How To Turn Potential Art Buyers Into Loyal Collectors
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In the past, I have shared with you different strategies that help you to generate more traffic to your art blog and website. There is no question that you will have a better chance of selling your art if you are receiving more traffic.
The more people who see your art, the better your chance will be to sell your art.
The question is, “How do you turn potential buyers into collectors?”
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Who is Visiting Your Site?
Every artist that starts an art blog and art website have the same common goal. They want more traffic.
It does not matter if the artist has 500 people visiting their site per month or if the artist has 5,000 monthly visitors. They all want more traffic.
Striving to have more traffic is always a good plan, but you will also want to focus on converting your viewers into buyers.
Let’s start by talking about who is visiting your site.
If you are marketing to the right people, your target audience, they will be people interested in your art and your artistic message.
Why are you not landing more sales if you are attracting your target audience?
One of the main reasons is because they have not gotten to know you well enough. Keep in mind. They can not see your art in person and they can not converse with you in person. The only thing they have to go on is what you share on your sites.
Another reason is that they are not in the buyer’s frame of mind. Yes, they might like your art and they would be happy to have it hang in their house. But they are just not ready to buy.
Turning your potential buyers into collectors of your art will be a lot of work. In fact, you will be working on this every day as long as you are selling art online.
I am going to go over some best practices to help you speed up the process.
Build Brand Awareness
People see art all day long on the internet. They see art on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Blogs, Forums, Websites, and the list goes on.
What can you do to make people aware of your art?
What can you do to make people know that it is your art they are looking at?
It all has to do with branding.
Entrepreneur.com defines Branding for Marketing as:
Definition: The marketing practice of creating a name, symbol or design that identifies and differentiates a product from other products . An effective brand strategy gives you a major edge in increasingly competitive markets.
Let’s talk about how large businesses branded their products.
The first example I will use is Nike.
Every time that you look at sneakers made from Nike, you know they are Nike.
Why?
Over the years they stayed true to their brand.
The look and make of the sneakers are similar and the logo has stayed the same over the years.
Yes, Nike will design different sneakers to keep buyers interested but all of their sneakers have a similar look and style to them.
Coke has done an amazing job branding their product. If you were looking down a grocery store aisle to purchase Coke for a party, it would not take you long to locate it.
Why?
Over the years Coke has stayed true to their brand and look. From the color of the bottle to the font style and logo everyone knows Coke when they see it.
How can you incorporate this strategy with your art online?
First, you will want to design a logo for your art business. This task will be easy for you because you are a creative person. Use your creative strengths to create a unique logo everyone will remember.
Next, you will want to add your logo to every platform you are working on to market your artwork.
The key is to be consistent on all mediums.
Many people visit different social media sites throughout the day. You want people to start to become familiar with your posts.
In time, they will be able to identify your posts as they are scrolling through their news feed.
Your art blog and website should also have the same look and feel. Having a different look will only confuse your audience.
Image editing tools:
These are what I use to edit my images. They are all similar but have some different features that make particular jobs easier.
Showcase Your Art
How you display your art will also help you to build brand awareness.
Decide how you will be taking images of your art and be consistent with each image.
These are some examples I found on Pinterest.
You can easily see that there is a difference in how each artist is showcasing their art. Decide on what backdrop or background will look best for your artwork. Stay consistent with what you decide and use the same image for all of your social media sites, blog and website.
Use Multiple Images
More people are purchasing art online than ever before. Even though online art sales are up, it is still different from buying art in person.
The obvious difference is potential buyers can look at art up close and at different angles. This is a challenge for artists displaying their art online.
One way some artists have overcome this challenge is by providing multiple shots of their art on their website and sales page.
Helpful Tips:
- Take images of your art at different angles.
- A close up of your art will show the texture of your art. The texture of a piece art is important for some buyers.
- Stage your art on a wall or shelf. This will give your audience an idea of what your art might look like in their home.
You will never be able to create the same experience for an online shopper versus a person purchasing your art in person. But displaying several different images could make the difference between selling your art or not selling your art.
