Cognitive Fluency and Arts Marketing

Cognitive fluency means how easy it is to think about something. By and large this what our brains prefer. The harder your brain has to work - the more it balks at working.

We prefer easy thoughts - brain candy if you will. Cognitive fluency is even more relevant in a world with constant onslaught of information, data and short attention spans. We have to constantly and quickly sift through a ton of information vying for our attention.

That is why "The Top 5 Ways to Flatten Your Belly/Build Your Business/Sell More Tickets blog titles work so well. They are easy and digestible. So what does this mean in the world of arts, events, festivals, tourism etc.?

Given that fluency impacts every decision we make, every interaction you make, we need to consider fluency when programming, marketing/selling and interacting with our patrons. Understanding fluency can help you create effective sales and marketing campaigns, that are clear, easily digestible and effective. It can help you to attract new audiences, and even help to create attractive programming.

Take for example fonts. Research has shown that easy to read, legible fonts are more attractive to most people. The reason for this is fluency. Easy to read, familiar fonts have more impact and positive outcomes than hard to read fonts. Hard to read fonts made people feel wary and uncomfortable. Fonts may seem like a small thing, but each element impacts the fluency on audiences - from the font choice to the marketing image choice to the programming of the show itself.

But here is the catch: fluent things are comfortable, familiar and boring. Disfluent things are intriguing, novel and innovative. Understanding more about fluency can impact how we market and sell specific shows and events to various audiences.