The right price for your target audience

When you want to finance your initiative or project there are several options for that. It is best to have a combination of several sources of income because if one of the possibilities remains insufficient or is no longer possible then there is still a chance that you will succeed. For example, you may be able to apply for a grant or a fund and you can try for sponsorships. In addition, it is good to make sure to generate income from your audience. It is just not always easy to determine the right price for your target audience. On this page we will help you on your way by listing some things you can take into account. In the end it depends very much on the kind of initiative or project you are working on.

Look closely at the product you are offering.

It is very important that you look closely at your own initiative or project. Ask yourself what the actual product you want to "sell" is. The pricing you use also indicates its value and it can lead to judgment. It also has to do with what people are willing to pay for what you are offering. To illustrate: for an exhibition, people are not usually willing to pay more than €10 (then it is perceived as expensive) while a €10 pop concert is cheap. The same goes for example for the prices of the catering industry. At an art exhibition, people eat and drink less than at a music festival. It means that visual art is often more dependent on subsidies. At a free festival, people feel that they can also bring their own drinks. At a festival where one pays €40 entrance fee, the audience often does not bother to pay almost €3 for a beer. These are interesting mechanisms that determine the revenue model of your initiative or project.

Cost is very important

For many people, cost is an important consideration in pricing. Ultimately, you would like to get out of the cost of your initiative or project because otherwise you will turn a loss. Therefore, always make a good cost calculation for your product(s) or service(s). If you have sponsors or subsidies, subtract them from the total cost first. Then you are left with the part you need to cover with income from the public. This can be several things, such as the recettes, income from catering, sales of merchandise or replicas or, for example, the income from toilet and checkroom fees. When determining prices, also take into account the VAT you have to charge. This is because you include this in the selling price of your product or service.

Look closely at your target audience

When determining the right prices, the target audience is also hugely important. If certain things are too expensive, too cheap or not in proportion to what you offer, it can detract from the experience of your audience. Nor is it pleasant when you get signals afterwards through social media, for example, that your initiative or project was far too expensive. This can lead to other visitors ignoring your initiative or project next time or to you getting a bad name. You can sometimes prevent this by asking your audience for their opinion through a questionnaire or survey. You can also try to pick up on signals during execution and, if possible, act on them immediately. Therefore, always make as comprehensive an analysis of your target audience as possible. Look especially at socioeconomic characteristics, such as spending patterns, income bracket and by extension things like ages. A student will generally have less to spend than a single adult with a full-time job.

Cheap is cheap

Ok, this saying may be a bit bastardized by this but what we mean to say is that you shouldn't always want to make the most of it. For example, you can choose to make a ticket extra expensive so that you might make a little more profit. Then you will have more financial success in the short term but your audience may find it a little too expensive and drop out next time. In addition, in some cases it is useful to charge a little less for one thing (such as admission to your show) or even not charge at all, so that your audience can spend more money on peripheral items such as catering or merchandise. Also, there is then a chance that the audience will increase in number, allowing you to recoup a lower entrance fee on the other side.

Subsequent valuation

In the cultural sector, you sometimes come across the term "retrospective valuation. This means that after a performance, for example, your audience can decide for themselves what they think the performance is worth. You often find that you end up with more money than if you had set a fixed admission price. Of course this is especially true when your initiative or project has sufficient quality. It has to do with the fact that people are then in the right mood and sometimes feel some peer pressure. There will probably be people who think they are cheap but they are often in the minority. A disadvantage of this is that you can never properly estimate in advance what the income will be. That makes it difficult to take this into account when applying for a grant or a fund.

If, from your expertise, you yourself have knowledge that would fit this topic, or if you see opportunities to improve this text, we look forward to receiving your message at info@cultuuracademy.nl.