Gallery Marketing

Elements of An Ad

Advertising can be frustrating to those of us on the "sell side". Frustrating because some advertisers get great results while others do not. Many elements impact results. Your brand and the level of awareness and trust, the economy, the product you are advertising, timing, positioning, frequency, etc. But the first place I start is with the advertisement.

Gallery marketing is a little different than other advertising because most galleries do exactly the same thing.... they show an image of a painting, put the name of the artist at the top of the ad and the name of the gallery at the bottom. It's not terribly creative, but then again in most cases the name of the game is to sell THAT specific painting or artist.

The first principal of advertising is to ZIG when others ZAG. In other words don't do the same thing everyone else does. Be different. But willing to be different and stand out may mean you have to think differently and that involves risk.

One advertiser recently told me his ads in another publication were not working. He said he had been advertising pretty much every issue for 20 years and he no longer got calls. He told me he was going to cancel his advertising and shift it to my publication. In spite of my urge to sell him advertising I told him not to cancel. He was shocked that I would not jump on his buying signal and the chance to take a shot at another magazine. I told him that indeed it was not their fault that he no longer got response. He had to assume responsibility. Twenty years is a long time... and a chance for people to be completely comfortable with the ads. What did I suggest? Though I meant this a little tongue in cheek... I told him "turn the upside down." The point is that people were so comfortable that he was always there, his ads had not changed (only the paintings) and people no longer responded therefore he needed to find a way to stand out. How? Do something different... different ad sizes, different design, and maybe even a non-traditional approach to the ads.

I'd like to see more galleries being creative, looking for interesting and entertaining ways to get their message across and sell paintings. It can still be done with taste but most of the ads in most of the publications are the same. Take a look at what QUESTROYAL did. Lou Selarno may be a genius. Many of his ads were two page spreads. On the left he had a giant antique photo of an artist and a bio on the artist. On the right was a painting from that artist and the gallery information. He was EDUCATING his reader, SELLING the historical value of the artist and therefore his ads looked different and stood out above the rest. Lou found a tasteful way to make fresh ads and be different.

What should every ad contain? Research indicates that people look at photos first. So the image of the painting and other photos are what get noticed. What do they look at second? Photo captions. EVERY PHOTO should have a caption and the caption should be informative and maybe even have a subtle sell message. Here's an example of a photo caption: "This is the only painting of a ship known to have been painted by John Singer Sargent making it extremely rare and collectable." The sell message in this case is "rare and collectable."  Even the smallest photo should have a caption. If it is an interior shot it could be something like "XYZ gallery features 40,000 square feet showcasing over 500 pieces of art." That caption is inviting and a sell message and is a tool which most ads forget to use... a caption.

After the photo (or image of a painting) and the caption the next most important element is the headline. Your headline needs to give you a good reason to read the ad. It needs to be something I want to see as a reader. Most headlines in art gallery ads are the name of the artist. This is fine, but since every ad is the same it needs to be a powerful artist who will get attention... or a headline which is more compelling. For instance why not a headline about the artist like “The Rarest John Singer Sargent Painting." Or a headline about the benefits of the gallery like "Voted Best Gallery in

Boston

by Boston Magazine for 10 Consecutive Years."

What gets read after the headline? The SUB HEADLINE. This is a slightly larger block of copy which is over your main paragraph or begins your main paragraph. This should contain the SECOND most important message you want people to know.

I believe all ads should have a copy block. Because most of the focus in art ads is showing paintings you don't have room for a lot of copy. But copy helps sell and is an opportunity to give some information about the artist, the painting and the benefit to the reader. It’s also a place to do some positioning of the gallery and a call to action.

Benefits are critical in advertising. What's in it for me the reader? Look for ways to make the ads about THEM not about you. Meaning... what's in it for them if they do business with you?

Call to action. Every ad should have one. Something as simple as "We welcome your phone calls or web site visits." By listing your phone we assume that is enough but there is evidence that an ad containing a call to action does increase response.

