Last week's Super Bowl hoopla reminds me of how is great marketing works like football.

Rarely
does a quarterback run the field for a touchdown on the first play.
Though it can happen, coaches know that success is earned one play
after another, with a yard or two gained with each play. You wouldn't
bet on a football game if a team had only one play to win. But this is
exactly what inexperienced marketers do. They run one ad or do one
mailing and expect the phone to ring off the wall. Sure, it can happen.
But, like a lucky run, it's not the norm.

Why Advertising Fails

Advertising
works as a series of plays, making a little progress at a time.
Campaigns with multiple impressions and touchpoints work best.
Campaigns are a series of plays designed to score several touchdowns
and win the game.

Advertising fails when marketers
run single ads instead of campaigns. As in football, momentum is gained
with consistent forward motion. Advertisers who start, stop, and start
again are losing momentum. You make the most progress when you hang on
to the ball.

Repetition Sells

No
matter what kind of advertising you are doing — print ads, e-mail
marketing, direct mail — you need lots of repetition. The average
person needs to "catch" the message three or more times before they
take action. And just because you send an e-mail or run an ad three
times doesn't mean someone caught your message three times. It can take
a lot of throws to get one completed pass.

People
live busy lives, and, to get their attention, repetition is critical.
Marketing pros understand this, which is why you see or hear many
commercials over and over again.

Throwing My Money Away

Companies
who run one single ad in the Super Bowl are usually disappointed in the
results, though it's a big ego booster. It's a great place to be seen,
but a message has to be reinforced over and over before people will
catch it.

I once ran a single ad in an
auction-house magazine, which was horribly expensive. Instinctively, I
knew we should have repeated the ad several times before expecting any
results, but we only ran it once. For us, it was like that Super Bowl
ad, which is all about ego. Foolishly, I blew thousands of dollars and
received no results.

The greatest marketers are like
the teams that make it to the Super Bowl. There are many disciplines
they follow, and that's what makes them great. I have coached thousands
of advertisers in my career, and, if the message is well crafted, those
who follow the model of consistent repetition always win big. Are you
expecting a touchdown with your first play? Or are you in it to win the
game?

Eric Rhoads,
Fine Art Connoisseur

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Peg the Needle on the Relevance Meter If You Want to See Results

I liked this so well I am reposting it from www.wizardofads.com

Ads are often written under the assumption that we can get people to
care about things they don’t really care about. But this approach
rarely succeeds.

Traditional ad-think says:

1.    Target the right people
2.    Leverage the right media (visual media for visual products, etc.)
3.    Use creativity in delivering your message.

But nontraditional ad-think gets far better results:

1.    What you say matters most of all.
Speak to a felt need. Good advertising isn’t about the product or the
company that sells it. Good ads explain how the customer’s life will be
different.
EXAMPLE:
Don’t say, “Dr. Bill Dipweasel was voted gentlest dentist in Saginaw County.”
Say, “Get your teeth fixed. You’ll be more attractive and your confidence will skyrocket. People will treat you differently.”

2.    How you say it is critical. Clarity is more
important than creativity. Talk like people. People don’t say, “I’ve
elected to have cosmetic dentistry.” They say, “I’ve decided to get my
teeth fixed.” (Dr. Bill Dipweasel will give you push-back on this
because he doesn’t think “get your teeth fixed” sounds professional.
Also, he wants the ad to be about him.)

3.    Deliver your message using whatever media offers the best psychological environment. In what moments would a candidate for cosmetic dentistry be most open to the message we crafted about being treated differently?

Advertising works best when it speaks to what
customers already care about. This is called “speaking to a felt need.”
I've never met anyone that's had a secret, unmet desire to go to the
dentist. But tens of millions of us secretly wish we were more
attractive, more confident, and that people treated us differently.
Capiche?

Good ads aren’t about the company that’s
paying for the ad. Good ads are about the reader, the listener, the
viewer of the ad. This is especially true when writing classified ads
for employment.

A man attending a class at Wizard Academy
confessed that, working part time, he had made more than $850,000 in
employee placement fees as the direct result of a single chapter he had
read in my second book. I congratulated him on having had the
perception to recognize the potential in that chapter.