For more information on photographing your art visit:
Art Description
A well-written description will help you to hook a viewer and land a sale.
Most people do not have the patience to search for information about a product they are contemplating purchasing. They want to be able to gather the information they need quickly so they can get on with their day.
Your description should be short and to the point while answering all of the important details about purchasing the product.
Related Post: Effective Tips on Writing Art Descriptions That Sell
Attract The Right Person
You have heard me say in the past, “There is a buyer for every piece of art that is created.”
The easiest way to land more sales from your website is to attract people who are interested in your style of art. These people are also known as your target audience.
In order for you to find your target audience, you will want to start by identifying your niche. You can then start to narrow it down by age, demographics, gender, and interests.
After you have identified your target audience, you will want to develop a digital marketing strategy that will attract them to your site.
The foundation of your digital marketing strategy will be blogging. The content you write about will attract people doing searches on the search engines. If the content you write about supports your brand and niche, the people who click on your posts will be your target audience. They will be the people who will be more likely to purchase your art.
The first step is to attract them, the second step is to keep them coming back.
Customer Service
Providing great customer service has been one of my priorities from the beginning. It is the easiest way for you to keep your buyers coming back. Not only will your customers come back to your site but they will also be your biggest advocate. They will tell everyone they know about you because they trust you.
What is great customer service?
Susan A. friedmann wrote a great article about customer service called The 10 Commandments of Great Customer Service found on The Balance.
Here are the highlights of her post.
The 10 Commandments of Customer Service
- Be a Good Listener
- Identify and Anticipate Needs
- Make Customers Feel Important and Appreciated
- Body Language is Key
- Understanding is Crucial
- Appreciate the Power of “Yes”
- Know How to Apologize
- Give More Than Expected
- Get Regular Feedback
- Treat Employees Well
The only two that might not relate to you is body language (unless you provide videos) and treat employees well.
Everything else is key to longevity. Go visit Susan’s post for more information on the 10 Commandments of Customer Service.
Test Mediums
Not every artist will do well marketing on the same social media site or a specific venue. This all goes back to understanding who your target audience is and where they like to hang out. Just because you see that one artist does well on Etsy does not mean they will do as well on eBay. The same goes for you. In the beginning, you will want to try different ways to sell your art.
I highly recommend having an artist blog to showcase your art as well as a platform where people can purchase your art. You can either have a website or sell on a third-party site.
I suggest to anyone serious about selling their art online to have a website they own and have control of. Third-party sites are great for artists just starting out or an addition to a website they own.
Related Post: 15 Places to Sell Art Online
After you have decided on what platforms you will be selling your art on, you will want to find out where they hang out. What social media sites do they frequently visit? Once you find out where they are, start marketing yourself on those sites.
Focus On People Who Purchased From You
It takes less energy to sell to someone who has already purchased from you versus finding a new customer. Treat every person that has purchased from you with the utmost respect. Go above and beyond to make them feel special. Not only will they be more likely to purchase from you again but they will help you to build your brand awareness by talking about you to everyone they know.
Stay Active
The last tip that I would like to talk about is staying active on all of the sites you are marketing on. Always make a presence on every social media site you are on. Be consistent with your blogging schedule. Send out regular newsletters.
To put it simply you want to make a presence every day. Remember most people are not in the buying frame of mind, but when they are you want to be there.
Conclusion:
Did you ever hear the quote, “You get what you put into it”?
This statement is so true to digital marketing and selling art online.
If you want people to remember you, you have to work at it every day.
The more people see you and get to know you the more they will trust you. When they are ready to buy artwork you will be the first on their mind. Stay consistent and turn your potential art buyers into collectors.
You might also be interested in:
Digital Content Marketing – What Artists Need to Know
How Artists Can Increase Search Engine Rankings in 10 Months
How to Sell on Pinterest Tips for Artists
9 Social Media Marketing Tips for Artists Selling Art Online
How to Promote Your Art Online with YouTube
28 Day Blogging Challenge for Visual Artists
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