Gallery Marketing

Repetition builds Reputation

Eric: “What do you want to see tonight?” I asked my wife.

Laurie: “Let’s go see the new James Bond film. I heard it was great.”

Eric: “Where did you hear that,” I said, “Who did you talk to that saw it.”

Laurie: “No one,” said she. “I just heard it. Probably an ad or something.”

Advertising creates word of mouth.

I craved a painting from an artist I had seen advertised over and over for years. When my wife asked me about why this artist was so important I realized it was because I had seen her name for years and years and I assumed she was important.

Advertising creates word of mouth. Repetition builds Reputation.

Brag a Sale

As CEO of a tech firm in  Silicon Valley I was charged with raising money on a regular basis. I ended up raising $18 million for my firm and was once asked by the local press what I did that made me successful at raising money. Of course what I’m about to tell you is a marketing principal as well.

I told them I was probably just lucky. But one thing I did do was approach every “pitch” with one thing in mind… Everything is a Cocktail Party Story. When I was at networking events I noticed that venture capitalists conversations went like this:

“Seen any good deals lately?”

“Yes, I just invested in a company which makes neutron converters and I think it will make us billions when we go public.”

That is a cocktail story. These people like to brag about their deals… something interesting and unique and something that makes them look smart and something which will be a good investment.

So at a recent art event the conversation I overhead was like this….

“Bought any good art lately?”

“Why yes, I just snagged a painting for a great price. This artist is going places and his work is selling for about $100,000 already.”

Bragging rights are important to buyers. Sometimes is subtle (which is better). Subtle is to have people walk into your home and see a Monet hanging in view of the door. Sometimes it’s brash (more often than not, sadly). “This guy is selling for $X”

People love to brag about the paintings they buy. If they walk into a gallery and love a painting and buy it for $10,000… and it hangs next to a giant one by the same artist which is selling for $50,000. More often than not they will find a way to tell you the artist is selling for $50,000… maybe so you think he paid $50,000.

How can you use this?

1. Talk up how hot the artist is and what is happening with values.
2. Look for key phrases you can share about the artist that is worthy of a brag. “This artist just won the national OPA award which mean’s he was voted by the best as their best” or “Steven Spielberg (insert name of collector) just added this artist to his collection.” I guarantee you this will come out once it hangs in the collector’s home.

People love to brag. Load their lips with things they can brag about. It will help them emotionally connect to the art and for those who need a justification the story will help sell the artwork.

If You Were New?

I got this question from a gallery start up recently. What would you do if you were new and wanted to get established?

1. You cannot leap frog time: Marketing a new business takes time. All the techniques you employ will make an impact but time is the most powerful tool. The longer you show up the more you are noticed.
2. Dominate What You Can Afford: New businesses want to spread their marketing to lots of places. OK if you’re cash supply is unlimited but… that’s rare. So it is best to dominate what you can afford. One impression does not do anything. You need multiple impressions over long periods of time to build trust. But pick an audience (a single magazine or perhaps two) and be in every issue with the largest ad you can afford. (If you cannot be in every issue, use one fewer publication and smaller ads.) Being seen consistently is critical.
3. Look Successful: How? Size, design (elegance) and what you are featuring (quality art).
4. Halo Effect: They may not know and trust you. Who do they trust? Hire that person as your spokesperson or at least offer a testimonial. It helps.
5. Put Customers to work: Those who love you should tell others. They won’t think of it on their own. Ask (graciously) for recommendations. “Is there a collector you know that might not be aware of us?
6. Be everywhere that matters. Be seen. (Tastefully)
7. Generate Publicity: Find something newsworthy you can do. Local press is a great place to start. Newspapers, Magazines (local), Radio and Television. Have a lecture series, a celebrity come to town, hold an event, make a major donation.
8. Don’t let up. You may think you’re everywhere and visible but it takes many impressions before people notice you. Meanwhile you think your message is getting old. It’s not. Be consistent in message and keep it visible.

Trust Building

Selling anything is about transference of TRUST, which comes from awareness and frequent exposures over time.

Ever hear the term "Building a Friendship?" Building is a key word. When you first meet someone there are certain things you don't do, don't ask. It would simply be too odd. But over time once you know someone you can ask for a favor because you are known to be responsible with that favor to the friends with who you have BUILT trust.

Those unfamiliar with advertising want instant results (who doesn't?)... But the same principals of friendship apply to advertising. You have to build one brick on top of another. Eventually you are trusted.

When we first started we received some advertising resistance. People said they wanted to "watch" us. What they are really saying is we want to see if you're trustworthy. See if you continue to produce a quality product, etc. Same holds true for advertising.

If you're targeting a new group of people who do not have the advantage of knowing about you and your brand.... you have to build that trust before they will confide in you with their dollars. It's rare someone will send a check for thousands or tens of thousands of dollars unless they can feel comfortable that they will receive what they purchased and it will be authentic. That comes with trust. Trust can come through the references of others (good reason to use testimonials or quotes from known people in your marketing to new people).