Last week I received an email about that same chapter in my second book from William, an Acadgrad living in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Dear Roy,

I received an email from my business partner (Thatcher) earlier today,
telling me that we had found the perfect applicant for an opening we
have in our company. I crafted the job ad based on one of your chapters
in the second Wizard of Ads book.

This is what I replied to him: "She's perfect. The Wizard of Ads is a
genius, and this girl is just what we want, don't you think? I mention
the Wizard because I used an article of his on writing job ads for that
one. He said the person we were looking for would recognise themselves
in the ad, and we wouldn't be swamped with tedious junky
mass-applications. And indeed that's what happened."

So thank you, Roy, for all your amazing free advice; I have yet to meet
this girl, but judging by the application, I think she should fit in
well.

Eternally gratefully yours,

William

That chapter, by the way, is called "Writing Classified Ads for Employment."  It's chapter 76 in a 101-chapter book called Secret Formulas of the Wizard of Ads, a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller.

Here's an example of the strange type of classified ad that always gets superior results.

William, I'm glad you found the perfect employee. I look forward to your next visit to Austin.

Yours,

Roy H. Williams

From Eric Rhoads, Publisher of Fine Art Connoisseur

Robert
was a fifth-generation gallery owner. (His name has been changed to
avoid embarrassment, but if you've been around the gallery business
you'll probably recognize this story.) Robert's great-grandfather
became an art dealer by accident: When his wealthy friends saw his
personal art collection, they began craving paintings from the artists
hanging on his walls. Because of his friendship with the artists, he
was able to broker paintings for the artists to the patrons. Over time,
he realized there was a business to be built, so he started buying up
all the paintings he could find from the best painters. Robert was very
choosy about the artists he represented and very protective of his
reputation with his wealthy customers, many of whom started out as
friends.

Advice for the Next Generation
As
Robert's son (Robert II) came of age and completed his education, he
was given large sums of cash and sent to Europe to befriend artists and
purchase paintings. The collection continued to grow. Robert II
eventually took over the business. His father's advice to him was this:
"If people believe you're successful, your business will grow. Always
choose the best neighborhoods and offer the finest art and framing; and
even when times are soft, your customers must never feel that your
business is suffering. You must always appear more successful than
others." Robert II transferred this wisdom to Robert III, who passed it
on to Robert IV. The business is now in the hands of Robert V.

They
say that it takes one generation to build wealth and three generations
to lose it, but the gallery continued to prosper though the Great
Depression, through the war years, and through various recessions.
Though the business fell on some hard times, it was never hit as badly
as others – all because of Robert I's advice to always appear
successful.

Closing the Gallery
Sadly,
after five generations, Robert V is faced with closing the gallery.
When the economy got soft, Robert got soft as well. He retained
expenses and employees that he did not need in the downturn. Though
they may have been difficult to make, such cuts would not have been
noticed by Robert's wealthy customers. Instead, Robert believed his
customers would follow him anywhere, so he terminated his lease in a
prominent neighborhood that they had been in for decades, downsized,
and moved to the outer limits of the neighborhood. The space was
smaller and less elegant, and it sent a negative message to his
patrons.

Robert V had also been doing several openings a year.
The events were always well attended, with elegant catering and a
"who's who" attendance list in the lavishly decorated building. But
when he cut back on the openings, the catering, and the opulent
surroundings, people began to talk and stopped attending his affairs.
Robert believed their lack of attendance was simply due to the economy.

Ignoring Grandfather's Advice
Robert
V continued to ignore the advice of his grandfather. After decades of
keeping the gallery's name on the forefront of success by placing
multiple full-page ads in all the art magazines, Robert V cut back on
the number of ads he ran. Later, as things got tighter, he reduced the
size of the ads – and then stopped advertising altogether. He
rationalized that "They've known us for over 100 years. If we lay low
for a while, no one will notice." Robert virtually disappeared in the
eyes of the art magazine readers; he believed that people would
randomly check his website from time to time, forgetting that there was
nothing prompting customers to visit the site. Business worsened and,
still, he blamed the economy. His regular customers were not calling or
coming in. "They must be visiting the website and just not seeing
anything they need," he thought.

