Isn’t this a question that is likely burning a hole in your mind right now?
This is why I thought I’d write this blog: Who is going to buy my artwork?
It’s one thing to create incredible artwork or put together amazing workshops or art services, however, if nobody is buying anything then there is always a logical explanation.
One of the core reasons you are likely not selling more of your ‘stuff’ (arty phrase for all things creative), is that you haven’t worked out who your target customers are yet and why they would want to buy from you.
Perhaps you’ve made a start, feel like you have a general idea, but not had the time to finish and really get it clear?
If you are already marketing yourself but getting poor results, this is one of the key reasons why.
HOWEVER, before you can do effective art marketing (although this applies to all marketing, not just for artists), you need to know inside-out who is going to buy from you and what are their wants and motivations. You can also think about who you’d really like to be buying from you.
In my previous blog: ‘Artists: How To Discover Your Ideal Customer’ I talked specifically about fully defining ONE example customer. But let’s step outside of that for a moment and explore your whole customer base.
Although it makes sense to want to market to everyone and not limit yourself or your products and services, it important to segment (or group for a less fancy word) and reach out to them directly.
Why? Because we are all so very different!
We all have different wants, needs and motivations for buying anything, one message will not resonate with everyone.
By building even one simple ‘target customer group’, you will be able to attract those individuals more easily and communicate with them more effectively, because you are really thinking about them, therefore, you will get much better results.
In this blog we are going to start with the basics, so if you loved your Ideal Customer Avatar, then you’re going to love this too.
Who Is Going To Buy My Artwork Or Art Workshops?
3 Steps To Success:
Grab a pen and paper and write down notes from these steps.
Step 1: Identify who you are going to work with.
Let’s see who your customers could be:
- Individuals
- Businesses
- Corporations
You’ll make life easy for yourself if you just work in one sector; but if you do the odd corporate commission for example, as well as selling to individuals, then that’s okay too.
Step 2: Next, let’s dive a bit deeper into who they are as individuals.
Honestly, you’ll be in the minority here if you fully do this and that alone will give you the edge over all your competitors out there. By NOT doing this you are simply wasting loads of money plus hours of your precious time.
You want to think in terms of:
- Geographic: Consider what continent, country, region, city, borough/district.
- Demographics: Consider what age, gender, occupation, income, family status, education.
- Psychographics: Consider personal attitudes, values, interests, lifestyle.
- Behaviours: Consider purchase habits and platforms, product knowledge, frequency, occasion, loyalty.
- Benefit: What do the customers look to gain, achieve, feel, etc.
Write down everything you can think of here, and if you’re not sure, then work with your ideal (make it up).
Step 3: Divide into 1-3 simple Target Customer Segments (Groups)
Unless you have a super simple art business you will likely be saying at this point:
“I have SO many different potential customers…”
That’s why I recommend grouping your customers into 1 or 2 segment groups using your results from Step 2. Try not to have more than 3, as you’ll likely struggle marketing to that many (more groups equals more marketing strategies).
Simple Segment Examples:
Example One:
25-35-year-old mid-career professionals, who live in Perth, Australia. With an average disposable income, their interests include interior design, experience activities and hosting social events. They are looking to express their personality, create that feeling of ‘home’ and treat themselves to exciting purchases and activities that make them feel good as a reward for how long and hard they work.
Example Two:
50-65-year-old established professionals, who live in Perth, Australia. With a high disposable income, long-term relationships and spare time, their interests include investments, home renovations, cultural events and spending time with family. They are looking for quality collector’s items, legacy projects and relaxing activities.
NOTE: Creating these segments does not mean you cannot sell to anyone else, it just helps you focus on positioning your artwork or art workshops in the right place, with the right price and with resonating messages.
For each segment you create, I also recommend creating one Ideal Customer Avatar to represent them.
Eg. Maggie from Maylands, 35 years old…
What do you need to understand now?
Think about your products and services and think about how you would position each product or service to each of your customer segments?
Oh yes – You will need to create different marketing activities and messages. That means where you display and sell your products and services, how you write your emails, social media posts, blogs etc.
I know, it all seems like ‘time, time, money’… However, I promise it is SO worth it.
Let’s workshop the examples:
If you provide art workshops, for example, let’s think about those two example customer segments (above). Both could be equally interested, however, where you physically advertise the workshop will differ, as will the keywords and messages that you use to engage each group.
To engage the first customer segment (above) for example the ‘mid-career professionals’, you could advertise online through popular social media platforms, making the workshop purchasable via mobile – Due to their age and careers, the internet and social media will be a large part of their daily life. Locating the workshop close to the city centre would make it easily accessible making it a no-brainer and marketing it as a creative evening experience for a group of friends to ‘wind-down-after-work’ will be highly appealing as it is addressing their interests, location and purchasing habits.
To reach the second customer segment in comparison, for example, you might advertise in more traditional media, such as local magazines and printed postcards in local venues, this positions the workshop in a more trusted and collectable medium. And in order to address their interests and values, you could promote it as a weekend experience for the family or as a purchasable gift for your loved one.
Hopefully, you’ll now be so excited about the clarity you’ve gained doing both these exercises that you are going to focus in on one segment at a time and adjust your strategies as required. You will no longer be wondering “Who is going to buy my artwork or art workshops?”
