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.

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

“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.

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.

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.

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.

“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.

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.

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).