The valuable feedback is used by the ABBA Team to set the general direction of the association so these surveys are really important. If you are a member of ABBA or you subscribed to our website notifications, you will have received a personal email with a direct link to the full survey results so you can see in detail the responses.
One of the key messages we would like to convey is that we listen to our members and, where possible and with the limited resources we have available to us, we try to accommodate their wishes.
The major messages were:
Most of the awareness of the Association came from personal contact followed by social media.
A significant number of our members who responded (79%) would like the opportunity to sell their artwork online.
The ABBA membership fee was considered value for money by 88% of current members who responded.
In general, people are happy to have an online gallery although they would like to see more detail in the artwork displayed.
The overwhelming preference (81%) is for the “Slider Gallery” rather than the “3D Gallery”. This mode also allows the visitor to see the detail they would like.
A role for ABBA Champions was YES (46%) POSSIBLY (41%) and a request for direct contact from the Champions with the Members.
In general, there was a wide awareness of “Events” (71%) and the preferred communication of these events was by email.
Our respondents told us that the devices they used to access the ABBA website were evenly spread between laptops, desktops, mobile phones and tablets. Google analytics of our website tells us that over the last 12 months our readers use a desktop (46.9%), a mobile phone (28.9%) and a tablet (24.2%).
About 75% of respondents who were members have used the members area at least occasionally.
The preferred means of communication from ABBA to our members is by email.
There was a very pleasing number of members who wanted to play a more active role with ABBA (17 left their email addresses).
As a direct result of listening to our members and subscribers ABBA would like to outline the following steps that will happen immediately or in the near future. We remind our readers that ABBA exists because of a few dedicated volunteers with a shared love of botanical art and we are always looking for members who would like to play a role in the management and growth of the association.
The 3D Gallery received little support so our first action will be to replace this gallery with a traditional slider gallery - this will be completed as soon as possible.
There will be no change in the annual Membership fee.
We are currently reviewing the role of ABBA Champions.
Establish a dedicated ABBA Facebook page to enhance communication and sharing between our followers.
In the free text comments feedback suggested that at times the ABBA website viewer experience with tablets was less than optimal. We would like to address this. Our website provider is focussed on optimised viewing for desktop/laptops and mobile phones since these are the major platforms used by the general population and this is also reflected in our website analysis. For 2020 we will focus on trying to improve the tablet experience.
We will explore the possibility of establishing an online art store where members can sell their artwork. This is a major step and would involve considerable work. However, if the demand is there we are prepared to look seriously at what would be involved and if there was a sufficient client base to justify the work involved and additional team members to support this direction.
We realise there is some interest is ABBA holding a physical exhibition and we will be exploring the options available to us in the future.
Our biggest challenge for our members is the tyranny of distance so we are exploring how this can be addressed using some of the online tools available to us. Our innovative 3D Gallery that is provided by a third party is not the preferred medium for viewing our members artwork and we will make those changes. However, we are prepared to explore these opportunities if it helps our members appreciate botanical art via different viewing platforms.
If you have any further comments on the ABBA Survey, or the steps we are taking based on the feedback, please contact us at britbotart@gmail.com.
Thanks go to all of our survey respondents we really appreciate your feedback.
The ABBA Team