It's important to remember that TRUST IS A PROCESS. The reason advertising specialists recommend CAMPAIGNS instead of single ads is that ONGOING visibility helps people become more comfortable with you. Just like a new friend... each time you get together you trust them a little more. Eventually you're real friends. Same with ads.

Can you speed the process? Somewhat... through the HALO EFFECT of others (testimonials or known spokesmen). Design quality and association with GREAT art also helps. Also size of ad sends a message of confidence. Ever see a spread from a gallery which is six or eight full pages in a row? It says "Wow! These people must be big if they can afford this." Of course TWO pages together send a similar impression. Full pages send an impression over fractional sizes. Its human psychology 101. Still FREQUENCY and CONSISTENCY is critical. If you're there...then you're not (and the potential customer is paying attention) it raises question. Also it reinforces your messages. It’s a cumulative effect, not a single ad but the impressions of multiple ads. Author Roy Williams says that people LOOSE impressions over time and if you are away too long you have to start from scratch.

Trust is a building process.

A Diagnostic Tool for Marketing

The following was written by my friend Roy Williams who is a best selling marketing author.

Is your business growing slower than you think it should? Do you suspect its slow pace might have something to do with ineffective marketing?

The average business owner feels their business should be growing faster, but few know how to isolate the problem. Today we’re going to fix that.

The elements that affect the growth of your business will fit into one of four distinct categories. Understand these categories and you’ll have a framework for self-examination.

1. Share of Voice: What is your percentage of the total exposure for all the businesses in your category? How much of the total signage is yours? Magazine advertising? Directory advertising? TV advertising? Radio advertising? Newspaper? Direct mail? E-mail? Web traffic? If there are news stories related to your category, do they mention your brand or someone else’s? What percentage of the word-of-mouth advertising is yours? Each of these things contributes to your total Share of Voice.

Share of Voice can be purchased. But be careful; most advertisers try to reach too many people. A message of true importance needs to be delivered only once to be remembered. But is your message really that important to your customer? Is it safe to assume that your message will be remembered after being heard only once or twice?

Problem: You’re reaching too many people with too little repetition.

Solution: Buy more repetition from fewer media vendors.

Tip: Be an important advertiser to one or two audiences instead of an invisible advertiser to three or four.

2. Impact Quotient: How impressive is your offer when compared to the offers of your competitors? To be impressive, your message must first be believable, so close the loopholes in your message.

Loophole Open: Advertisers often cry, “Everything Must Go!” But the listener is thinking, “Or what? What happens if you don’t sell it? You’ll just come up with some new angle next week, right?”

Loophole Closed: “Everything must go! Any jewelry not sold by the end of the day will be melted down and sold as scrap. This means that until 9 o’clock tonight you can buy finished jewelry for slightly more than the value of the raw materials.”

Question: “What about targeting? You haven’t said anything about reaching the right people.”

Answer: I’ve never seen a business fail because they were reaching the wrong people. But I’ve seen hundreds fail because they were (1.) reaching too many people with too little repetition, or (2.) delivering a message that no one cared about. You’re going to be surprised how many people suddenly become “the right people” when you begin delivering a more impressive message.

3. Personal Experience Factor: Are you exceeding your customer’s expectations or falling short of them? Do you have the brands they prefer or are you pushing a weak alternative? Are your prices higher or lower than your customer expected?

A strong ad will only temporarily prop up a business that delivers a weak Personal Experience Factor. Unimpressive reputations nullify impressive ads. Have you been trying to solve an internal problem with external advertising?

4. Market Potential: What will be the total dollar volume sold in your product or service category this year (in your market or nationally)? Do you know the total, potential volume for your trade area? What percentage of that financial pie is yours? If you don’t have access to this information, there are two easy ways to get it. (1.) Carefully list every competitor you face along with your best estimate of their sales volume in your trade area. This can usually be done with a reasonable degree of accuracy. How many employees to they have? How much inventory? Square footage?  Estimate objectively and don’t leave anyone out. (2.) Contact a trade organization or Google to find a figure for total, nationwide sales volume in your category. Divide that number by the population of the

United States

(currently about 298,500,000.) to get a per capita sales volume. Multiply that number times the population of your trade area. I think you’ll be surprised how close the two numbers are.

It’s easier to grow small businesses than large ones. Show me a business selling only 5 percent of the Market Potential in their category and I’ll show you a business with huge growth potential. Show me a competitor 8 times as large, one that’s currently selling 40 percent of their market potential, and I’ll show you a business that’s going to have to work very hard to hang onto what they’ve got.

Uncommitted customers are the easiest to steal. Consequently, early growth comes with less effort than later growth, when the low-hanging fruit has all been picked. The business selling 40 percent of their market potential must now fight to win those customers who have some degree of loyalty to a competitor. Rarely does a business achieve more than 40 percent of the total, potential volume in their product or service category.

Examine your business through the 4 lenses of Share of Voice, Impact Quotient, Personal Experience Factor and Market Potential and you’ll quickly identify what’s been holding you back.

