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Flash Sale Strategies For Creative People
Are you showcasing and promoting your art on Instagram?
Are you finding it difficult to drive traffic to your artist website and land a sale?
If you are, you might want to consider launching an Instagram flash sale, and in this post, you will discover how easy it is to start a successful flash sale.
Flash sales are popular marketing strategies because everyone loves a great deal.
Developing a strategic marketing strategy for short-term and limited-time sales can increase your art business’s yearly revenue.
Having a successful flash sale requires different planning than more extended sales during the holiday season.
Here is how you can maximize your Instagram flash sale efforts.
What Is A Flash Sale
Flash sale definition is when a company sells a product at a significantly reduced price for a short period.
Here are some examples of flash sales:
50% Off Giclee Prints For Only Two Days
75% Off Greeting Cards While Supplies Last
25% Off All Original Paintings This Weekend Only
A flash sale might work well for you if you are trying to sell an original painting that has not been sold for a couple of years or a substantial discount on prints of your artwork to drive new traffic to your website.
What Are The Benefits Of Having A Flash Sale
According to Grainne Shaughnessy The benefits of a flash sale are:
- Increase the awareness of your product
- Learn who your target audience is
- Great for driving visitors to your site
You can read more by visiting The Pros And Cons Of Flash Sales
There are many advantages to having a flash sale, but if you are not careful, you could lose a large amount of your profits.
The objective of a flash sale it to increase awareness of your products and increase traffic to your site, not have your customers wait for deals because you are careless launching too many sales.
Instagram Flash Sale Tips For Artists
Here are some tips on how you can grow your audience while increasing your profits with Instagram flash sales.
Set A Goal
Know what your objectives are before you launch a flash sale on Instagram.
- Would you like more traffic to your artist website?
- Would you like to showcase a new product?
- Are you looking to increase your art print sales?
- Are you trying to build brand awareness?
- Are you trying to sell an original painting, taking up space for the past five years?
The only way you will be successful in launching a flash sale is by knowing exactly what you want to achieve with the promotion.
Once you have a clear vision of what you want, you will be able to develop a marketing strategy that will target your objectives.
Create An Instagram Sale Strategy
The next step is to develop an Instagram marketing plan.
Decide on:
- How long the sale will last
- What item or items will be on sale
- What will the discount be
- How much money are you looking to generate or how many products are you hoping to sell
- When will you be posting your flash sale on Instagram
- How many times a day are you going to be showcasing your flash sale
- How many posts you will be publishing
Now that you have all of the details written down, it is time to prepare for the launch.
Offer A Deep Discount
Flash sales differ from regular sales because they usually offer a massive discount for a short period.
Offering a substantial discount might not be appropriate for your original paintings or drawings unless you have been sitting on them for some time and just want to unload them.
Maybe offering a flash sale on prints or merchandise might be best if you are trying to drive more traffic to your site.
Your objectives will determine the choice you make for your sale.
Every sale will be different and will be determined by your goals for the flash sale.
Preparing For An Instagram Flash Sale
Now that you have an objective for your promotion, the next step is to prepare for the event.
The amount of time you prepare for the short sale will significantly affect the outcome of the sale.
Take notes of everything you do so you can look back and discover what worked for you and what didn’t work.
There will be some experimenting first, but after a few launches, you will know what excites your audience.
Here are some things you will want to do before each flash sale.
Write Posts In Advance
You will find it easier to run a successful flash sale if you have everything done before the launch.
Decide how many posts you will be posting on Instagram and create them before you start the sale.
Use different images and text to promote your sale. Just make sure that they complement your goals.
Keep detailed notes of how each image and text performed for the sale.
This information you collect will be valuable for the next flash sale you promote.
Create A Posting Schedule
Do some research and find out what time your audience is on Instagram.
To view your Instagram’s Insights, go to your business profile, and tap Insights.
This is where you can learn more about specific posts, stories, and promotions.