Ending Five Generations of Art Selling
Things
were getting grim. His ancestors had assured him that when business had
been tight in previous economic downturns, the wealthy still had money
to spend on paintings. But this time there was no evidence of that.
Robert was forced to take his kids out of private school, cancel his
club memberships, and place his exclusive apartment up for sale. These
moves created rumors that he was in trouble, and no one likes to do
business with a company in trouble. He tried to sell the business but
was told that it had lost its prominence and had no value. Fearing the
end of five generations of success and thinking he would soon have to
get a job working for a competitor, he became depressed and frightened.
How would he face the shame?

A Wise Voice of Experience
One
day, Robert had a conversation with an elderly man who had been one of
his father's employees. The man was long retired after 40 years with
the firm. When Robert shared his woes, this employee told him some
things he never knew. "Your father and grandfather went though this.
There were times when we did not know if we were going to keep the
doors open. We were not paying our bills and were getting deeper in
debt with our vendors. We had to lay off most of the staff and cut back
on every possible expense. But what got us though was the advice
created by your great-great-grandfather, the founder of the business:
'You must always appear more successful than others.’"
The wise
man continued, "Though we could not afford to do it, we managed to keep
our gallery space. No one ever knew this, but your grandfather even did
the cleaning after hours because he could not afford help. He continued
to throw the most lavish parties – which he could not afford – but
those parties almost always resulted in a couple of sales, which bought
us more time. He continued his presence in the art magazines and art
shows because he knew people would assume that he was thriving while
other galleries were suffering. It worked. Though it was difficult, we
ended up making sales we never would have made otherwise. A benefit we
did not expect was that, because our competitors were not advertising,
we started to see their customers come in the door. When things got
better, our business grew more than it ever had because people
perceived us to be stronger and more important. Meanwhile, many of our
competitors disappeared because they didn't keep their name in front of
customers, who eventually came to us because we were visible and looked
successful."

Taking a Risk to Stay in Business
Robert
got the message. He decided that if his business was going to go
bankrupt, he would go down in flames trying everything to prevent it.
The old gallery space had not been re-leased, so he negotiated a better
deal to get back in. He began throwing lavish parties again, and his
customers returned. He started advertising again, which brought in more
customers over time. By following his great-great-grandfather's
advice – "You must always appear more successful than others" — he
managed to start selling enough paintings to survive. Though his
apartment is still for sale, his kids are in public school, and he made
some tough choices and cut some key employees, his business is on the
road to survival. When things get better, he will be more profitable
than ever.

A Historic Perspective
When I heard this story, it reminded me of an article I read recently in the New Yorker
about how Kellogg's became a leading brand during the Great Depression
because its biggest competitor failed to appear more successful than
others. When Post stopped advertising, its customers shifted to the
company that increased its advertising. That made Kellogg's a leading
brand, which has continued for decades.

Lessons Learned from This Story
1.
There is always someone with money to spend – but if they feel you're
in trouble, they won't do business with you. Many galleries are getting
through these difficult times because they have always chased highly
affluent customers. We're hearing stories daily of galleries that are
still selling artworks to these customers. Though they may be buying
less and expecting bargains, they are providing survival cash flow.

2.
Appearances are important in some businesses. Evidence of downsizing,
cuts in advertising, size of ads, cheap food and wine at events (or no
events at all) send subtle signals to your customers that you are in
trouble. Though customers understand people are in trouble in this
economy, it's a mistake to make them think it's happening to you.

3.
Spend money where it will benefit you most and cut where it’s not as
critical. I have a gallery customer who terminated two employees he
could live without, put the money into increasing his advertising, and
actually earned enough from increased sales to rehire the employees.

4.
Don't assume they will remember you. We assume customers know us and
think of us all the time, but they need reminders. Advertising not only
reassures them that you're still strong, it keeps your name in front of
people and encourages them to call, visit, or visit your website. If
you disappear from visibility, they are not reminded of your presence.
If your competitors remain visible, they will take your customers.

Though
these strategies are not easy to implement when there is no cash flow,
it's critical to keep your face in front of customers who have money to
spend.

Did You Know:

– A Fine Art Connoisseur
customer responding to an ad recently made a multi-million-dollar
purchase from one of our advertisers? I'd be happy to inform you of
specific details by phone.

