(aka: yes, it’s hard — and no, it’s not just you)
Marketing in arts and culture is not hard because cultural workers aren’t smart or creative.
It’s hard because the system is… let’s say aspirational.
Here are the top 10 challenges I see over and over again.
1. Tiny Budgets with Big Expectations
You’re expected to deliver Broadway-level results with community-theatre money.
And if it doesn’t work? Well, obviously marketing failed.
2. Everyone Is Also Doing Five Other Jobs
You’re not “the marketer.”
You’re also the programmer, admin, grant writer, therapist, and occasional furniture mover. Marketing happens between emails.
3. The Pressure to Be Everywhere at Once
Instagram! TikTok! Email! Posters! PR! Partnerships!
Meanwhile no one has decided what actually matters most.
4. The “Our Audience Is Everyone” Problem
Which usually means the messaging is for no one in particular.
Clarity can feel uncomfortable — but vagueness is way worse.
5. Translating Art into Human Language
You understand the work deeply.
Now explain it in one sentence to someone scrolling on their phone while waiting for the streetcar.
No pressure.
6. Measuring the Wrong Things (Because They’re Easier)
Ticket sales and clicks are tidy.
Impact, learning, and long-term relationship building? Much messier — and much more important.
7. Last-Minute Everything
Funding confirmed late. Programming shifts. Artists’ schedules change.
Marketing plans are built on sand and vibes.
8. The Awkward Relationship with “Selling”
You believe in the work — deeply —
but still feel weird asking people to buy a ticket like it’s a toaster.
9. Audience Burnout Is Real
People are tired. Overstimulated. Broke.
You’re not just competing with other arts events — you’re competing with couches.
10. No Time to Stop and Actually Think
You’re always delivering the next thing.
Reflection, learning, and improvement get pushed to “later,” which somehow never arrives.
Final Thought
If this list feels uncomfortably familiar, congratulations — you’re normal.
These aren’t personal failings.
They’re structural realities of cultural work.
Good arts marketing isn’t about doing more.
It’s about doing fewer things with intention, and building systems that don’t rely on constant heroics.
And yes — I can absolutely talk about this for hours.
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