At Fox Tucson Theatre, audience engagement isn’t fragmented across departments – it’s unified. Marketing, ticketing, fundraising and communications sit under one function, led by Dr Jonathon Crider, Director of External Relations. This structure gives the team a connected view of the audience journey – from first ticket purchase to long-term donor. But it also creates pressure.
With around 150 events a year and a team of eight, the challenge isn’t growth – it’s keeping up with it.
“We’ve grown year after year… but the biggest challenge has been keeping pace with that growth.”
The reality: too much to do, not enough time
Fox Tucson’s success has brought complexity:
- A high volume of events in a tight season
- A lean team managing the full audience lifecycle
- Limited time to analyse data, let alone act on it
The question wasn’t whether the data existed – it was how to use it effectively.
Where should time and effort be focused to make the biggest impact?
“There are things only people can do… so we need tools that help us focus on those.”
“I have a team of eight, I could easily have a team of 16… so we have to be smart about where we invest our time.”
From insight to action
Rather than getting lost in dashboards, the team focused on turning insight into simple, repeatable actions.
One of the earliest examples:
Every week:
- New ticket buyers receive a welcome email
- New donors receive a personalised thank-you
“We started that because Activity Stream made it so easy… we had the information, so we used it. It’s something I use constantly, every week.”
It’s a straightforward workflow – but one that consistently strengthens audience relationships.
Getting ahead of demand
A key focus area has been lead time – how far in advance audiences purchase tickets.
By tracking and improving this, the team increased lead time from:
38 days → 52 days
This shift allows for more proactive planning:
- Earlier visibility on performance
- More time to optimise campaigns
- Smarter allocation of marketing spend
“The earlier we can get people to buy, the more strategic we can be.”
“I can see what’s working in time to make changes.”
Better decisions, faster
Reporting has evolved from a retrospective task into a tool for ongoing decision-making.
The team regularly analyses:
- Performance vs previous periods
- Revenue trends and drivers
- Audience behaviour over time
Crucially, these insights are used collectively to guide next steps – whether that’s refining campaigns, reallocating budget, or adjusting priorities.
“It’s a great opportunity to dive into the data and deliver something actionable.”
Informing programming, not just marketing
Because audience insight sits alongside programming conversations, data influences more than campaigns.
For example:
- Average audience age (~60+) helps inform show selection
- Genre trends highlight demand vs profitability
- Data supports balancing cultural value with commercial return
This enables more deliberate decisions about how to grow – whether by deepening engagement with existing audiences or reaching new ones.
“We’ll take that into account when we’re picking shows… do we lean into it or try to shift it?”
Turning data into opportunity
Location data has helped the team take a more targeted approach to acquisition. By identifying top-performing ZIP codes, they can:
- Focus campaigns on high-value areas
- Prioritise audiences with greater spending potential
- Improve the efficiency of direct marketing
“If we’re going to run a campaign, we know exactly where to focus.”
It has also strengthened fundraising efforts. Audience data is now used to:
- Demonstrate community impact to grant providers
- Show reach and value to corporate partners
- Support sponsorship conversations with evidence
“This has been really helpful in showing the breadth of who we serve.”
The outcome: smarter growth
- +30% increase in individual fundraising (YoY)
- Longer ticket purchasing lead times
- More efficient use of team resources
- Faster, more confident decision-making
The bigger shift
The most meaningful change isn’t a single metric – it’s how the team works.
From: Looking at data
To: Acting on it
“It’s about working smarter, not harder – and spending time where it matters most.”