– Fine Art
Connoisseur has over 300 BILLIONAIRE readers and over 1,500 of
America's wealthiest millionaires, penta-millionaires, and
deca-millionaires.

– Welcome to recent new advertisers, including:
– American Legacy Fine Arts, Los Angeles
– Fine Art Dealers Association
– Godel & Co. Fine Art, New York
– Hammer Galleries, New York
– Howard/Mandville, Kirkland, WA
– InSight Gallery Fredericksburg, TX
– International Fine Print Dealers Association
– Medici Portraits
– Questroyal Fine Art, New York
– Quidley & Company, Boston
– Royal Gallery, Providence, RI
– Schiller & Bodo, New York
– Trees Place, Cape Cod
– VOSE Galleries, Boston

Yours truly,

Eric Rhoads
Publisher
[email protected] 
Summer (Adirondacks): 518.327.5000
www.fineartconnoisseur.com
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn.

PS: Our fall issue will have bonus distribution at numerous shows. Keep
your gallery visible during the fall season. Deadline for booking: July
28.

Please
e-mail me with the subject line "Eric, I'm interested," and I'll have
someone follow up with you. Or call me at 518.327.5000.

This comes from our director of sales Jim Gustafson

A couple of weeks ago a new gallery asked me what I would suggest they do to build their brand quickly. When I asked "who do you most want to be perceived like (competitor) and what do you want to be perceived as," the owner told me of a major gallery he hoped to model. He said that he hoped that in 10 or 20 years he would be considered as important. Of course I asked, "Do you have 20 years?" His answer was, "no, we have three years to make it or break it."

"What if I showed you a strategy to build your brand and prestige quickly and overcome the 20 years?" He was all ears.

I started out saying that nothing can overcome time and heritage, however branding is a gradual process which not only requires repetition and a powerful message (ad design, copy, headline, artwork). But I can help you leap several years forward with this strategy. Advertise frequently, advertise bigger than your targeted competitor, and advertise deeply (more places) but only if you can afford to dominate in each publication to get noticed.

I believe author, marketing expert and dear friend Roy Williams will tell you that the small sends a small message, big sends a big message, giant sends a giant message. People who want to be perceived as giants need to APPEAR as giants. Of course this is not always possible and many have to start small, build business gradually and build from there.

The first important principle of any advertising is FREQUENCY. Be there often. I would rather have 6 issues in a row of 1/2 pages than 1 or two full pages. Frequency builds brand.

Secondly, size sends a message. Not to diminish the smaller advertisers, but its a fact. An advertiser with a bigger ad presence seems like a bigger company. A half page advertiser looks more important that a quarter page advertiser (unless you blow it with poor design). A full page advertiser looks more important than a half page advertiser.

Pay close attention to the companies you know as big brands or those you perceive as "owning" a brand position. One advertiser I know of is perceived as the leader in the illustration category. It’s not unusual to see 4 or 6 pages in every issue from this advertiser. How can anyone appear bigger? It is not easy.

So, what did I recommend to the gallery owner to build his brand as big, important and speed the process? I recommended a 20 page spread of ads. You cannot NOT get noticed. Everyone will immediately be impressed, even the hard to impress people. You will stand out above all others and you will have a perception of being bold, of having a deep financial war chest, of being confident, and of being big. As long as the content of the ads support the message of quality. So, I recommend 20 pages every issue for a year, and if possible for two years. By the end of the second year, as long as the content and the product (quality of artwork offered) and follow through (customer service, personnel) match the projected quality, this gallery will own a top 10 position within 2 years. By following the normal course of action, which is a single page per issue, it would take 10 years or longer to build a solid presence and yet the perception of big would never occur to the same extent.

So, if being perceived as bigger and better is important, fake it till you make it. It works.

Its three AM. I awaken and my mind is racing. Things to do, business to conduct. In the old days I’d awaken, make my list and return to sleep because I could not implement my work until morning. Today I awaken, delegate some projects by email and return to bed. Sometimes I use this time to focus on things I need to do, which I cannot accomplish during the day. On-line travel, purchases, etc.

A few weeks ago I was told of a product I wanted to purchase. I went to the website, which said "download a pdf of our catalog." They did not have an on-line catalog to view the products, they did not have an interactive pdf so I could click to purchase. The site said, "Once you determine the items you wish to purchase call our 800 number and we’ll take your order. CLICK. I’m gone.

