How to use FB & IG ads to get online inquiries & art sales (for art galleries)
The 8-step process we used to help a US-based emerging art gallery to consistently get online art sales & inquiries
CHALLENGES
- No inquiries from onlineAll the inquiries and sales so far happened through word-of-mouth and at in person art fairs.
- No online funnel set up to bring in consistent leads and salesNo sales and digital marketing strategy have been established to automate the process of getting in leads consistently.
- Have tried to use IG to get art collectors to follow, but only get artists instead
RESULTS IN NUMBERS
- 771+Highly Qualified Leads
- 10 times moreInquiries from online
- 5+$10-30k Partnerships Secured
MYTHS DEBUNKED
MYTH:
Ultra High Net Worth art collectors don't use social media
TRUTH:
70% of UHNW investors (defined as those with $5-$25 million in investable assets) use some form of social media. (The Spectrem Group)
MYTH:
Art collectors don't use social media to buy art
TRUTH:
"69% of art collectors use Facebook and Instagram to discover art" (Artsy)
STEP-BY-STEP BREAKDOWN
#1 It all starts with knowing your target art collector avatars
It's not just a superficial examination of who they are.
It's a deep dive into their psychology, their day-to-day life, their lifestyles, what motivates them to act, what doesn't motivate them to, what they want to feel, what language do you need to use to persuade them.
Why do you need this deep dive?
By knowing this, you will create ad creatives & ad copies that are relevant to them, target the right audiences through social media channels, and generate paid marketing campaigns that actually convert them into customers.
???? Example of an art investor minded customer avatar deep dive.
It's a deep dive into their psychology, their day-to-day life, their lifestyles, what motivates them to act, what doesn't motivate them to, what they want to feel, what language do you need to use to persuade them.
Why do you need this deep dive?
By knowing this, you will create ad creatives & ad copies that are relevant to them, target the right audiences through social media channels, and generate paid marketing campaigns that actually convert them into customers.
???? Example of an art investor minded customer avatar deep dive.
#2 Know your competition
Research your competitors on FB ad library and see what type of ad creatives, ad copies, and content type they are using to reach your target your sample customer avatar.
After the research, you should find a pattern of similar content types that a few of your competitors have spent a lot of money on & which consistently generate great results for them (And most likely they resonate with your audiences too!)
Note them down in a competitor analysis content sheet that looks like 👉
After the research, you should find a pattern of similar content types that a few of your competitors have spent a lot of money on & which consistently generate great results for them (And most likely they resonate with your audiences too!)
Note them down in a competitor analysis content sheet that looks like 👉
Thus far, you could probably deduce a few things that are relevant for the investor minded art collector we used as an example.
Avatar: investors who have disposable income to invest and who care about investment returns more than the art itself
Age & Industry: 35+, male, works in investment banking. Graduated from top business schools.
Words/languages/drives that motivate them to act:
Avatar: investors who have disposable income to invest and who care about investment returns more than the art itself
Age & Industry: 35+, male, works in investment banking. Graduated from top business schools.
Words/languages/drives that motivate them to act:
- Competitiveness - using words such as "be the first to access...," "Be smarter than your friends", "be amongst the top 5% investors" would motivate them to act
- Number-focused financial terms - "Index, outperforms S&P 500, hedge against inflation, etc." would make them curious and interested in the offering.
- Exclusivity-driven - "be part of an exclusive club"
#3 Craft a strategy designed to drive your target customer avatars to inquire about your offer
What are the purchase behaviour of your customer avatar?
Take the example of a savvy investment-minded art collector. They make lots of research before purchasing and would like to know a lot of information and knowledge before investing. They would prefer to have personalised consultation and advice before purchasing.
How can we design this interaction to an online marketing channel?
1) Offer useful information that make them feel "smarter" in exchange for their contact information (this could take the form of an investment guide, questionnaire, etc.) This would also build their trust with a new brand.
2) Offer them a bespoke consultation where they could learn more about art as an investment
Usually this would take the form of a lead generation funnel - you drive an ad that prompts them to download the PDF guide in exchange for their information (E.g. email, phone number, etc.)
#4 Find your target customer avatars through FB and IG - audience targeting
This is where your previous research on customer avatars comes in handy - what magazines do you customer avatar read, what hobbies do they have, what income class do they come from, which influencers do they follow, etc.?
To reach them on Facebook and Instagram for instance, you can use interest-based targeting to let the FB algorithm find the right audience for you. You want your audience size to be at least between 500k - 3 million.
You should A/B test a few audiences with the best performing ad creatives and ad copies to get the best results, if your budget allows.
#5 Find your target customer avatars through FB and IG - create eye-catching, scroll-stopping ad creatives & ad copies
This is where your competitor research on ad creatives and copy mining (i.e. knowing what words motivate them to act) become useful.
Test out a few variations of different ad creatives and ad copies to see which ones generate the best results and resonate with your target audience.
When it comes to writing convincing ad copies - know this ????
People don’t buy products, they buy outcomes & transformations.
Think about how you can identify and articulate the transformation from before and after they buy from you in your ad copy to make it convincing.
Test out a few variations of different ad creatives and ad copies to see which ones generate the best results and resonate with your target audience.
When it comes to writing convincing ad copies - know this ????
People don’t buy products, they buy outcomes & transformations.
Think about how you can identify and articulate the transformation from before and after they buy from you in your ad copy to make it convincing.
#6 (Test + optimize) on repeat
Why are tech startups like Uber & Airbnb able to scale up very fast?
They conduct 10,000+ growth A/B experiments each year!
To growth hack your art business, never assume. Always be open to conduct A/B tests if budget allows. Test new audience targeting, ad creatives, ad copies, landing pages, etc. to get the best results.
They conduct 10,000+ growth A/B experiments each year!
To growth hack your art business, never assume. Always be open to conduct A/B tests if budget allows. Test new audience targeting, ad creatives, ad copies, landing pages, etc. to get the best results.
#7 Optimize your email marketing
For an e-commerce company, the benchmark is that 30% of your revenue should be coming from your emails.
How to improve your open rates and click rates?
Some of the strategies you should employ to optimize your email marketing efforts:
How to improve your open rates and click rates?
Some of the strategies you should employ to optimize your email marketing efforts:
- Consistently conduct A/B tests on sending time, copies, and design
- Segment your subscribers into active and non-active
- Clean your email lists consistently to reduce bounce rates and unsubscribes
- Connect with custom domaines to ensure optimal email deliverability
#8 Build a social media profile that builds social proof, incentives your art collectors to engage and re-purchase
Posting on social media isn't necessarily going to get you those sales, BUT it provides social proof that enables the sales.
Having great content on IG provides trust to your potential buyers that you are trustworthy.
For more in-depth tips on how to create a social media profile that builds trust, check out our a social media specific case study here:
https://surrealdigital.co.uk/blog/artsectgallery
Having great content on IG provides trust to your potential buyers that you are trustworthy.
For more in-depth tips on how to create a social media profile that builds trust, check out our a social media specific case study here:
https://surrealdigital.co.uk/blog/artsectgallery
Interested in growth hacking your art business?