Are you trying to find different ways to build your art business? In this post, I am going to talk about some traditional art marketing best strategies that will build brand awareness so you can start growing your audience and sell more art.
Traditional Art Marketing Best Strategies
Thanks to the internet, artists have multiple opportunities to build a successful art career.
Utilizing both traditional art marketing and online art marketing will build brand awareness to people around the world.
Think about the possibilities you have as a creative person.
You no longer have to create work that is popular in the area you reside in.
Artists who reside in New York have an opportunity to sell their art to people who reside in Hawaii.
Marketing and selling of artwork have never been easier.
Tools now available like Facebook, blogs, the ability to build a website, email, affordable printing services, have made marketing art possible for all artists.
With my first art business, I decided to only market online. It worked well for that niche.
My new graphite and pastel art business I have chosen to use both traditional and online marketing to build my business.
Some people choose either online marketing or offline marketing to build their art business.
You might use both methods or choose to pick just one of the two strategies.
Understanding both will help you make the best decision for your business.
Marketing Fine Art – Know Your Objective
Writing goals for your art business is a crucial step you will want to take before you begin to develop an art marketing plan.
It is essential for you to have a clear vision of what you want to achieve before you can start designing strategies that will build your art career.
Do you have a difficult time writing goals?
If you do you are not alone.
I have created many resources and tools that will help you to write achievable goals and printables to track your progress.
How to Write Goals You Can Achieve Workbook
Artist Goal Planners in Light Blue
Artist Goal Planners in Light Pink
Annual Art Business Review Workbook
After you have your goals documented, take the time to develop strategies to achieve the goals.
Visual Artist Marketing Plan
Mohit Tater shares his thoughts about traditional marketing in a post he wrote for Entrepreneurship Life.
Mohit went on to say:
“Although more and more people are making full use of the advantages of the internet, there is still a significant number of potential customers who either do not have access to the internet, or are not internet savvy. So while advertising online can certainly increase a business’ customer base, traditional marketing methods can be accessed by just about everyone, and are thus very helpful in increasing a brand’s public visibility.”
You can read more by visiting Why Traditional Marketing is Still Effective
Mohit brings up a great point.
Many artists have fallen victim to the internet.
Most artists including me are introverts and find it easier to promote their artwork over the internet in the privacy of their home.
Yes, there are endless opportunities to share your artwork with people around the world, but why should you ignore your next-door neighbors?
Who do you think you will get the most support from, people who live in your town or people you have never met you in person 3,000 miles away?
If you are an introvert, I want to tell you that marketing your artwork offline does become easier over time.
What is art marketing?
Marketing art simply means making people aware you have art for sale and creating a demand for your art.
The easiest way to start marketing your art offline is by talking about your art to your family and friends.
Soon you will feel comfortable talking about art to any and everyone.
Traditional Art Marketing Best Strategies Experiment
I recently did an experiment to see if traditional art marketing would help me to grow my following.
I developed a local traditional marketing strategy and invested $250.00.
I wanted to know if my efforts would be rewarded or if I was wasting my time.
What I invested in:
- Business cards
- Flyers
- Brochures
I also worked on my elevator pitch and self-promoting strategies. This was difficult for me at first but in time I felt very comfortable and confident.
After six months I have reviewed my social media growth, art sales, email list growth, and blog traffic.
This is what I found.
- Facebook likes up 22%.
- Twitter follows up 2%
- Art sales up 36%
- Email subscribers up 46%
- Blog traffic up 104%
I was very happy with the results.
However, there is no way for me to know if they were the results of my traditional marketing strategies or my digital marketing strategies.
I can say overall I did see a 17% average growth compared to the previous six months.
My conclusion was that traditional art marketing did help me in some way to build a following and brand awareness.
It will be interesting to see what happens over the next six months.
Traditional Art Marketing
Traditional art marketing is advertising your business using print, audio, or visual mediums.