Sorry to be so impatient. Weeks have passed and I have not purchased the product. Once I returned to the web in hopes something had changed. It had not. Of course I Googled the product in hopes of finding it elsewhere, but I did not. If I wanted this product I was forced to buy from them… by picking up the phone. No such luck. Time passed, I forgot.

I’m sorry to admit I have become impatient with anyone who cannot fulfill my needs via the web. I have become so accustomed to purchasing on line, gathering research, finding needed information that when I encounter someone who does business the old fashioned way I don’t like it. AND because my life seems so busy and complicated, I often don’t buy. Maybe I intend to eventually but picking up the phone has become a major inconvenience.

OK..so how does this relate to you? Dealers tell me they still expect the phone to ring, yet it is happening less in less in response to advertising (in any publication). Advertising is not less effective, people are simply less interested in the encounter.

Start your timer…now.

– Look up the number: 20 seconds
– Ring: -20 seconds
– "Hello, welcome to XYZ Gallery. My name is Melissa, how may I help you." 25 seconds.
-"Hi Melissa, how are you today? My name is Eric and I saw a painting in a magazine and I would like to find out a little about the painting." 25 seconds.
– "Sure Eric, let me connect you with someone who can answer your question." 20 seconds.
– Hold music. 3 minutes.
– "Hi, how may I help you. My name is Patrick." 10 seconds.
– "Hi Patrick, how are you today? My name is Eric and I am interested in a painting I saw featured in a magazine. Can you help me?"- 20 seconds
– "Sure, I’d be glad to Eric. Can I ask you what magazine and the date of the magazine so I know what painting you’re referring to?" 20 seconds.
– "Of course, it’s Fine Art Connoisseur, page 45, the August Issue. Its a painting by John Singer Sergent. 20 seconds.
– "One moment please. Shuffling of papers. 2 minutes."
– "Oh, here it is. That painting is called "Mountain Fog." it was painted in 1866 and it is a 30×40 in oil. It came from the collection of the collector William Harris." 2 minutes.
– Great, Patrick. How much is it? 10 seconds.
– Eric that painting is $1 million dollars." But, hmmm, let me see, oh that painting is sold. 20 seconds
– OK, thanks Patrick.  5 seconds.
– Yes, Eric. Are you interested in this artist? I can take your name and address and call you if I get another. 20 seconds.
– That would be nice. My name and address are….. 30 seconds.

Whew. Compare that dialog with going to the website, clicking on the image, gathering the information, seeing the price, finding out its sold or not, entering my info (one click with auto fill) and I’m in and out in 1 minute. Compare.

Many dealers tell me they force people to call. Of course they wish to capture the lead and try to sell the prospect. That makes perfect sense, but fewer people will call and therefore if your Internet strategy is not easy, fast, and does not require too much information you will get a lot of business. Plus they can browse at 3 am, like I do, point and click to own, and ship anywhere in the world.

I may be wrong but I know my own patience is tested by the phone and I need to save time. Many dealers do not list price. I personally think that may be a mistake. One dealer I know sold a $600,000 piece from his website because he listed the price. It was shipped outside of the US. Others insist on forcing a phone call. Time will tell what the right strategy is.

At 3am one night I found a painting I had to own. I clicked, purchased it, gave my paypal account and it arrived about two weeks later…from Russia, which was the only reason for the delay because it was too big (5ft x 6ft) to ship overnight and it had to pass customs. In another case I emailed offering a lower price, danced by email for a day and ended up purchasing the work at a reduced rate. Again, from Russia. 

We all have to tune into a revised strategy. My 80 year old parents are on-line and on email, shopping and not wanting to pick up the phone. Younger people who are the Internet generation will not buy unless you’re on-line and make it easy. If we’re not there for them we may loose their business, even if we have a one-of-a-kind painting. Therefore its time to adapt to these changes. Advertising works, exposes artworks and brands your gallery, and it is also an excellent tool to drive traffic to your site with qualified collectors. If you make it easy and let me shop on my schedule, even at 3am, I’ll buy from you.

