| As we shared in AMP (Art Marketing Playbook), most of the time when you meet collectors in the real world they are not ready to buy. The difference between successful artists and unsuccessful artists is their ability to keep collectors interested in them until they are ready to buy. It's for this reason that newsletter marketing is the most essential tool in the artist's marketing toolkit. Here are the reasons why:
Newsletters are the only channel you completely own.That control is very important, as anyone who has had to deal with a change to Google or Facebook's algorithm will attest to. No one can take this channel away from you or make it harder for you to reach your collectors.
Newsletters are the most inexpensive form of advertising.Let's face it, sending an email costs you very little and is much more cost effective than just about any other form of advertising.
Newsletter are incredibly effective when done right.The primary reason for this is because we're addicted to checking our email. A recent study by Business Insider found that 38.8% of people surveyed check their email incessantly throughout the day.
As a general rule, collectors you meet in the real world will buy art some time in the next 2 to 9 months after you meet them.
Newsletters are the most effective way to to keep you and your art in front of them until they are ready to buy from you. Nothing does that better and more affordably than a well-executed newsletter.
When it comes to newsletter marketing, we've found there are certain pervasive myths that prevent many artists from getting started with this form of advertising. Here are the most commons ones we've heard:
You have to be a good writer.This is perhaps the most common thing we hear, and it couldn't be farther from the truth. You don't need to be Shakespeare to be successful at newsletter marketing. All you need to do is tell your story and the story of your art. And no one is in a better position to do that than you.
You need to wait until you have enough newsletter subscribers.This one is not true either. We know of a very successful artist who started his newsletter over 3 years ago, and at the time he only had 6 subscribers (all family and friends). Fast forward to today, and his newsletter successfully reaches over 5,000 subscribers and he regularly sells his art online.
It takes too much time to put a newsletter together.This one couldn't be farther from the truth either. In our experience, you can get started with a newsletter spending as little as 3 hours of your time a month.
So here's what we found is important to be successful with newsletter marketing:
Be consistent.This is perhaps the most important factor in your success. Pick a frequency and a specific day and time when you'll be sending out your newsletter and stick to it no matter what. We suggest you minimally send out a newsletter once a quarter. Ideally, you should be sending one out once a month.
Don't sell. Tell your story instead.Collectors don't just buy your art. They buy into your story as an artist and the story of your art. So tell that story in your newsletter first and foremost. It's OK to mention you have art to sell from time to time, but don't make this the thrust of your newsletters.
Encourage interaction in your newsletters.Many artists send out their newsletters and never truly ask their readers to engage with them. Don't make that mistake. Encourage your readers to provide you with feedback. Ask them to take some action (i.e. follow you on Facebook, enter a contest, schedule a studio tour, meet with you at an event, etc.). This will not only engage your readers, but will also make it much more likely that they will take action when you need it most (i.e. buying your art).
Make it your #1 priority to sign people up for your newsletter when you meet them in the real world.You heard me right. Every time you meet someone in the real world who seems interested in you and your art, mention your newsletter and get them to sign up for it right then and there.
Make sure you have a newsletter signup form on every page of your website.Remember, most of the time collectors visit your website they are not ready to buy. But it's often easy to get them to sign up for your newsletter if they are interested in you and your art. It also makes it easier to sign people up you meet in the real world. You can just point them to your website and have them sign up for your newsletter right then and there.
Although there are several options for how to create and send your newsletters, I'd like to discuss how FASO can help.
FASO makes it really easy to build and send newsletters.FASO comes with a built-in newsletter feature that makes it really easy to send out gorgeous, professional looking newsletters, even if you're not that technical.
FASO makes it easy to sign up collectors right from your FASO website. Every FASO website comes pre-built with a newsletter signup form on every page of your website. There's nothing you need to do to start signing up subscribers.
FASO can also automate your newsletter.FASO has this great feature calledGet New Art Alerts. Collectors can sign up for New Art Alerts right from your website, and when they do FASO will automatically send them a newsletter whenever you upload new art to your FASO website. There's literally nothing that you have to do to stay on top of mind with your collectors.
If you're interested in giving FASO try, click hereto get started.
So what are you waiting for? Get cracking on your newsletter today and you'll soon find how effective a tool it can be in helping you sell your art online.
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