When you have more than 100 followers, you can learn more about who’s following you.
The information you gather will help you to develop a posting schedule.
The next step is to create a scheduling calendar and organize all posts by date and time they will be published.
Keep the calendar on your computer so you see it every day. This will help you to remember what you will be posting for each day.
Keep detailed notes of your posting schedule for the next flash sale you launch.
Use Hashtags
Do some research and find out what hashtags work best for your artwork.
I like to use the best performing hashtags on all of my posts with a couple of different hashtags to try to reach new people.
The critical thing to remember is that you want the hashtags to represent your post.
If you struggle with hashtags, you might want to try Tailwinds HashTag Finder.
Tailwind will help you to multiply your reach with the best hashtags for every post.
Make It Easy To Order
Selling on Instagram is a little more complicated than most social media networks because you can not include clickable links on your posts.
The only clickable link on Instagram is located on your bio page.
But it is possible to make it easy for your Instagram followers to purchase your art with help from Instagram shoppable tools.
These tools will allow your followers to explore and purchase your art with just a few easy clicks.
Below are some shopping tools you can look into:
Each tool provides different features and varies in prices. Take a look at all of them to see if they will be a perfect fit for you.
Promote Your Flash Sale
The last step is to promote your flash sale on other platforms like Facebook, Twitter, your email list, and Instagram Stories.
Share your event with everybody outside of Instagram and recommend that they follow you on Instagram for future sales.
This strategy works well for building your Instagram following, and the more followers you have, the more successful your Instagram flash sales will be.
Learn What Works Best For You
Now that you know how to run a flash sale, it is time to take action.
Do not expect your first flash sale to be a success.
In most cases, they perform very poorly.
Instead of being discouraged, think of it as a learning experience.
You are going to learn:
- What type of images work best
- What kind of text produces the best engagement
- What the best hashtags to use to reach your audience
- Best days to post on Instagram
- Best times to post on Instagram
- How to make it easy for your audience to make a purchase
- Was the timeframe of your sale long enough
- Was the discount sufficient to inspire people to purchase
Invest In Your Art Business
Selling art is a business.
Have you ever heard the saying, “You have to spend money to make money.”
Investing in quality art supplies, a camera, and marketing courses will help you separate yourself from other artists selling art online.
If you are a big fan of Instagram, you might want to consider taking some Instagram marketing courses.
Below are three popular Instagram online video courses available today.
- Hype Your Brand on Instagram by Sue B. Zimmerman
- Create an Instagram Paid Ad Strategy by Morgan Sutton
- Growing Your Audience on Instagram by Pei Ketron
Final Thoughts On Launching An Instagram Flash Sale
There are many benefits of holding a flash sale, but a flash sale is not guaranteed to make money.
You will be able to develop a better flash sale strategy after you have launched a few to see what works best for your unique audience.
The most important thing I want to highlight is the importance of taking the right notes on your strategies.
Keep track of what you did and how it performed. Soon you will be an expert at developing successful flash sales.
Popular Art Marketing And Sales Tutorials
Are you ready to take your art business to the next level?
Investing in marketing courses and tutorials will maximize your profit and speed up the growth of your business.
You Might Also Be Interested In:
- How to Overcome Self-Doubt for Artists (Imposter Syndrome)
- How To Seal Oil Pastel Paintings
- 10 Time-Saving Hacks Every Artist Should Know
- Unveiling the Secrets of Encaustic Painting: Unlock Your Artistic Journey
- Unleash Your Creativity on the Go: The Ultimate Guide to Traveling Art Kits
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Below are some of the most popular art marketing courses that will grow your online art business:
Most Popular – How to Make a Living Selling What You Make by Megan Auman
Most Popular – Build a Successful Creative Blog by April Bowles-Olin
How to Build a Business While Learning Your Craft by Megan Auman
Pinterest Marketing for Makers & Designers by Megan Auman
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