A funny thing happened in my life. The Internet. I have become spoiled rotten by the Internet and as a result my behavior has changed. If I hear about something, I make a note and go to the web site or I try to remember the name and I do a Google search. When I go to a site I look through their product line and if there is nothing there for me…I move on. I may return another time to search for something new… or not. I do comparative shopping on line too. Oh, and if the website does not answer my questions and have a solution to anything I can think of that I want to know… I am annoyed. AND I am really irritated if the site MAKES me have a human interaction like "call for price." Guess what. I won’t. I want to see the price, I want to make a purchase decision at that moment, and if I cannot click to buy it I will try to find somewhere else that does have a price and purchase engine.

Of course in the gallery world you have UNIQUE pieces of art (unless you’re selling prints). Many gallery folks I know refuse to put the price on their site because they want to force someone to call… so they can up sell them or use their sales skill on the potential buyer. Makes sense, and maybe it works. But not for me. You see I do most of my shopping after the kids are in bed or on those nights when I cannot sleep and I’m on line. I want instant gratification. Having to phone does not offer this.

What does this have to do with response? Advertisers tell me that "response rates" for all of their advertising has gone down with all publications (not just mine thankfully!) The phone simply does not ring as much anymore. Why? People shop on line. Even people who have good relationships with your gallery. (And others of course). Your ads still get response. They PROMPT people to go on line to look at a show, a painting, an artist and if you’re a net-savvy marketer, they can see your entire inventory. Of course you’ll never know they were there looking through your inventory in the middle of the night… unless they found something they had to own. Then they clicked and bought it… or maybe if you’re lucky they phoned. But only after they saw that you had what they want.

Advertising is valid, continues to create awareness and it sells artwork. But, the phone does not ring like it used to. Its a fact of life.

What do I recommend?

1. Make sure your ads point to your website.
2. Make sure your website relates to the ads you are running. (For instance a featured painting).
3. Make it easy to look at the inventory, know the price and buy.

I believe that if you "make people call" some will and a lot more won’t.  If I were in your business I too would RATHER people call. But  the reality of all business has changed. Now you have a potential world audience 24 hours a day. You still need to advertise to make sure they stumble to your site. Just make sure your site can meet their needs and make it easy to buy.

Most people, including most business owners, do not spend their lives in advertising. So when faced with a need to increase business they often decide to try advertising. After a career in the advertising industry I’ve encountered these business owners numerous times. I’ll get the call…

"Yes, Eric, I’d like to try some advertising. How much is an ad?"

When the conversation continues, it goes something like this…

"We would like to try your magazine, so we thought we would place an ad."

When I ask what their expectations are they typically say something like…

"Well, we’re not sure, but I assume it will sell some paintings for us."

"How many paintings do you expect it to sell? What price point on the paintings?." I ask.

DEAD SILENCE. "We’ll we’re not sure."

When possible I try to direct an inquiry like this to a discussion about needs, objectives and goals. Most people have not thought about the outcome other than "selling some paintings" or boosting business. But different goals require different strategy.

I once ran an ad in a magazine. My goal was to build subscriptions. So, I placed an ad in a magazine, which reached people who were potential subscribers. I even inserted a subscription card. They had a circulation of 80,000. The result? We sold 12 subscriptions costing me $600+ to get each. Why did the ad fail? I did not follow my own advice. (Which we will get into in a minute.)

In another case I decided to run ads in a little inexpensive newspaper which reached potential advertisers. Since my goal was to create awareness and brand our name with potential advertisers I decided to take a long term approach. So I bought an ad to appear every issue for a year. One ad ran. No calls. But none we’re expected. A second, third and forth ran. No calls. None were expected. At this point my marketing assistant was saying, "Eric, do you really want to continue since you’re getting no results?" I told him, "Wait and see, we will see results."

After about eight months of impressions our phone started ringing from companies who said things like "we keep hearing about your magazine and want to explore some advertising." It was clear they were coming from these ads.

Intuition says… run and ad…get a call. Most ad experts will tell you intuition does not work. (Though sometimes you get lucky and it does work.) Frequency is the key to success in advertising. The repetition of message over and over again is what gets people to notice, build trust (yes, seeing you time and again builds trust if your ads look good) and eventually take action.

