“It’s a good to be a tourist. It’s quite a worthwhile thing. To appreciate deliberately…”
- Armistead Maupin, Michael Tolliver Lives
Somehow, in the 15 years between 2002 and 2017, I came to visit all 50 US state capitol buildings. I hadn’t planned to make it a “bucket list” travel experience. It just evolved that way. And reflecting on how it evolved has taught me five very important marketing lessons.
The Key Factors That Got Me Started
At the start, I was living in Atlanta (whose capitol building, by the way, I wouldn’t enter for several years once the bucket list really began in earnest). At the time, my father still lived in New Jersey, where I had grown up. Once or twice each year I would drive up to New Jersey, usually for a summer trip or for the winter holidays. I’m not the kind of person who likes to make 15 hour drives as a single continuous marathon, so I would make stops. I’m also not the kind of person who likes to take the exact same route twice, so the stops would vary each time.
State capitals (note, the city has an “a,” and the building has an “o”), are rarely the most populous cities or inherently the most interesting cities in most states. But they do all have one thing in common: they do however appear on just about every road map with some prominence. In the early 2000s, before smart phones with Google maps to guide us, I very proudly had a massive Rand McNally atlas of the United States and Canada to keep me from going too far astray on these road trips. In that atlas, the little star in a black circle that indicated “capital” drew your eye wherever it appeared on the map. The cities themselves stood out.
I also realized quickly that if one is in their early 20s and working in the non-profit sector (a sector not known for lucrative compensation), travel can be relatively expensive. Conveniently, state capitol buildings are all free of charge. Plus, they generally provide you with a nice combination package of architectural interest, civics lesson, art gallery, and history museum. So, if I was going to make a brief pit stop to stretch my legs, get a bite to eat, see a new city, and see at least one site, a capitol building made for an excellent choice.
Those simple factors (easy to find, conveniently on the way, and price - or lack thereof) led me to see my first healthy spate of capitol buildings, all located in the states between Georgia and New Jersey. Some were right on the obvious routes (Columbia SC, Raleigh NC, Richmond VA, Harrisburg PA, Trenton NJ), and some required a few minor detours (Dover DE, Annapolis MD, Charleston WV, Knoxville TN). But most of the detours were just there to give me the variety I needed on my drives. It didn’t feel - to start - as if I was on a mission to see state capitols.
Making It a Bucket List
Wyoming State Capitol, Cheyenne
But then, something happened. I began to notice how many capitols I’d already seen. I had fallen into a habit. And habits are hard to break.
Plus, I discovered I enjoyed visiting these buildings. If you’ve never been to a capitol building, you should. Each building itself tells you an enormous amount about that state: what it valued when the building was built (in the case of Pennsylvania, showing off the conspicuous wealth of a place that was assumed to indefinitely carry the mantle of among the most affluent in the union) and what it values today (in the case of New Mexico, whose capitol is inspired by a roundhouse, a strong connection to its indigenous cultures). The art inside tells you how the leadership of a state commemorates its history and its values. The placement of a capitol within a state tells you a lot about the compromises the state did (or didn’t) need to make over the course of its history. And those walls of photos of past legislators speak volumes about when (or if) the leadership of the state began to reflect the diversity of the state itself. It is, in fact, a very interesting endeavor.
So, I’d begun to fall into a habit - and the habit was with something I found legitimately rewarding. I hadn’t yet committed to seeing all 50 capitol buildings, but I began to seek them out. On a civil rights site road trip through the deep south, I made it to Montgomery AL, Jackson MS, Nashville TN, and Little Rock AR. I began to take a more out-of-the-way route to New Jersey to hit Columbus OH, Indianapolis IN, and Springfield IL. A wedding in Connecticut got me to both Hartford CT and Providence RI.
“The first substantial vacation I took with the man who is now my husband was a cruise through Alaska. Sure, I wanted to see glaciers, but really what I wanted to see was Juneau.”
By the time I hit 20 or so capitol buildings (40% of “the available inventory”), I was running out of buildings that were even moderately convenient to get to. I found myself planning trips to new parts of the country just to get to more state capitols. I had hit the tipping point that made me a man on a mission. It was a lovely excuse to explore new places and see the country - not just its major urban centers or its national parks, but the vast expanses in between. (For a lot of reasons, state capitals tend to end up in that vast expanse in between). In fact, the first substantial vacation I took with the man who is now my husband was a cruise through Alaska. Sure, I wanted to see glaciers, but really what I wanted to see was Juneau.
So What’s that Got to Do with Marketing?
I had become a super fan and a brand ambassador for something that wasn’t even a brand: state capitol buildings. If that can happen without the National Board of State Capitol Buildings (which doesn’t exist) trying to get me into their “marketing funnel,” imagine what harnessing just a few of these lessons might do for someone who actually has a marketing plan.
This essay is just “part one” of what I expect will be plenty more essays on my experiences seeing the United States through the lens of these 50 buildings. But, for the moment, let’s reflect on the journey that took me from a 22-year-old “casual attendee” to that super fan less than 15 years later. Believe it or not, one person’s commitment to seeing 50 very specific buildings can shine light on a few lessons we all might be able to apply to building commitment and loyalty to the arts (whether it be generally, to your specific discipline, or to your specific organization).
