Recent Posts
Why Testing Your Advertising Can Be Perilous
“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 [...]
Size Matters
I just returned from TEFAF (The European Fine Art Fair) in Maastricht Holland. One of the dealers chose to show up with a tiny booth... about 1/4 the size of their booth last year. (I don't wish to mention their name because I mean no ill will). It created a buzz.... unfortunately it was gossip about how the gallery was experiencing serious financial trouble. It may or may not be true BUT in any case it sent the wrong message. Roy Williams my marketing-author colleague once told me that "people remember you for the smallest thing you do, not the biggest. If you want to appear small you will be perceived as small." Something to keep in mind if you're doing art fairs in the future.
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 [...]
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? 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. 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. Look Successful: How? Size, design (elegance) and what you are featuring (quality art). 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. 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 [...]
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. [...]
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? [...]
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 [...]
Editorial Seduction
“Of course you’ll do a story on us,” replied a customer when discussing advertising. My reply was not what he wanted to hear. “ Well, we believe we should do anything and everything we can do to help our customers build their business… but we do not link a quid-pro-quo to advertising.” Selling editorial is the second oldest profession and is right up there with the oldest profession. It’s a natural for people to want coverage and those of us in the publishing business are usually willing to offer it if there is reason for a legitimate story. However tying it to advertising has a downside…. Readers always know. In fact I avoid anything that smacks of selling editorial. I remember being impressed with Schiller & Bodo and decided to have our editorial people write a profile on the gallery. In turn they suggested they buy an ad in that issue. “Absolutely not,” I suggested. “I don’t want to make my readers think you bought that story. If you want to advertise, that’s fine but do it in any issue other than the one featuring your story.” I believe Lisa Schiller was appreciative that we would protect their integrity as well as ours. I once started a magazine called STREAMING. I was convinced by the man I hired to run the publication that we should offer coverage in [...]
Circulation Traps: Targeting Bus Loads Vs Buyers
Something about human nature wants to always be associated with the biggest... and the best. But what defines the biggest or the best? Most affluent people want to drive a Mercedes or Lexus, the super affluent want a Bentley or a Roller. They are the finest automobiles but are not the biggest sellers. In terms of volume sold Toyota and Ford are the biggest. Most affluent people do not buy drive the cars which sell the most, in fact many people don't want to be associated with the masses. Instead they want what is unobtainable by the masses. Advertisers have been trained to reach mass audiences and large audiences. This is critically important when selling mass consumer items like cell phones. But if you want to reach a select audience who can afford a specific item shooting for a mass audience is usually more costly and less effective even with a low cost per thousand. Low Cost per Thousand Examples: Assume you are selling cell phones and you want to reach 100,000 people. If the ads are $10,000 than you are paying a cost of $10 per person reached (100,000 people divided by $10,000 ad cost). In this case volume is critical. If 50,000 of the 100,000 reached buy a phone and you can get a customer for $20.00 ($10. cost per thousand x 2) who spends $400 [...]
