Gallery Marketing

Editorial Seduction

“Of course you’ll do a story on us,” replied a customer when discussing advertising. My reply was not what he wanted to hear. “ Well, we believe we should do anything and everything we can do to help our customers build their business… but we do not link a quid-pro-quo to advertising.”

Selling editorial is the second oldest profession and is right up there with the oldest profession. It’s a natural for people to want coverage and those of us in the publishing business are usually willing to offer it if there is reason for a legitimate story. However tying it to advertising has a downside…. Readers always know.

In fact I avoid anything that smacks of selling editorial. I remember being impressed with Schiller & Bodo and decided to have our editorial people write a profile on the gallery. In turn they suggested they buy an ad in that issue. “Absolutely not,” I suggested. “I don’t want to make my readers think you bought that story. If you want to advertise, that’s fine but do it in any issue other than the one featuring your story.” I believe Lisa Schiller was appreciative that we would protect their integrity as well as ours.

I once started a magazine called STREAMING. I was convinced by the man I hired to run the publication that we should offer coverage in the magazine in exchange for advertising. My gut instinct was to not do it, but I decided it would be worth considering since I had never done it. The magazine was a run-away success. We got loads of advertising and did loads of stories on our advertisers. This was destined to be one of the great ad successes of the magazine world. We were fat with ads and fat with stories about our advertisers. Our advertisers loved it…. Until they stopped loving it.

It turns out that our readers realized that advertisers had paid for their stories (or received them as a payback for an advertising commitment) and over time it started to backfire on the advertisers and especially on us. Advertisers were telling us that readers were complaining that our entire editorial content was bought. We had two great years… and then it all came crashing down once the readers stopped reading it. The story has a mixed blessing. We made a lot of money in those two years and then in year three we had to close the magazine. Short term success, long term failure.

The ultimate compliment is when a reader decides to pay money to purchase your magazine and when they agree to choose to spend their valuable time reading your content. They feel betrayed when they learn the content is driven by advertisers. Readers will  respond until they start to see patterns and realize that stories on advertisers relate to the same people advertising. It’s been going on for decades and in most cases the same thing happens....readers go away. This is why publishers who have long term goals of credibility avoid short term gains which kill their credibility.

Don’t misread this. All smart publishers will seek opportunities to help the people who support them, but there is a fine line between helping an advertiser and an advertising agreement which is tied to editorial. Readers feel betrayed by the publication and by the advertiser. Though there may be short term gain there can be long term reputation damage, which is difficult to repair. It’s easy to be seduced by print coverage but would you read a magazine if you knew every story was paid? Probably not.

Circulation Traps: Targeting Bus Loads Vs Buyers

Something about human nature wants to always be associated with the biggest... and the best. But what defines the biggest or the best? Most affluent people want to drive a Mercedes or Lexus, the super affluent want a Bentley or a Roller. They are the finest automobiles but are not the biggest sellers. In terms of volume sold

Toyota and Ford are the biggest. Most affluent people do not buy drive the cars which sell the most, in fact many people don't want to be associated with the masses. Instead they want what is unobtainable by the masses.

Advertisers have been trained to reach mass audiences and large audiences. This is critically important when selling mass consumer items like cell phones. But if you want to reach a select audience who can afford a specific item shooting for a mass audience is usually more costly and less effective even with a low cost per thousand.

Low Cost per Thousand Examples:
Assume you are selling cell phones and you want to reach 100,000 people. If the ads are $10,000 than you are paying a cost of $10 per person reached (100,000 people divided by $10,000 ad cost). In this case volume is critical. If 50,000 of the 100,000 reached buy a phone and you can get a customer for $20.00 ($10. cost per thousand x 2) who spends $400 a year it’s a big win. On the other hand; if you spend $10,000 to reach 100,000 of the wrong people who won’t buy your product than you have wasted all of your money.