Here are five things I learned about marketing from becoming a state capitol super fan:
1) Experience Created Loyalty: Had I not authentically found the experience of visiting these buildings rewarding, I wouldn’t have wanted to continue to do so. The experience of the visit met my needs as a cash-strapped 20-something. While there was a cost to see these places (gas, hotel stays, etc.), the venues themselves were free, and the path to get them was convenient. A trusted third party (Rand McNally in this case) had made them unmissable when I started to navigate my road trips. There were a lot of other towns on the road between Atlanta and Denville, but it was easy for me to see those state capitals as I traced my drives, as they literally stood out. Plus, each building created an occasion for me to stop and do marry something I had to do (stretch my legs) with something that interested me (art, architecture, and history). From this stage, I’d ask any arts organization a few questions:
Are you capturing audiences while they are still young and impressionable enough to have the time and space to build loyalty for something new?
Are you offering an experience that is cost-effective for that audience? (It doesn’t have to be free - after all, getting to Knoxville carried an implicit cost, even if the building I visited didn’t.)
Are you mapping your customer’s journey to understand how you can be a convenient complement to things they already love, rather than a cumbersome addition to an already busy schedule? Are you finding a way to truly stand out along that customer journey?
2) Every Capitol Wasn’t Great. That Didn’t Stop Me. The experience of visiting 50 buildings in 50 different corners of America was far from consistent. I accepted a few duds along the way. The old state capitols in both Raleigh and Springfield, for instance, are much more interesting places to visit than the current ones. (Sorry North Carolina and Illinois!) Sometimes there would be a great brochure to provide a self-guided tour, sometimes not. Sometimes there would be a great tour guide; sometimes I’d have a tour guide who had obviously just been drinking a healthy serving of whiskey at lunch (I’m looking at you Montgomery). But once I was bought in to seeing the capitols, I retained hope that each experience would be great - and didn’t assume that a bad experience at one would mean a bad experience at the next. So from that, I’d ask:
Do we have enough confidence in our audience to “get” what we do after a few experiences? Are we giving them what they need in advance to be prepared to enjoy their experience? Are we being honest with ourselves when we aren’t providing an experience at the level of excellence we are capable of?
Are we giving our audiences enough great experiences so that they trust our brand overall and so that they are willing to give us a “pass” when what they see isn’t a perfect match for their taste? (After all, isn’t that what the subscription model is all about: building trust so that people show up even if they aren’t sure they’ll like it?)
Interior of the rotunda of the Texas State Capitol in Austin
3) Super Fans Can Have a Massive Impact. I cannot count the number of people I know who have talked to me about my experience visiting all of these state capitols (whether a result of their sincere interest, polite patience, or intrigued puzzlement). In every case, I discover I’ve become something of a strange brand ambassador for the experience of visiting these specific buildings as a means to understand your history and your community. Some trips to state capitols have involved friends who found themselves along for the ride. Now, those friends check in with me (via text, via postcard) when they visit another state capitol on their own. They might not have reached “bucket list”-level interest in capitol buildings, but they are visiting them because their experience with me encouraged them to have one of their own. I feel great about it whenever I hear from someone who is at a capitol building - and if capitol-visiting were something that could be commodified, the people making money off those visits would probably be feeling great too. So, I’d ask you this:
Do you know who your super fans are? (Note: they might not be your biggest donors.) Are you doing anything to reward them for their support? Are you maximizing their potential to impact your bottom line? (Super fans might not have the available financial capacity to give significant gifts, but they will show up just about any time you have something that interests them. Having low-cost product lines that engage them may generate valuable incremental income.)
Are you helping them be ambassadors for your organization and your art form? Are you giving them the ammunition to spread word of mouth on their own? Odds are they can’t take picture of your performance the way I could take pictures of a capitol rotunda, but there is share-able content they could get (perhaps even get uniquely) that can help them spread the word?
Are you keeping track of who those super fans bring? Do you have a way to track who has walked in your door even without an email address? After all, the personal connection to a super fan makes that “plus one” more inclined to have the context to care and return. If all those people are to you is “ghost audience,” you’re likely missing out.
Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge
4) Once Habit Is Formed, You Don’t Need To Invest Enormously In Re-Enforcing It. Once places like Richmond, Dover, and Harrisburg won me over, there wasn’t a lot Helena MT or Boise ID had to do to get me to show up. It wasn’t the state capitols that were driving my interest in them. I had discovered an interest, and I was self-motivated to drive it myself. So, ask yourself:
How much are you spending to attract and retain people who are already bought into what you do? How much does your subscription or membership renewal campaign currently cost?
Does it need to cost that much or are you just in the habit of spending that much to renew long-tenured subscribers and don’t know how to break it?
Can you test your lists to see how to improve your ROI by spending less on those patrons who are your most dedicated loyalists?
5) Don’t Discount Your Potential For Travel Audiences. Visiting state capitols made me the definition of a cultural destination traveler. While we might not be a huge band of brothers (and sisters), state capitol travelers are a real cultural tourism segment. And so are travelers for August Wilson plays, Misty Copeland choreography, and Wagner opera. Don’t assume that, whatever your budget size, these fans are out of reach for you. Intelligent digital targeting can help you reach them more efficiently than ever. And the long-term benefit of these audiences is great: after all, the overlap between a travel audience member and a super fan is probably significant. And super fans already have the fire in their belly to be brand ambassadors. All you need to do is light it. So:
Are you making room in your budget to bring in travel audiences for the right programs?
Do your communications segment your travel audiences to be mindful of their unique needs?
Do you have the partnerships you need with your tourism and visitors commission to help draw people to you once they are already in your market?
Of course, visiting state capitols is about more than just marketing - so stay tuned for more essays in this series that will reflect on the actual experience of visiting these fascinating places. Who knows, perhaps you’ll plan a trip to Carson City or Augusta yourself just to visit a few capitols too!