Hear the views of your audience: a Gen Z-er, a gamer, a visually impaired person and an expat

Who is my audience?

In order to attract and engage an audience, you have to know who this audience is and what your goals are. Do you want to encourage repeat visits, appeal to new generations or retain your existing audience for longer? All these goals require a different approach but they have one thing in common: you need to understand your target group, if you are to succeed.

Below you will find videos of target groups who each have different ways of engaging with culture. They may have different preferences but all of them recognise the value of the digital world.

Gamer: ''I want to experience what I see on screen.”

Culture and games have a lot in common: they tell stories and provide both relaxation and an experience. The difference is in how they do this. Games are digital born, while culture still tends to be a real-life, physical experience. Still, there are plenty of digital opportunities for culture, such as the crossovers with the Rijksmuseum in the game Horizon, and see how Lil Nas X performs in Roblox. But what else can culture learn from gaming? Gamer Colin tells us where he sees opportunities:

Expat: ''The digital realm opens up the whole world.''

Do you predominantly reach a local audience at present? You can broaden your audience with online content. For example, Festival Playgrounds reached a worldwide audience with their online editions. And the Getty Villa Museum enables people from all over the world to explore the ancient city of Persepolis from the comfort of their own home. Former expat Nicole tells us how much digital content can mean for cultural lovers residing in other countries:

Visually impaired person: ''It’s my dream to re-experience every concert I have ever been to.''

People with an impairment are much more likely to have trouble accessing cultural events and activities. For example, people with visual or auditory impairments need to come a lot closer to what is being presented, or to sit in the front row at a concert. Elderly people, too, may find it hard to travel to events or to gain access to buildings. And let’s not forget the many people who are easily overwhelmed, do not understand museum wall texts, or are unable to leave home. Listen to Guus’s story, a visually impaired person who loves culture:

Gen Z-er: ''I’d like to see a more interactive museum.”

The young people of today are the audience of tomorrow. They are growing up in a digital world with plenty of options, hobbies and leisure activities. They often feel that culture is not really for them and face a range of barriers to cultural participation. How do you get them involved in what your organisation has to offer? You can make initial contact via digital cultural education, but what do you need to do to keep them interested? Sebastian tells us what he thinks of museums and what the digital world means to him:

Why you can reach your new audience digitally

The digital world provides an opportunity to serve your audience at their current location. It does not detract from the physical experience but enriches or augments it instead. This is how you can serve young professionals on the go with a podcast that speaks to them and may inspire them to visit. How about a digital guest lecture to bring culture to classrooms nationwide? You can tell your story through new channels or make collections available to a bigger audience.

What can you do to reach this audience?

DEN offers several tools and articles to help you:

Trend forecasting to give you a better grasp of a changing world

Use digital storytelling to ensure your story has an impact on the audience

Case studies from within and outside of the sector to inspire you to start new projects and collaborations

A data-driven approach to get to know your audience better