Improve Your Art Marketing
It can be just plain frustrating to figure out how to best reach out to galleries and retailers. This case study shares some common problems, and some answers.
Recently, an artist mentioned to me that she had sent a large postcard mailing out to retailers for the purpose of promoting her wholesale line of handmade jewelry. She said, “I’ve gotten zero response. Zero. What do I do now?”
It turns out that she had not taken several things into account when she did her mailing:
Timing. The artist wanted to sell her jewelry line into stores, but she had mailed her postcards in the middle of the fourth quarter, which is not a time of year when retailers generally consider new lines. Their stores are full of inventory and backstock, and they are gearing up for lots of selling, not buying.
Orders placed during this time of year are with existing vendors, to replace hot sellers as the holiday season progresses. The artist in this case needed to become aware of the buying cycles for the markets she wishes to sell to. Early January would be a better time to approach those retailers.
Start Locally. The artist mailed her postcards to retailers all over the country, but she may have done better to begin with galleries and retailers in her area first. This would give her a chance to get in front of them in a personal appointment to talk about her handmade jewelry and make the sale. Since she was a beginner, that type of meeting offers a huge learning opportunity.
When selling locally, you are also close enough to stop by for an in-person appearance or trunk show to help sell your line.
Persistence. Regular contact with prospective customers is necessary to get traction – one attempt is not enough. It’s a basic marketing principle that it takes at least 7 “touches” for a prospect to remember you. That means if you send a postcard (or an email) to a potential wholesale buyer and didn’t hear back, don’t give up because you think they are not interested.
We are bombarded every day with advertising, social media and requests for attention. Customers are too – and they delete or ignore most of it. Contact your targeted prospects on a regular basis, in a variety of ways to get results.
Consider the marketing you have done for your own handmade business, and how you might make changes in your approach that will help you reach – and sell to – galleries and retailers.
To learn more from Carolyn Edlund and co-preseter Wendy Rosen, register for our Connect to Your Customer Workshop happening March 1 & 2, 2014 at Watkins College of Art, Design and Film: LINK
Guest post by CAROLYN EDLUND, Executive Director. Carolyn spent 20 years running her own production studio, designing and making handmade ceramic jewelry. She has participated in over 200 retail fairs and trade shows, and sold her line into more than 1,000 store, catalog and online accounts. As founder of the ArtsyShark blog, Carolyn shares her experience in art marketing, sales, networking, selling to major retailers, and growing online sales to a global audience. She frequently does personalized consulting.
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