High Cost Per Thousand Example:
Assume you are selling a $200,000 Bentley. If you reach the same 100,000 people as the cell phone provider your chance of reaching your potential buyer is slim and your $10,000 is wasted. On the other hand if you advertise in a media which reaches the “Super Rich.” The publication only has 10,000 people but every one of them is a Bentley prospect. You know that if you spend $10,000 for an ad which reaches 10,000 people and if only 20 of those people buy a $200,000 Bentley you’ve earned $2 million gross revenue on a $10,000 investment. That same $10,000 spent on the same media the cell phone company uses nets you no sales. So which is better? Large audience or very highly targeted audience? The cost per thousand to reach them is much higher but there is little waste, therefore it is actually less expensive to acquire a customer.

Refined Buyer Focus:
Refining the focus to reach people who will buy is more important than just reaching people who can afford to buy. Using the Bentley example what if you are targeting super rich people who live in a dangerous place like Rio where people who drive high end cars are frequently kidnapped. Those people drive non-descript cars in order to avoid attracting attention and would not buy a Bentley, therefore even though they can afford to buy a Bentley, they won’t. Therefore targeting people can afford a Bentley has have no value and no return and your ad dollars are wasted.

High Circulation Vs Focused Circulation:

In 22 years in the magazine business I’ve probably seen every trick. Publishers often employ wholesalers to sell large quantities of copies at low prices in order to drive circulation high, which allows increased ad prices. Often in these over 50% of the circulation are not buying customers, simply people who took advantage of a low price offering for a magazine they thought they might like. (Renewals are usually low among wholesale subscriptions and more wholesale subs need to be sold to keep up.) In the case of art publications using wholesalers these subscribers typically will never in their lifetime be able to afford and original artwork?

I've launched six magazines in my company and have tried many differing strategies and the one I like best is what I call FOCUSED circulation, which means reaching customers who buy products and not trying to build circulation by selling to librarians, high school art teachers, and art enthusiasts who don’t buy artworks. I certainly don't mind if they subscribe, however all of our marketing efforts target qualified affluent people who are known buyers original artworks. Period.

I once asked a dealer which she wanted more: a bus load of people to pull up and enter her gallery and eat her time or to see a Lexus drive up with a single buyer who walks out with a purchase. "Heaven forbid, I don't want those people in my gallery," said she. "Of course I want the affluent person who might buy something." She went on to say that non-buying foot traffic was annoying and she realized that her ads were generating traffic, internet visits and calls from people who don’t buy paintings.

Which would you rather have? Focused advertising targeting art buyers is more valuable than large reach.

Following Featured Artists

The following is one of the little secrets few advertisers understand and a trick employed rarely.

When art magazines print stories about a particular artist we frequently see galleries advertise paintings by that artist in that issue. This is a common practice and recommended. However, I they are missing an opportunity.

Human beings are... well....lazy. A reader may read about an artist or see an ad in a magazine which they think, "I'd like to own that painting or I'd like to own something by that artist." Then life gets in the way and the thought fades. Unless the reader takes immediate action to buy the painting while that thought is with them you have lost a potential buyer... unless you find a way to remind them.

With 20+ years in magazine publishing this is one of the least known, yet most effective techniques and advertiser can employ. Remind the reader by showing up in the issue FOLLOWING the issue which featured the artists. This acts as an effective reminder. You could even tag the ad with "This artist was featured in the December issue of Fine Art Connoisseur." This reminder is a second chance to grab those with good intentions who have either forgotten, put their magazine on a shelf, or wondering "where did I see that again?"

Advertisers who might have several artists who have recently been featured may wish to consider an ad with several smaller icons of images (paintings) in the ad act as reminders of previously featured artists. Sometimes readers need time for the thought of purchasing to germinate. If not reminded they easily forget (thus the value of frequency). I've had paintings I cannot stop thinking about for months but cannot remember where I saw it or even who the artist is. This acts as a powerful reminder.

Standing Out

Every magazine has its own special editorial focus. Some focus on traditional artworks while others focus on abstract artworks or regional artworks. So does it make sense for an Abstract artist to advertise in a magazine of traditional art?

