Learn to use data and try working outside the arts are among the tips offered by arts marketer Trevor O’ Donnell.
With graduation right around the corner, I thought I’d share some advice for senior arts administration majors who are thinking about starting out in marketing. I’ve met several young people in the past year who expressed an interest in arts marketing and who asked me if I thought it was a good direction. Here’s what I said:
1. If you’re planning to become an executive leader, don’t go into marketing. Arts leaders tend to emerge from art, management and fundraising, which are, and have always been, the legs that hold up the cultural sector stool. At about 35 or 40 years old, arts marketing is a relative newcomer that the cultural sector still regards as somewhat of an alien encroachment. This isn’t a growth industry and insiders rise further faster, so don’t waste time on an outside track.
With graduation right around the corner, I thought I’d share some advice for senior arts administration majors who are thinking about starting out in marketing. I’ve met several young people in the past year who expressed an interest in arts marketing and who asked me if I thought it was a good direction. Here’s what I said:
1. If you’re planning to become an executive leader, don’t go into marketing. Arts leaders tend to emerge from art, management and fundraising, which are, and have always been, the legs that hold up the cultural sector stool. At about 35 or 40 years old, arts marketing is a relative newcomer that the cultural sector still regards as somewhat of an alien encroachment. This isn’t a growth industry and insiders rise further faster, so don’t waste time on an outside track.