Selling your space

Originally presented at the Cultural Enterprises Conference

In a difficult funding landscape, many cultural venues are feeling the pressure to find new commercial opportunities.

A key revenue generator for many venues is hiring out their spaces. This can be for all sorts of things – from corporate meetings, conferences, and product launches, to private performances and classes, functions, and weddings.

First things first …

Before we look at how your website can help you to leverage your venue hire offer, it's important for you to understand: what it is you offer; who you're talking to; and who you're competing with.

Understand your offer

Identifying the things that make you special – what you can offer that no one else can – is vital. How else will you be able to craft compelling content that helps to convince people to hire your space rather than somewhere else?

We may be biased but it's not far-fetched to suggest that most cultural venues have something truly unique and special to offer potential customers.

? What can you offer potential customers, to help you stand out?

• Do you have a dramatic, impressive space?
  • Chipping Norton Theatre hire out their beautiful theatre space for weddings
• Is your venue set in stunning surroundings?
  • MAC Birmingham is within Cannon HIll Park – 80 acres of formal parks, and 120 acres of conservation and woodland
• Do you have specialised facilities or services available?
  • Contact Theatre offer anti-racism training
  • We hired a space at Sheffield Theatres for a Supercool Away Day, and loved our tour of the costume department. (Josh got to try on a horse head ?)
    

Know your audience

Obviously your audience is 'people who want to hire a space' – but this can be broken down into more useful segmentation:

Businesses may want:

• Impressive meeting rooms – some businesses don't have an office to host clients / potential clients
• Conference or event space
• Somewhere for a product launch

Individuals could be looking to:

• Host a special event – a party or private screening – for friends and family
• Hold their wedding

Professionals you might partner with:

• Wedding planners
• Performers
• Teachers (e.g. dance, drama, singing teachers may wish to hire performance or rehearsal spaces on a regular basis)

? Don't forget about your existing audience – especially your Friends / Members, who could fall into the above categories.

Know your competition

You're not only competing with fellow cultural organisations in this area. As well as purpose-built meeting spaces, an increasing number of commercial venues (particularly in the hospitality sector) offer spaces for hire.

Questions to ask yourself:

• Who/where else are you competing with for venue hire?
• How are they communicating with potential customers?
• Where are they advertising?
• What are they saying on their websites?

How to use your website to support commercial hires

? Create compelling content

Being clear about what it is you have to offer will help you create a compelling case for potential customers to hire your space, rather than somewhere else. It's all about the storytelling.

• Before you start compiling content, you may find it helpful to create 'User Personas' for the different areas of your venue hire offer. This can help you to define specific, targeted messaging. If you're not sure where to start with this, we've got you covered with this handy PDF guide: How to create a User Persona
• Make sure the practical information is really clear – an overview of the spaces on offer and room capacities are important for potential customers
• Find ways to weave-in what's special about you
• It can help to communicate your values – potential customers might use this to make a decision
• Don’t be shy about telling people about the impact of your wider work – many potential customers will love the idea of supporting a not-for-profit
• How much detail will you provide online?
  • Basic, top-level info – like Chipping Norton Theatre
  • Lots of detail – such as MAC Birmingham, who show detailed packages and pricing
• Target your messaging – are you talking to a business looking for a 10-person meeting room? Or a couple planning their wedding?
• Include testimonials from previous hirers
• Use photography – try to include some imagery of your spaces being used. But make sure photography is good quality, as a grainy picture of a dark-looking room may do more harm than good!
• Have a clear call-to-action – depending on the nature of the booking, this might be phoning or emailing your venue hire team, filling-out an online form, or completing an entire booking online.

? Consider the user journey

It's all very well having great content. People also need to be able to find it – and know what to do next.

• How will potential customers find out about what you offer?
  • In-venue advertising
  • Emails
  • Website
  • Printed materials – season brochure, flyers
  • Social media – your own as well as, for example, local Facebook groups
  • Press advertising
  • Word of mouth
• Set-up specific 'landing pages' (Useful for humans, and for search engines)
  • Chippy Theatre Weddings
  • MAC Conferences and Meetings
  • Battersea Arts Centre Filming and Photography
• As well as having its own section, promote your venue hire offer across the website e.g.
  • Members / Friends section
  • News / blog posts
• Always guide people towards a clear, easy to carry out call-to-action – making sure it fits the nature of the booking
  • Someone wanting to book a room for a business meeting might find it easiest to fill out an enquiry form
  • Someone who's thinking of having their wedding at your venue will likely want to speak to someone directly – and know the name of that person before they call / email. So, include that information – and maybe a headshot of the person – to make it feel personable and welcoming.

Key takeaways

• Make your venue hire offers clear on your website – though this doesn't mean it needs to be a main menu item!
• Create compelling content – show-off what makes you special
• Use landing pages to speak directly to different types of potential customer
• Include testimonials from past hirers
• Have a clear call-to-action
• Promote your offer as widely as possible – including across different areas of your website

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