Advertising can’t change your Personal Experience Factor or your Market Potential. But a focused media plan will dramatically improve your Share of Voice (by reaching fewer people with greater frequency.) And better ad writing will dramatically increase your Impact Quotient.

Roy H. Williams

www.wizardofads.com

The Lure of Personal Preference

Most of us who find ourselves faced with marketing a product or a brand are not schooled in marketing. Instead we have learned by trail and error. Marketing has been my passion for many years and I have had the opportunity to coach many companies in their marketing, including the opportunity to work with some national brands. Today I advise many companies on advertising and I also love to help galleries and artists craft their advertising strategy.

Years ago I learned about the Lure of Personal Preference. When I owned radio stations I had a station in the West which had a huge audience of teens and young adults. It was either #1 or #2 in its category at any given rating period. Advertisers who wanted to reach this audience were overwhelmed with results.

One day I was listening to the local “elevator music” station. (An Elevator Music station was the kind that played all instrumentals, very soft and slow background music. Few exist today in that form. The audience of Elevator Music stations were people age fifty and above. ). On the station I heard an ad for a local shop which sold hip clothes to teens. I was puzzled about why they were advertising on a station which reached the grandparents of teens, so I went and met with the owner to find out. Of course I wanted him to advertise on my station, which owned the teen market.

The eye opening experience of that conversation was one I have never forgotten. The owner advertised on that station because it was his personal favorite. When I asked him if he was getting any results from the campaign he said that he did not see any results. Why then did he continue advertising? “I play the station in the store and I like hearing my ads. Plus it’s the station my friends at the Country Club listen to and I like them to hear my ads.” The store owner was not advertising to get results (though he told himself he was). He was advertising to be visible to his friends. It was a status thing.

No matter what I said about how my audience reached the kids who should be buying clothing in his store I was unable to convince him. He was only going to advertise on that one station because it was his personal favorite and he listened to no other stations. So in his world there was only one radio station. I have no idea if he is still in business today, and if he is it’s because of his location in the mall, not because of his effective advertising.

How does this apply to the art world? I’ve encountered people who are doing the same thing. They advertise in places which appeal to them personally even though those places are not always where the buyers spend their time. They are lured by personal preferences, by the promise of articles or by what their friends are reading. (Status)

Status advertising has its place. People who want to elevate their position in society by being seen by their prominent friends should advertise to be seen. But if building business is a goal than advertising is about going where audiences will be reached: Audiences who buy art (not just look at it); New Audiences you are not presently reaching in places you’ve been seen for years (and therefore might receive a diminishing return).

Ask yourself about your personal preferences and if they conflict with your goals. If so, you may want to explore places, which reach people who purchase paintings.

Most of us who find ourselves faced with marketing a product or a brand are not schooled in marketing. Instead we have learned by trail and error. Marketing has been my passion for many years and I have had the opportunity to coach many companies in their marketing, including the opportunity to work with some national brands. Today I advise many companies on advertising and I also love to help galleries and artists craft their advertising strategy.

Years ago I learned about the Lure of Personal Preference. When I owned radio stations I had a station in the West which had a huge audience of teens and young adults. It was either #1 or #2 in its category at any given rating period. Advertisers who wanted to reach this audience were overwhelmed with results.

One day I was listening to the local “elevator music” station. (An Elevator Music station was the kind that played all instrumentals, very soft and slow background music. Few exist today in that form. The audience of Elevator Music stations were people age fifty and above. ). On the station I heard an ad for a local shop which sold hip clothes to teens. I was puzzled about why they were advertising on a station which reached the grandparents of teens, so I went and met with the owner to find out. Of course I wanted him to advertise on my station, which owned the teen market.

The eye opening experience of that conversation was one I have never forgotten. The owner advertised on that station because it was his personal favorite. When I asked him if he was getting any results from the campaign he said that he did not see any results. Why then did he continue advertising? “I play the station in the store and I like hearing my ads. Plus it’s the station my friends at the Country Club listen to and I like them to hear my ads.” The store owner was not advertising to get results (though he told himself he was). He was advertising to be visible to his friends. It was a status thing.

No matter what I said about how my audience reached the kids who should be buying clothing in his store I was unable to convince him. He was only going to advertise on that one station because it was his personal favorite and he listened to no other stations. So in his world there was only one radio station. I have no idea if he is still in business today, and if he is it’s because of his location in the mall, not because of his effective advertising.

How does this apply to the art world? I’ve encountered people who are doing the same thing. They advertise in places which appeal to them personally even though those places are not always where the buyers spend their time. They are lured by personal preferences, by the promise of articles or by what their friends are reading. (Status)

Status advertising has its place. People who want to elevate their position in society by being seen by their prominent friends should advertise to be seen. But if building business is a goal than advertising is about going where audiences will be reached: Audiences who buy art (not just look at it); New Audiences you are not presently reaching in places you’ve been seen for years (and therefore might receive a diminishing return).

Ask yourself about your personal preferences and if they conflict with your goals. If so, you may want to explore places, which reach people who purchase paintings.