the Future, You’re Already Reaching Them!
Have you ever thought about it? That as an educator, you’re already reaching the audience of the future? You probably already have so much more knowledge about the experiences of this future cultural audience than your colleagues. And every educator knows: young people who are touched by culture during their school years are more likely to return as adults. So how do you engage them for life? And how do you prepare the rest of your organization for this digital-savvy audience?
The digital approach starts with you
As an expert on the audience of the future, you might be the ideal person to drive digital transformation in your organization. You can help your organization move forward with your knowledge about this audience.
How to Get the Organization on Board? 3 Concrete and Accessible Tips:
Connect the Values of Young People to Your Program
Involve your colleagues, such as artistic creators, curators, programmers, or marketers. This way, they also get to know and serve this audience. For example, introduce your colleagues to this audience by inviting classes. This allows them to see how this new generation interacts with culture and engages with digital tools. This is valuable information that you can apply to your offerings and serves as a starting point for collaborating on a digital strategy.
Implement Elements from Their Digital World at Your Location
Do you notice that students always enter the building with their phones in hand? Then, together with your colleagues, ask: how can we draw their attention to our offerings? Perhaps you can showcase yourself in the online spaces they frequent or use digital tools to provide depth and context. Some museums display their collections in games, theaters stream performances via global tech platforms, and the literature recommendation #BookTok on TikTok is creating new readers. Collaborating with IT, gaming, or digitization partners can help with this.
Leverage Data
Do you have digital offerings or use digital platforms, services, or materials? Chances are you’re collecting user data. You can use this data to better understand your audience, improve your offerings, or, for example, increase your online visibility and reach a larger audience. Discuss this with a marketing or communications specialist.
Conclusion
Do it together! Explore digital possibilities with colleagues from other departments, analyze data together, and ultimately determine your digital strategy as a team. This way, you involve the entire organization in digital thinking. Moreover, a good digital strategy combines the various skills and expertise within the organization. An integrated approach to your digital strategy is only possible if different expertise areas connect and don’t operate in isolation. Collaboration with other organizations and disciplines further strengthens this.
New Audiences Require Collaboration
The knowledge you bring about the new audience also raises several questions. By discussing these within your organization, you keep everyone aligned and adaptable.
Questions to explore with your colleagues:
- What societal developments do we see reflected in the new audience? Think, for example, of the increasing digitization of society and consider how your institution can respond to this.
- How does your institution address major themes such as inclusion and sustainability? These topics are becoming increasingly important in our society, and young people feel strongly about them. Does your organizational culture meet the expectations of the new audience? Today’s young people are not only the audience but also the workforce of tomorrow.
- Do you have sufficient insight into the digital technologies that these and future generations are growing up with? As a cultural educator, you know what’s happening and which apps, platforms, or devices young people use. What do you know about the underlying technologies, ethics, how they’re developing, and what makes certain platforms or expressions so successful? By delving into this with your colleagues, you can better assess which technologies you can use yourself and how your audience will engage with them.
Create support. Engage in dialogue and share your experiences.
Turn Your Plans into Actions
To initiate digital transformation, you need support within your organization. To create this support, you can engage in discussions with your colleagues and leadership. What is needed to prepare your organization for the future? How does digital transformation contribute to that? Highlight the challenges you face and what you think is necessary. For example, mandate, budget, and time to invest in a digital approach or perhaps new skills you want to learn yourself or with colleagues.
Conversely, share your own experiences, knowledge, and expertise with colleagues, both within and outside your organization. Are there facilities you’re currently developing that others could also benefit from?
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