As the holiday season approaches, artists have been making their own preparations to make the most out of it with their art sales. While marketing and selling your art is a drill that goes on the entire year, during holidays, art sales rise exponentially, and you need to take full advantage of that opportunity. It’s true that with holiday season comes competition, but it is also an excellent time to boost your sales and enjoy the fruit of your labor. According to The National Retail Federation, for mid-size or small businesses, holiday sales can make up as much as 30% – 40% of annual customer transactions.         

If you haven’t started working on your own holiday marketing strategies for this year, or are a little unsure on how to approach it, don’t worry as there is still time. We’re here with some valuable strategies for artists that will save the day!

Offer holiday discounts

Holidays are a time when people get to relax, spend time with their families, and generally have a cheerful energy. They are not working anymore, and are open to possibilities where they can treat themselves. When you add discounts into the mix, consumers really see that as a win-win situation. They are now tempted, more than ever, to get that discount which they would not be ale to avail at some other time of the year. So what do you do? You give them that incentive and tell them that you have a limited time holiday discount going on, and they will rush to the store immediately.

Offer flat discounts

There are few ways you can put out your discount deals. You can have a flat discount on all your artworks, or you can group your artworks into different categories, with each category having its own percentage of discount. This further gives your buyers an option where they can choose according to their budget.

Put up holiday bundles and coupons

Another way to tempt art buyers is by putting up holiday bundles and coupons. Create various bundles with a variety of items. For example, with every artwork, you can throw in some freebies such as gift cards, coupons, or greeting cards with your art on it. You can also offer deals where art collectors get an artwork for free if they buy 2 or 3 artworks from you. Your deals greatly depend on your business plan, and how much discount you can offer without putting a dent in your profits.

Offer free shipping

Another way to incentivize your followers is by offering free shipping on every holiday purchase. While free shipping can work at any time of the year, it may be crucial to boost your sales during holidays. Make sure that your followers know about it by making it visible on your store, website or social media handles.

Put out gift suggestions

Holidays are about families coming together to celebrate. Friends and families reach to each other, cook delicious meals, and most importantly, buy gifts for one another. This is the perfect opportunity for you to swoop right in and present your buyers with the perfect gift options.

Market your art as the perfect gift

Remind your buyers that if they are behind on buying gifts for their loved ones, or are looking for the perfect gift, your art is there to save the day. You can post on your social media handles or prepare email marketing campaigns with links that direct people to your website. If you have your own art store, you can advertise these gift suggestions outside and inside your store.

Personalize gift suggestions

Another idea is to personalize the gift suggestions. For your old customers, you can create a unique gift suggestion based on their previous purchases and how they can create gift bundles. If you are offering discounts, add it into the mix as well!

Promote your art on all platform

To attract more art collectors to your art products, curate your promotions around the holidays. A good idea is to promote your art on Pinterest apart from Instagram, Facebook, Quora etc., as according to Omnicore, more than 80% of Pinners purchase a product because of Pinterest.

Get into the holiday spirit

People during the holidays not only want to shop for gifts, but they also want the holiday spirit, and nothing can get you in the mood more than the right visuals.

Give your landing page a makeover

Help your followers get into the holiday spirit by updating your landing page, displays, and social media with some holiday vibes. Create some customized holiday illustrations that you can use on your page. Put up some warm colors with sparkle, so that your followers know that you are celebrating with them.

Offer gift-wrapping services

You can also offer an in-store and online holiday gift-wrapping service, to provide an incentive to your buyers. Another way to go about it is to create an artwork that is specifically for available during the holidays so you can put out a limited-edition offer. There will be buyers who will definitely be attracted to an opportunity where they can buy gifts for their loved ones that are exclusively available once. You’ll get bounty points if that artwork is designed around the theme of holidays etc.

Video marketing

During holidays, you may want to go all out on your marketing strategy. For example, now is the perfect time to do some behind-the-scenes videos that directly relate to the holiday vibes.

Humanize your brand/business by actively interacting with your followers and ask them to share their favorite holiday memories. You can also give a sneak peek into how you are dealing with the business for the holidays. Make a cute video with a holiday theme music, wish your followers happy holidays, and talk about your own favorite holiday memories. By tapping into such nostalgic memories, you can draw in more art collectors who will be attracted to your brand because it feels familiar to them.

The earlier you start planning your holiday marketing strategies, the better. You need to give your customers time to see your promotional deals at least six to seven times before they make up their mind. Many artists start working on their holiday deals in the middle of the year. However, there is still time for you to build a rock solid plan and then see the magic happen!