Logo and contact information need to be on everything. Logo biggest. Address and phone do not need to be too big. They eat valuable space and if people want that info it's present but not obtrusive. The thought that people will call because the phone number is bigger is not proven. We do recommend that the web site and phone are easy to find so maybe slightly bigger type and bold. But no need to make these giant.

Type impacts ad results as well. Headlines should be dark colors on light backgrounds and light colors on dark. Contrast is important. Reversed type (White on a color) needs to be high contrast, a very easy to read font, and short copy blocks. Research indicates that about one paragraph with about five lines is the most anyone will read if the copy block is reversed. When using type make sure it’s big enough for your target audience. If it’s too big people won't read it either. 9-12 point is about perfect.

Design the ad for the media you are using. The same ad will not work for all audiences. Every publication has a different audience. Though there is always some duplication each has a large number of unique readers and you need to make sure the ad reflects the readers. For instance well educated experienced art people are different that affluent people not educated in art. Or magazines that feature all contemporary art are different than those that feature only a style of art. All magazines have their own strengths but your ads need to be designed to fit their audience. Also keep age of audience in mind. Magazines with a lot of people over 50 need bigger type in the ads... and bigger still if the audience is 65 and above.

I believe every advertiser should have a description line under their logo. If people don't know you this helps them understand what you are all about. Something like "19th Century European Art" or "Classic Bronze and Marble Sculpture."

Advertising is trial and error. Sometimes it works and sometimes it does not. Plus keep in mind that just because you don't see instant feedback does not mean it's not working. Each ad is an impression which builds awareness of your brand. Plus shelf life is an issue. We have had advertisers get calls from an issue over a year old.

Of course frequency of advertising and positions can impact ad results as well. People go through a process of adoption before they will do business with people. This is less true in some business categories and truer in others. People who buy art need to feel trust. If spending over $1000 they need to be able to know the business is established has a good reputation, can be trusted. After all they don't want to buy frauds, copies or stolen works. Time and frequent impressions is the best way to overcome these issues. The more they see you the more they trust you.

It's always advisable to get a second opinion. Show your ad to someone outside of your staff. Ask customers to evaluate the ad, ask the publications for their opinions. An advertiser recently asked me to evaluate his ads and I made about six major changes. He had not seen the problems until I pointed them out and once this was done it became clear.

There are many elements and any single element can impact results.

TIME AND BRANDING

What is a brand? A brand is the PERCEPTION potential customers have of your business. It is the CUMULATIVE effect of everything you do. Everything impacts your brand, and everything you do needs to reflect the brand you hope to project.

Branding starts the day you open your doors. Every impression a customer has of your business builds their perception of your business. It starts with the first contact with you the business owner. Does your appearance reflect the brand you are trying to project? It continues with your logo, your letterhead, your web site, your email signature, the interior of your gallery, the neighborhood of your location, your exterior signage, your booth at art fairs, your business cards, and your advertising.

YOUR MOST VISIBLE FACE
The reason advertising is often thought of as the key impact element of a brand is because advertising is, more often than not, the face the community sees more frequently. Every part of your advertising must project the image you want people to believe about your business. (It's up to your business to BE what you are projecting. Pretending will only damage your brand.) Brand-savvy marketers understand that where you advertise is as important as what you advertise. They understand that the wrong colors, the wrong type, the wrong design, and the wrong copy will instantly change the perception of the brand.

Every contact a customer or potential customer has is a reinforcement of who you are. Advertising is a significant contact. The other frequently seen contact is often your storefront and signage, if your target customer is in a position to walk or drive by your location frequently.

Brands are about TRUST. Do I as a potential customer trust you? Do I perceive that you are worthy of my time, my money? Brands are also about SELF IMAGE. Do I as a potential customer identify with you? Do the works of art you carry appeal to me? Are they priced to my self image? (Pricing is another discussion for another time, but many people think low price is better than high price. This is not true of brands projecting affluence).

