From https://kevincaron.com – Artist Kevin Caron’s “lovely assistant,”” Mary, answers some of the questions they’ve gotten about having a successful art career ….
This is info is based on what Kevin Caron and his team have done. Maybe some of the tips and ideas in these videos will be helpful. There will be 2 videos about marketing. This first marketing video shares things to think about. If you think about what you’re doing BEFORE you get started, it will make everything you do much, MUCH easier.
MARKETING is getting them to pay attention to what you’re doing. SALES is what you do once you’ve caught their attention, and that’s get them to buy. Mary used to hate marketing. Now she LOVES marketing. Just one thing changed: the way she thought about it.
When she began to look at marketing as a way of sharing what she loves about Kevin Caron’s sculpture, it became easy. Most people – friends, family, neighbors, people who like his sculpture – want to know what he is doing.
So whatever doing, online or off, just share: “Look at this cool stuff!” The excitement that keeps you working is what you want to share.
Let’s say you have a show coming up. Instead of sending out notices that say “I’m having a show,” think about what you are having fun with right now, what is challenging you, etc. What do you think other people might be excited about? Maybe a new technique, maybe a new medium. THAT’S what you want to share. Then give them the details: when the show is, what time, how long, where it’s going to be held. Of course, images, too.
Who are you going to share with? Marketing to everybody is expensive and a lot of work. Ideally, you want to market to the people who want to know about your art: family, friends, neighbors. Kevin Caron’s audience is people who like sculpture, while for others it might be people who like animals or landscapes. Zero in on the people who are going to get what you’re doing. That’s finding your audience, and you probably have multiple audiences. When you know your audience, you know where to look for them and you know how to talk to them. You know what kind of language they like, and you know what excites them.
Another key point? Purpose. What do you want your audience to do? Come to a show? Buy work? Give you feedback?
Marketing is bringing together your audience and purpose when you’re doing any all marketing: social media, creating brochures, doing interviews, etc.
Also ask, “What’s in it for them?” Are they going to see an exciting new technique? New landscape paintings no one has seen before? Meet somebody that you’ve painted a portrait of. People want to meet the artist and see how the artwork is made. Most of all, they want to be a part of your success.
First capture their imagination, then give them the details – they don’t care about them until they know they want to come.
Also make it as easy for them to do what you want them to do. Having a show? Provide a map.
A great Website can be the hub of everything, with great information and great photographs, making it easy for them to contact you when they want to buy – and they do.
How about social media? You can’t be on every social media platform and do everything else, too. Pick your social media based on your audience. For example, an older audience probably isn’t going to be on Snapchat. Most social media platforms have analytics to give you who is coming from where when. That helps you speak to the audiences that matches those already buying your art.
YouTube is a big social media platform for Kevin Caron. It’s social media because it involves interaction. By responding to people, he’s built a great YouTube community. You can interact on other platforms, too, like Quora. Automated posting services like Hootsuite, Later and Buffer help you organize and schedule so you can post to multiple sites at once.
Social media is not a replacement for print media, though. Kevin Caron has a small foldout brochure that they carry around and give away. The brochures easily fit in a pocket or purse and have resulted in magazine articles and sales. Postcards are worthwhile for important shows, drawing people who would not have come otherwise.
Please post your questions below and “like” this free how to video. Mary encourages viewers to visit http:/www.kevincaron.com to see why Kevin Caron’s work is so important to having a successful art career!
Before you go, you might want to see some ventriloquism ….