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| Reflecting on Blue by Didem Kokturk Oil on Linen | 16 x 20
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Hi There,
Marketers generate value by developing connections between potential customer and the products they're trying to sell. In most cases, marketing strategies are geared towards filling a need or desire for the customer.
In the article below, Debra Keirce, Regular Contributing Author for FineArtViews, will discuss the importance of showing value to your followers, collectors and entire audience to continue to build your relationship.
Don't forget to reply to this email and send us any questions you may have!
Enjoy, Clint Watson
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Every human on the planet wants to feel valued. We all want to be seen and heard. This need for acknowledgement is deeply ingrained because it is required for survival. We are pack animals, and the thought of having to survive alone is terrifying. This is something that marketers try to tap into all the time. Products are presented to us in ways they hope we can relate to, and in ways that make us feel like our opinions matter.
So... What are you doing to make your past, present and future students and collectors feel seen and heard? Do they ever tell you that you make them feel special?
Reply to this email with your thoughts on this topic. There are many more great ideas out there about how to gain and retain followers by making sure they feel valued. (See what I did there? I sincerely appreciate you all. Your ideas really do matter to me, so I just let you know.) Here are the nine that come to my mind.
1. Remind your students and collectors how much you appreciate them. This could be as simple as telling them so in your regular newsletter. Or, you could randomly send an actual handwritten card to one of your best followers each month. Don't send them a list of your currently available artwork. Just send them a nice note saying how great it is to have them on this art journey with you. You'll be surprised at how memorable that makes you. Not many people reach out these days, unless they are trying to sell something to you.
2. When you interact with people, give them your undivided attention. How many times are we on zoom calls and one or more participant is typing on their computer or answering texts on their phone? I am totally guilty of this. But when I am interacting with people or peers and catch myself doing this, I always try to remember to be more present in the future. People don't relate to you when you are multi-tasking.
This applies to all engagements with your followers. Even if it's just a postcard you are writing, try to personalize the interaction. A good friend once sent me a card at the holidays that was obviously the same paragraph she wrote for about a hundred other of her "closest art friends." It was off putting. It made me feel less special than if she'd saved the stamp and the trouble.
3. Are you actively listening to your tribe? If these are the people you are working hard to market your art to, you should absolutely be soliciting their feedback and taking lots of notes, whenever possible. I have a 3 ring binder full of papers with solicited and unsolicited feedback from my audience jotted down. Whenever I revisit my marketing strategies, I pull that binder out and see how many of those comments I can incorporate into my new plans.
4. With social media, we are constantly receiving feedback. We rarely get negative comments, but the number of likes and the enthusiasm in comments can be extremely informative too. Any like or comment on your posts is a gift. Be grateful. Always be sure to like or love or comment on engagements for your posts, reels and stories. People are encouraged when they see that you noticed their feedback. In turn, they will be more likely to communicate with you in the future. When you have the time, enter their name in your reply to personalize it even further.
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| If you ignore all the comments and likes on socials, you'll only be forgiven if you are an influencer. People with hundreds of thousands of followers get a pass on having to respond to each interaction, because we all know that would be a full time job. For the rest of us, we will lose potential fans if we don't respond.
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5. Don't make a habit of sharing every single improvement strategy. But once in awhile, it doesn't hurt to be vulnerable and share something you are changing due to comments from collectors. I have shared alterations I've made to paintings or titles after I thought were finished. Friends pointed out things I could do to make them better, and in a few cases I agreed. I believe this makes you more approachable. People see that you listen and are open to new ideas.
6. Consider whether you might get more by giving more. For example, give away a video of part of your workshop. Whether you email it to just your students or post it as a Facebook live, people may come back to buy and learn because you made them feel special. Our tendency is to protect our secrets. In truth, nobody is teaching anything that hasn't been taught before, and sharing results in more sales.
7. Use passive marketing tools to invite collectors to initiate interactions. It's a way of opening the door to let them know you are available. For example, at my solo shows, I will often frame a sign that reads "accepting commissions." It's literally a sign that I frame like a painting, and hang right next to the rest of my paintings in the show. I don't run around soliciting commissions, but it puts the idea in their heads. When I've done this, I don't think I've ever had a show where I didn't get commissioned to paint more. Sometimes those calls don't come until a few weeks or months after the art show. People often need time to think about what they want to commission.
8. Always be genuine. If you put "call 10 collectors to tell them how important they are" on your to do list, do it. But don't do it just to check it off the list. They will see right through you. Don't call unless you have a few talking points written down. Ask them things you are truly interested in. Do a little research online if you can, and see what they have been up to lately. Then talk with them about the things they are doing that you relate to.
9. If it's appropriate, crowd source opinions. People love to give advice and offer their perspectives. I often ask for ideas for titles on my paintings. I save the ones I don't use, for future pieces. It's amazing how much information is right at our fingertips these days. And if you source things like titles from the people who are watching you, then you're getting answers from the very crowd you are marketing to. It doesn't get more targeted than that. Always remember to give them a tag or a mention when you use their ideas. That will strengthen your efforts to connect with them further.
Finally, like everything else in sales and marketing, this approach requires patience and consistency. You can't do these nine actions for a week and look at your sales record to decide it's not working for you. It may take months or years to build trust in your relationships, but it will eventually happen. And, when you make people feel seen and heard, they will be very loyal to you and your art for a very long time.
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| Debra Keirce Regular Contributing Author, FineArtViews www.DebKArt.com
PS - This is Clint again. I hope you enjoyed Debra's article about actively engaging with your audience and followers to build your relationships. If you're looking for new ways that you can market and sell your art, click here to sign up for your free FASO trial today. Try us free for 30 days and find out for yourself why 15,000 artists have entrusted FASO with their website.
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