TIME is one of the most important elements of brand building. Think about your own life? You meet someone for the first time. How long before you've developed trust? Does your trust grow as you see them more frequently? How long before you bring that person into your inner circle? The same is true in BRANDING with potential customers. They want to know they can trust you, especially if you're selling something expensive which could be fraudulent or stolen. Reputation is a critical part of the brand and reputations are built over time (among other things).

Several years ago I met a woman who shared her branding story with me. She was trying to establish herself as an artist and had formerly been in the advertising world. In spite of her short supply of financial resources she told herself that to build her brand she must advertise consistently for several years. She was committed to her long term plan. She contacted a prominent art magazine, purchased an ad in every issue in a size she could afford. (FYI Size impacts brand perception. Again, we will address this in the future). In the first six months she saw no results. Though her instinct was to stop advertising she knew, from her advertising background that this continuing was important. She was not getting any phone calls and not selling any paintings through her ad. But she continued. About a year later she started getting invited as an invited guest at juried art shows. Over time she started receiving calls from collectors wanting to buy her work. Eventually galleries started calling to represent her work. Eventually she was asked to judge juried shows, speak at events, offer workshops, etc. Over the course of about three years she went from being unknown to being a well-known brand.

Her next step was to expand her advertising. She said that the first principle (which I agree with) is to dominate what you can afford to dominate. Her first goal was to get known by the audience of a single publication. She was in every issue and though she was getting results and could have stopped she continued (and is still in that publication). She believes the constant reinforcement of her work, her brand continues to build her prominence and her sales. Rather than increasing her ad size she opted to build her reputation with another magazine. She ran different ads with different artworks so she could track results. She got no results with the second magazine. Even though she suspected some duplication of audience, she did not feel the second magazine gave her any results. Again she considered dropping out but understood that the same principal applied... she needed to build her brand with this audience as well. By so doing she would increase the number of people aware of her brand, knowing that every magazine has some shared audience and some exclusive audience (a subject for a future blog). Over time she saw another increase in her business. So now she had a brand with two magazine audiences and maintains both. When we came along she signed on with us and is doing the same thing... building a brand with our audience. Again, she had moments of considering cancellation due to slow results, but with time she began to see results. What she learned in our case was that she was hearing from a new level of buyers who were less sensitive to price and who had a tendency over time to collect her work rather than buy a single piece. Each publication she uses has a different audience personality and response. Some are read more by artists, which reinforces her workshop and judging business. Others reach collectors in a particular region, while others reach higher affluence. Each plays an important role to her.

TIME is the key to building a brand. The more messages your potential customers see the more your reputation is reinforced. (Bad messages reinforce bad image too!)Repetition is critical. The more impressions the see in the shorter amount of time, the more your brand is built. One advertiser opted to not do full pages but instead decided to do two half pages in the same issue for an extra impression each issue, thus speeding the process. It's important to remember, however, that it is a process not a single event. People who advertise with a single event action in mind are often disappointed. There are techniques which can be employed to boost single action advertising, however, smart marketers understand that a single ad which is seeking an immediate response is much more effective if launching from a high base of awareness. (Another blog entry at another time).

Thoughts on Brand Environment

Branding is sensitive. Luxury brands understand that the slightest misstep can damage their brand. Luxury marketers understand that the perception of the media or event in which they are participating is important in reinforcing the brand itself.

Why do you not find high end retailers in low end shopping malls? Environment. A high end brand of course is less likely to sell in a low end environment. But more important... if a high end brand's customers feel their brand is not exclusive, is being made available to "average" people (or below average) it deteriorates the special essence of the brand.

Mercedes, in my opinion, lost their panache when they started producing lower cost models for the middle class. Though I don't know if it was good for their business financially I do believe it drove affluent customers to seek something the middle could not afford. After all, cars are transportation. If affluent people only wanted transportation they would by a low cost KIA (by the way, KIA has become a HOT! brand and is growing in popularity among the middle affluent due to service, quality, and design of some models). Many affluent want an automobile which reflects their stature and thus the reason brands like Bentley, Rolls Royce and others excel.