Even though I have spent my entire career in advertising I fell into the trap of being seduced to thinking I could sell something with a single ad. I was wrong. When I changed my strategy to consistent long term advertising I started seeing results. This will continue as we remain committed over the long haul. … against my intuition. 

We hear it all the time, "I’d like to advertise when there is a feature on an artist we sell, a style we sell, or a special feature that relates to our artwork." We encourage this, of course. But there is an upside and a down side.

Upside: If there is an article on an artist, a movement, a style that very artice can create interest from a reader in owning one of those works. It’s not uncommon for a gallery who has paintings by a particular artist to want to have their ad appear in that issue. Often people will pick up the phone, go to the web site and in some way respond to that ad. It often works. Sometimes it does not.

Why it sometimes does not work: Many things inpact the results of an ad. The image advertised might be an artist they love but might not be a painting they love. The ad design may not appeal to the particular reader, may not get their attention. Perhaps some element of the ad does not motivate the buyer to call. (OF course these days calls are more rare. People browse the website and if nothing interests them, you’ll never know they visited.)

One of the big issues hampering immediate response to an ad tied to editorial… they don’t know you.
Trust is a critical part of the buying process. It has always been an issue but its a bigger issue with internet scams at an all time high. Your gallery could be 50 years old and have an excellent reputation, but if it does not have a reputation with this individual, they are often reluctant to trust you right away. Lets say you’re known by an audience of another art publication, but lets say you decide to advertise in a publication that is new. Perhaps 10% of the audience is duplicated (meaning they receive the other publication too) and therefor they are comfortable with you. What about the 90% who readers who don’t know you? (We all get so close to our business that we believe everyone knows us. But there are new people coming into the market daily.)

The best way to build trust beyond word of mouth? Repetition. The more people notice you, see your ads, and become comfortable, the more they begin to trust you. Just like a new friend. Time builds relationships. If you rate low on their awareness scale, you probably rate low on the trust scale. So frequency of advertising builds trust.

DOWNSIDE: Most people who run art galleries are experts in art, but frequently are not marketers. Therefore they will run a single ad with high expectations. If they are not met, its usually considered our fault. Aside from the other elements that influence results (mentioned above) along with other issues like timing, economy, etc. the bigger issue is that single ads rarely work well. Campaigns work. In these days of political campaigns candidates work hard to be seen and heard over and over again. They try to get to crowds for speaking engagements, try to get quoted on television and radio, and they reinforce it with multiple ads? Why? Single impressions don’t work. Each impression has an impact and makes us like or trust them a little bit more (or less).

Single ads sometimes do work when all the stars align. But frankly, its rare. Campaigns work to build awareness, trust, reinforce the quality of your brand. Buyers cannot usually articulate that, however they know when they are comfortable and ready to call.

“I’ll buy and ad and see if it works. If it work’s I’ll buy more.”

These are words, which those of us in the advertising world hear frequently. I usually respond in the nicest possible way saying “keep your money. One ad usually does not work.” Though I love people to advertise my experience tells me that if the client’s expectations are not managed they will run one ad and then never be back if their expectations are not met.

It’s important to think about all the things which impact the success of an ad:

–         The design of the ad

–         The headline

–         The copy

–         The call to action (or lack of)

–         The artist featured in the ad

–         The painting featured in the ad

–         The audience reading the ad

–         The audience’s awareness of your gallery

–         The audience’s trust of your gallery

–         The timing of the ad

Any single element can impact whether or not someone responds to an ad.

Over many years I have had instances where one advertiser in an issue will tell me she had overwhelming success with an ad while another advertiser will tell me they had zero success. How can this be? It boils down to all the elements working in unison. You’ve seen it happen in other ways… one gallery on your street will have a great month or great traffic while another does not.

When “testing” an advertiser needs to understand how they measure success.

Is it number of phone calls? How many? Number of paintings sold? How many and at what price? Is it increased web site traffic? How much? Emails? How many?

“I’ll know if it’s working” is a typical response; however having a predetermined and reasonable expectation is an important starting point.