- Business cards
- Advertisements in newspapers or magazines
- Billboards
- Flyers
- Brochures
Audio
- Advertisements on the radio
- Talking one on one
Visual
- Television commercials
Some of these marketing strategies might not fit your budget.
There are however some strategies that you can take advantage of that will not break the bank.
Self-Promoting
Most people do not feel comfortable about self-promoting themselves.
It can be done effectively without you sounding like you are trying to land a sale.
To be effective, you will want to design an elevator pitch.
An elevator pitch is an overview of a product, service or idea.
In your case, your elevator pitch will be an overview of your art business and the artwork you sell.
The term “elevator pitch” was created because the overview should take no longer than a ride on an elevator. This is about 30 seconds or less than 150 words.
Benefits Of An Elevator Pitch
- Having an elevator pitch will give you a way to communicate what you do while having the listener wanting more.
- Sitting down and spending time writing an elevator pitch will also help you brand your business.
- It will have you think of everything that you want your business to offer.
- It will give you a clear vision of everything that you would like to achieve for your business.
- You will be able to write a plan to have you reach your business goals.
- You will be able to design a marketing plan by knowing the core values of your business.
- You will be able to write content that will be specific to your audience.
- It will help you find new customers.
- It will help you decide on your pricing, policies and so much more.
Business Cards, Brochures, And Flyers
Business cards, brochures, and fliers are a great way for you to hand something that is tangible to someone who showed interest in your elevator pitch.
They are relatively inexpensive and will allow someone to contact you.
Have a consistent design for business cards, brochures, and fliers.
What Should Be On Your Business Cards, Brochures, And Fliers
- Your name.
- Business name if it is different then your name.
- Phone number.
- Email address.
- Website.
- An image of your work.
You want to keep your design clean and appealing.
Take some time and think about how you want them to look.
They are a reflection of your brand, once they are handed out you cannot change it.
Where Can You Purchase Business Cards, Brochures, And Fliers
Many online sites offer costume business cards, brochures, and fliers.
Do a search and read the reviews and pricing before you decide which one that you would like to use.
You want to look into the quality, pricing, if it is easy to design, how long it takes to receive your order, and if they offer a money-back guarantee.
You might also want to check out your local printing businesses.
Here are 4 top-rated printing sites you can look into:
Advertisements
Purchasing an advertisement on the radio or television might be financially out of reach and not worth the return.
You might find it beneficial to buy advertisements for local schools, churches, or small family-owned restaurants.
They provide a small block that will be included in fliers and brochures.
It will provide local brand awareness along with helping a local business.
Do you use traditional art marketing?
Are you going to try these traditional art marketing best strategies to grow your art business?
Send Your First Email Newsletter Today – AWeber Communications
Conclusion:
Digital marketing has made it possible for artists to earn money from their skills.
However, I don’t believe we should just give up on traditional art marketing yet.
Traditional Art Marketing Best Strategies Overview:
- Business cards
- Advertisements in newspapers or magazines
- Billboards
- Flyers
- Brochures
- Advertisements on the radio
- Talking one on one
- Television commercials
- Self-promoting
- Marketing Fine Art
- Traditional Art Marketing Best Strategies Experiment
- Art Marketing Definition
- Self-Promoting
- What Are The Benefits Of An Elevator Pitch
- Business Cards, Brochures, And Flyers
- What Should Be On Your Business Cards, Brochures, And Fliers
- Where Can You Purchase Business Cards, Brochures, And Fliers
- Advertisements
Selling art is all about making people aware you are an artist and you have art for sale.
Try these traditional art marketing best strategies and see if they help you grow your audience.
Times have changed. No longer does an artist have to have a gallery representation to sell fine art.
The art world is changing, and the new art gallery is a website.
- Digital Content Marketing – What Artists Need to Know
- How to Become an Expert Marketing Your Art
- How Artists Can Grow Their Art Business by Teaching Online
- How to Sell Art Online and Make Money
- 5 Ways Artist Blogs Sell Art and Why You Should Start One
Popular Art Marketing And Sales Tutorials
Below are some of the most famous 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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