So what does environment have to do with gallery marketing? Of course it depends on who you are targeting and what you are selling. IF you are selling expensive paintings to affluent people they have expectations of your environment. They expect the environment of your gallery space to be up to the level of quality and design of their homes. If your space is low end their subconscious mind will tell them the quality you offer is not worth the price.

An acquaintance of mine had a very important painting to sell. His gallery was mid-level, selling mid-priced artworks. He advertised and displayed this important work for sale at a very high price but it did not sell. It was not a fit and therefore sent the message that there must be something wrong. So the gallery owner syndicated the painting to a high end gallery whose customers were used to buying expensive paintings. It sold immediately.

Environment is also important to high end galleries in their advertising. If the paper is thin, the content is of poor quality, the writers are not known these galleries may not support a particular advertising environment. In spite of proof of readership advertisers will often avoid publications which do not project quality. Bottom line is that they are protective of their image and brand and do not want their high-end clients to feel as though they associate themselves with anything other than the highest and best quality.

Tracking Phone Calls

"I'm calling to discuss why my advertising did not work" said an advertiser on the phone. It’s a call I've had before and one every magazine person on earth gets once in a while.

Advertisers expect results and it's our responsibility to help them get results. So a phone call like this from time to time is not unusual.

Frankly, it’s never fun to have this dialogue. The customer always wants to blame the media and rarely do they want to look at what they may have done to cause the problem. But, if it’s my fault I'm ready to take the blame.

So... why is it that I can have six advertisers in the magazine who call with RAVE results... lots of business generated from the ads and in the same issue I can have one or two who get no results?
Why, if all things are equal do some ads work and others do not?

First, all things are never equal in marketing. For instance one advertiser may be more established, have a stronger brand (translation awareness and trust), taste in what was advertised that appeals to the taste of the reader, have a more effective web site, a better ad, a better receptionist....

Let’s start with the receptionist. An advertiser phoned me and said I'm not getting any phone calls from your advertising. After our discussion I was curious, so I waited a couple of days and phoned the gallery. "XYZ Gallery. May I help you?" I answered, "Yes, I'm looking at and ad and I am curious about the painting by Gerome which is shown in the ad." Her reply, "OH that's been sold." ....long pause. "OK", I said, "thank you." "You're welcome sir, thanks for calling."
What's wrong with this picture? She did not engage me? She did not ask my interests? She did not ask if I would be interested in seeing another painting from the same artist. She did not ask my name or contact information. She did not ask where I had seen the ad.
Poorly trained receptionists are frequently one of the reasons advertising does not work.

I recently asked my friend, who is a marketing and sales consultant to visit a gallery when he was in town. I good friend had work hanging in the gallery and had complained that they were not selling any of his work. I asked him to seek that artist on the wall, ask about him, and see how well they pushed it. So he entered the gallery... did what I asked. He said he had seen the ad for so and so... and wanted to see his work. She took him to two paintings on the wall. He asked, "What can you tell me about this artist" and she said, "He’s new, I don't know anything about him." He persisted, "certainly you have something in writing." She said, "No sir, I don't." He left. Later I told the gallery owner about this and he told me this was a "temp" who was filling in while someone was out. He was not happy that I was "spying" on him (I told him I was trying to find out what was wrong, why the artist was not selling). He told me nothing was wrong. Chances are if this "temp" was not trained, maybe others were not as well....

In another case where I heard from an advertiser that things were not working I asked how things were being tracked...he said "we track the incoming phone calls." So again I waited a few days and phoned. "I saw an ad and I want to find out about the painting," I said. She very kindly said, "Where did you see the ad sir." Rather than telling her, I wanted to see what would happen if I did not know, so I said, “I’m not sure. I ripped it out of one of the magazines I was reading." She said, "That's ok sir, what was advertised?" I told her and she said, "well sir that was in XYZ publication. Thank you." She then answered questions about the painting. Well, it may have been in XYZ publication too... but it was also in mine. They got credit. I did not. Now I know this happens from time to time, I know I fold pages and rip them out to call on ads.

