Your Biggest Art Marketing Mistake

by Carolyn Edlund

Has this happened to you?

You’ve met people who absolutely love your artwork. It might be at an exhibit or a fair, or perhaps at a social event when you share an image of your art on your smartphone. They rave about your art, showing lots of interest, and you tell them you will stay in touch. They hand you a business card, or write down their name, email and phone number.

But you never got back to them. The opportunity was lost.

You meant to do it, but either you weren’t organized, or you didn’t know what to say, or didn’t have enough time. You end up with stacks of cards, and lists of people who want to see more of your work, but you haven’t taken any action to follow up with all those interested people who could turn into customers.

Perhaps you have an art website, which took a lot of time to put together. You want people to visit, and you might be putting in hours on social media to promote it – but you don’t know who likes your work or wants to see more unless someone fills out your contact form, which is rare. You don’t have a method of collecting names of visitors for your mailing list, or if you do, you haven’t contacted them.

All the effort you put into sharing your art has been wasted, unless you choose to take further action. You must put a system into place that will collect names of people who like your art, and want to know more. Then, you need to reach out to them over and over again, because one contact isn’t enough to make art sales. As people get to know you, and learn your story, and see your work, they feel that they know you and gain a comfortable level that can lead to making purchases.

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