4 Clever Marketing Strategies for Holiday Art Sales
So, you’ve decided what your holiday sales offerings will be. You’ve set your sales goals for the holiday season. You’re ready to go, right? Not yet. You need to create your marketing strategy for the holiday season.
Not sure what this entails? Don’t worry, I’ve got you. Here are four clever ideas that should be part of your strategy:
1. Sweeten the Deal
You’re offering your gorgeous artwork, the audience loves it, and they buy it—easy as pie, right? Well, consider for a moment the experience you have when shopping for holiday gifts. You start out with a list of gift recipients and a budget. And you receive an onslaught of sales and marketing messages for several months.
The same is true for your audience. They are trying to stretch their holiday shopping dollars while buying nice gifts for everyone on their list. You can help them with this goal by offering:
Coupons: Create a coupon code for a discount or free shipping, and share that code with your email subscribers and/or your social media followers. Make a cutoff date for the code to inspire them to take action right away.
Price in bundles: We all fall for the BOGO. While I don’t recommend selling two artworks for the price of one, you can offer a small freebie to go with each purchase, like an unframed drawing, artful gift tag, or a greeting card with your art on it. You should also create bundle pricing: Buy one and get a discount on the second item, buy two similar items for a certain discounted price and buy three for an even more generous discount. I love it when I discover a gift that will please multiple recipients on my list—and when I can save a little money in the process, it’s even better!
My unique painted Christmas ornaments—which you can learn to make here—are perfect for bundled pricing. And so many people have a number of people on their list for whom an ornament is the perfect gift!
2. Make Them Feel Good about Buying Your Art
The holiday season fills us with all sorts of feelings, and one of them is the spirit of giving. I like to donate a portion of my sales to a charity, and I let the buyers know about it. I often select animal rescue charities, but you should choose whatever nonprofit reflects your values. Then let the potential buyers know that their purchase is doing some good in the world! It’s always a pleasure to buy something and know that it’s helping the greater good, even in a small way.
Their purchase is also helping you as an artrepreneur. That is also something that they can feel good about! Let them know about you, your art, and your art business. Is their purchase helping you support yourself or your family? Remind them that they are doing any of these that apply:
Buying local
Supporting a woman-owned business
Supporting the arts
Supporting a BIPOC business
Supporting a LGBTQ+ business
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3. Create a Buzzy Experience
You want to create a beautiful, exciting experience for the art buyer. Consider doing a live painting demo in a place where you are selling your art in person. Consider how you wrap and package the art that they buy: make it an artful experience with beautiful paper and ribbons! Include your business card or a postcard showing you and your work.
4. Get the Word Out
Your marketing messages are going to be joining a cacophony of other marketing messages. Everyone and their sister will be urging your prospective buyers to buy, buy, buy. It’s hard to rise above the noise! The only way to do it is to make a solid plan for getting the word out multiple ways and many, many times. This can feel uncomfortable, but I urge you to get over it and stay committed.
Trumpet your offerings on social media, Pinterest, and your email newsletter. Not just once—again and again. Think about getting some media exposure—anything from your church bulletin to the local paper. Think of all of the communities you are part of, and find a way to let that community know about your offerings.
Make Your Marketing Plan and Follow It
Create a written plan for marketing your holiday art offerings. Decide on your pricing strategies and marketing messaging. Make a marketing calendar for all of your activities, from social media posts to live events. Lastly, keep a running list of lessons learned and ideas for next year. Remember that this is a learning experience! I’ve honed my holiday sales strategy again and again as I try new things every year. When one avenue doesn’t work out, I remind myself that it’s valuable data for next year’s holiday season.
And if you’re looking for an affordable art offering for the holidays (or a homerun gift that you can create for your loved ones), be sure to check out my limited-time holiday ornament DIY guide. It will lead you by the hand from sourcing your supplies through painting your one-of-a-kind ornaments to adding a ribbon for hanging!