From time to time I get questioned about whether or not a dealer selling a style of art other than what is the primary style of a magazine should advertise that art in a different environment.

Assume for a moment that you sell abstract modernism. Should you advertise in a publication which features primarily representational art? Your belief systems and feedback from your customers is a great starting point. Do you believe (or hear from customers) that buy other kinds of art like representational? If so it makes a great deal of sense.

Dealers are encountering more buyers who “mix it up” in their home. They tell us some collectors will hang abstract and representational paintings in the same home, which is happening more with the new breed of younger collectors. Frequently collectors who love different kinds of art will hang one type of art in their main home and another style of art in another home just as they often decorate them in different styles. I recently visited one significant collector who had three collections: A collection of very traditional Victorian art in his offices, a smaller collection of Western art in another office and a collection of post-war modern in his home (mixed with some traditional Victorian).

Though this collector reads several art magazines covering different styles of art you would stand out if you advertised a post-war abstract in the traditional magazines or if you advertised a traditional painting in an abstract publication. For instance ArtNews seems to be filled with mostly advertisers selling abstract and conceptual artworks. Once in a while I see Wildenstein advertise something very traditional. It stands out. The same would hold true for someone advertising an abstract piece in Fine Art Connoisseur.

What about antiques? Though we do not focus our editorial on antiques because our research indicates many collectors of representational paintings do not collect antiques, many people who have antique paintings have them in a home filled with antiques. Advertising brown antique furniture or quality decorative objects would stand out in Fine Art Connoisseur because we do not focus on offering advertising to antique dealers.

Think about the customer and what they consume. Though it is important to advertise in the environment most focused on the people who buy your kind of art you can stand out by supplementing your advertising in a category focused publication which will allow you to stand out. This is why we often have advertisers selling Jets, watches, jewels, real estate or high end automobiles. These companies understand that the person who loves quality art and can afford to make a substantial investment on it can also afford to buy their product.

You can gain advantage with any magazine which reaches your target buyer if you’re the only one or one of a very few in your category.

Showing Up

“Eighty percent of success is showing up.”

-Woody Allen

Reluctantly I once ran an ad in a publication, which I was not convinced, was a complete fit for my target but I took a shot at advertising in it. I was not thrilled by the results because I did not receive any phone calls. But being true to what I preach about marketing I continued to advertise because I know advertising is not an event it’s a cumulative effect. My rule is that if I advertise somewhere I need to commit for at least a year because the audience does not know my product, has not yet developed trust, and needs to get comfortable before they buy from me.

I’m often so close to my product that I think everyone knows about it, yet I am reminded how wrong I am anytime I advertise to a new audience thinking I’ll get instant results. According to marketing author Roy Williams showing up consistently is one of the hidden secrets of advertising success and advantage is gained by understanding this. While your competitors try something a time or two with a new audience and back down due to lack of “success” they do not understand the process that is quietly happening in the minds of readers who see your ads. Meanwhile you’re building a reputation with an entirely new group of people which leads to new business.

My ad in this new publication was “showing up.” The resulting presence did not net immediate response yet the long term effect was powerful. One never knows the impacts which cannot be measured, which in this case opened new doors to new deals I would have never had otherwise. I also benefited from awareness which opened doors down the road, which would not have opened had they not seen my ad continuously.

Advertisers have been trained to seek response yet the world’s largest advertisers don’t focus on response. Unlike the guy with the colorful sweater and his infomercials, which are designed to make you pick up the phone and buy a pasta maker, most advertisers are establishing trust and awareness while building a brand. Your brand is critical to your success. If seeking affluent art buyers they want to buy from trusted, credible and quality dealers. Would you buy from a dealer you were unaware of previously or one who did not appear to represent high quality? Some people will but most will not. The response trap will prevent critical brand awareness which results in trust building. Sometimes building a brand is 80% showing up.