Recall studies are a good way to track things but they can also backfire. Why? Often when people are asked they say what is "top of mind." For instance they may have seen the ad in five different publications and said the one they remembered the most, maybe the one they had subscribed to the longest. Or, they may not have even seen it in that magazine and still said what was top of mind. I once had an advertiser tell me that a magazine scored high in the recall study and they had not even advertised there. This is normal. Quick name a fast food restaurant? Its human nature. SO it’s a great way to track top of mind awareness but not always actual recall.

One last mention... in one case I made a call and the receptionist asked where I had seen the ad... she gave me a list to choose from. My publication was not on the list.

The biggest issue about tracking phone calls with art ads these days is that people are not calling like they used to. If you call you have to deal with someone... and that takes time. A quick visit to a website can answer most of your questions. If the price is out of their range or if something answers their questions they may not call unless ready to buy. (This is often a good thing.)

I don't want to sound defensive. Advertisers tell us all the time that they get calls... and buyers. But some don't. It could be what people hear on the other end of the phone, it could be that they went to the web site, or it could be that the ad is not inviting... or the piece advertised is not resonating with the audience, or the brand does not have trust or awareness (or it does and people are aware of a reputation of being difficult, or expensive, or slick, or....). There is never a simple answer.

R.I.P. Art Gallery

Rest In Peace... friends of mine just closed their gallery. It was a sad day watching them close the doors, return the artworks to their artists and let their creditors and landlord know that they were not going to get paid for a while.

What went wrong? I'm only guessing of course. This gallery was less than a year old, was based in a prominent art market with substantial art buying traffic.

Why did they fail? It's never one thing, it’s always many things.

1. Unrealistic Expectations: They opened the doors thinking that their quality inventory, their contacts and location would make them successful. They had just enough capital to get them through about six months time. I think they expected too much too soon. One needs to play the what-if game when opening a new business... what if the market is off? What if it takes us 2x or 3x longer to succeed? What if the economy tanks? Etc. Bottom line: If you don't have a banker willing to fund you for the ups and downs or if your capital is insufficient... you're at risk.

2. Promotion: A new business is disadvantaged. The best way to overcome it is to promote like mad. You must tell the world you exist, keep telling them for about three years very consistently, and you must find unique reasons they should do business with you. What do you offer that is different? In the case of this gallery they had a USP (unique selling proposition) BUT.... they bought ads when they could afford them and therefore they were inconsistent. But ads are only part of the picture. You need openings, events, PR, mailings, emailing, etc. You have to assume a heavy presence until established.

3. Location: No amount of money can overcome a poor location. If your rent is 2x, 3x, 4x higher for a better location... probably even 10x...it's worth it. Nothing is better than traffic and visibility. These people were off of a major street with high traffic. Maybe 1 in 50 people walking by the street glanced down and decided to make the effort to go inside.

4. Being there: If promoting... you need to be there when the phone rings. In this case I know of many days they were not open (to save money). No one was answering the phones or returning calls. The web site was not updated frequently AND they did not respond to emails generated from the web site. They did not seem to understand how important a website is in today's world of art marketing.

5. Not using artists: They had high profile artists but I did not see the gallery leveraging the contacts of these artists to alert people of the new gallery handling their work. Use every tool you have.

6. Pricing: This may sound unnatural... I think their prices were too low. The artists were high quality but the prices were so low that I feel it sent the signal that the work was not quality. Their argument was that the work was lower priced than the rest of the market, which should give them an advantage. I think it backfired.

7. Margin: If you've got a lot of overhead.... lets say its $50,000 a month. You can sell 5 paintings at 10,000 or 10 at $5,000 or 20 at $2,500 or 50 at $1,000! How realistic is it to sell high volume unless you have high traffic. I'd rather have a mix but try to have at least 5 expensive paintings a month. But, that's just me. And it depends on the market and the demographics visiting the market? It also depends on your mindset. You have to believe you can sell expensive paintings to sell them. Belief is everything.

I hate seeing good friends go out of business. These people are good folks and they worked very hard. They may have done all of these things and maybe I missed it. Sadly, I doubt it.