I believe it’s important to understand that tests also need to be equal. If you run an ad to test it in a new publication which has an audience which is unaware of your brand and you run another ad in a publication where the audience has an established trust of your brand you should see better result from the publication familiar with your brand. Yet if new audiences are important to your strategy of growing your business its important to invest in building trust with the new audience. (Building a brand is critical. People unfamiliar with your brand are less likely to do business with you until they are comfortable. Trust starts with repetition…being seen frequently.)

I once ran an ad in a magazine at great expense with a large audience. I received no evidence that I received any result. My instinct was to cancel, tell them it did not work and mark them off my list. However as I started thinking about it… I received no result because I was the new advertiser and they had no awareness of my brand. (Or maybe my ad was ineffective). My best strategy is to continue to advertise, build my brand and then after a couple of years if it does not work then perhaps I’ll reconsider.

Long term strategy building is difficult to do when running a business and wanting instant results. For some it’s not possible. For others it’s imperative to build new relationships, which take time. In any case it’s mission critical if you want to be known and trusted by an audience who does not know and trust you presently. (We all get close to our products and like to think everyone knows who we are.)

Think about a sales person who shows up to sell you something. They keep calling. You barely know their name. If they keep showing up, you keep seeing them at events and you eventually get to know their name, maybe you get acquainted with them… only then are you comfortable to start giving them your business. Advertising often works about the same way. It’s about showing up, being present at every possible opportunity.

In 1898 E. St.Elmo Lewis wrote of an advertising strategy, which he called AIDA. (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action). The Journal of Marketing states that though this basic tenant of advertising seems to be important there are deeper psychological reasons such as memory, attitude toward brand, cognition, feelings which important to making a sale. However let’s touch on his AIDA strategy:

To create attention a consumer must see your message. Lewis believed the message needed to be seen 3.5 times before a consumer would react. That was 1898 when a fraction of advertising messaging was taking place. Today consumers are bombarded with advertising messages. In his book Cash Copy Dr. Jeffery Lant believes it requires 7.5 impressions before a consumer will respond to an advertisement. This does not mean you need to run 7.5 ads, it means the person reading must see that many ads. If you run 7 ads and they see five of them you have missed the target. This is why the world’s most successful companies advertise constantly. Its about reach, frequency and reinforcement to keep people coming back. Reaching your 7.5 response number may require ten or twenty ads before they see it 7.5 times or in the case of a magazine with long shelf life, which they may return to several times, it might be accomplished with fewer ad impressions. Since shelf life viewing cannot be easily measured advertisers typically focus on multiple impressions, sometimes in a single issue and usually by having a presence in multiple issues and multiple magazines (or media). It’s the combination of impressions, which are important. For instance if you are building a gallery brand to build trust it may be about impressions of your brand at art fairs, magazine ads, newspaper articles, show openings, etc. Just like the aforementioned salesperson, it’s about showing up and being seen until trust is established.

Of course frequency allows a consumer to see your ad, yet being there is not enough. Your ad needs to be noticed. This is where headlines, copy, ad design, images and graphics come into play. If your ad is not noticed, does not send a message the reader will respond to, does not build trust or send a message of quality (if quality is important to the reader) it will not get attention.

Interest is about the customer being interested. What does your ad say that makes me interested? This boils down to the copy. Once you get them to notice the ad and if you are fortunate to get the person to read it, the copy must create interest. It must also create desire.

What do you desire? When Lexus and Infinity were simultaneously launched no one knew the brands and though both were striving to capture the high end market, Lexus won the battle. People did not instantly desire the Lexus brand. Lexus out advertised Infinity one hundred to one. It also beat the drum of a single message… the utmost in luxury and quality. Word of mouth spread as people learned the brand lived up to its message. Time combined with word of mouth and frequent advertising built trust in the brand.

Action is the final point of Dr. Lewis theory. Consumers must take action. Your desire is to have them pick up the phone to buy a painting, email you, visit your web site or walk into your gallery. If your advertising does not make this easy, make the customer comfortable it is less likely to take place.

Advertising is a complex game of science, creativity and gut feel. I’ve spent a lifetime in the advertising world and cannot ever be sure anything I recommend will work. Sometimes it works well and sometimes not. The odds are with you if you dominate an audience with frequent messages, multiple ads, and prominent positions and if you have advertising which stands out above other advertisers. But even then, there are no guarantees. All the more reason a simple “test” is typically destined to failure.