Let’s suppose, there was a freelancer illustrator, who was working extremely hard to get herself recognized, but can now sell digital prints with ease. To gain more visibility, this illustrator moved her portfolio to the web and was able to better the income made by 400 percent in just two years – an example of how the internet is proving beneficial for artists.
Overview: In the current technologically advanced era, there has been an increasing change in the art world in particular you can now sell your art not only through engaging but also through digital marketing and ecommerce, this change has given so many opportunities for artists to market and monetise their creativity on many different online platforms.
Keyword Inclusion: For an artist with a good portfolio, being able to make it in the online market has never been more easier, this is because worldwide there is a large market for original art and digital products, as people are ready to spend money to decorate their online and offline places.
Setting Up Your Online Art Shop
Why Should You Choose the Right Platform?
In our previous article, we established that sale maximization is the primary goal for every artist. Selling art can be a painstaking process in the absence of the right strategies. As expected, there are diverse methods of selling art, such as social media and word of mouth. However, these approaches may be time-consuming and labor intensive. In this article, we will analyze the margins and intricacies of online platforms such as Etsy, Shopify, and Print-on-Demand printing.
Let’s analyze their advantages and differences in selling art online and which one is best:
Etsy, Shopify, or Print-on-Demand: Best Platform for Selling Art À La Mode
Etsy
- Target Audience: Anyone who is a part of the art or vintage market is going to love Etsy. Classic and professional handcrafted pieces can be found over this platform and due to this, there are millions of users ready to buy. Therefore, it helps artists of any craft style including visualizing performing and selling only one-of-a-kind items.
- Benefits: Etsy does have an audience built in on the app which is solely targeted towards people wanting to buy creative products greatly thereby reducing marketing costs. They offer analytics and customization of the shop as well.
- Statistics: Statista reported that high 2.9 billion people were actively shopping on Etsy showcasing its effectiveness in reaching out potential buyers.
- Benefits: complete personalization of the storefront; compatibility with a variety of marketing systems; and the ability to utilize advanced analytics to monitor user activity on your site.
As for statistics, the migration to the Shopify platform has been shown to average an 80% increase in sales during the first year of use by its users, thus demonstrating the ability to grow business with such a platform.
Print – On – Demand Services
- Target Audience: These services are suitable for artists who wish to sell merchandise or prints without the hassles of making them and sending them. This is ideal for digital artists or graphic designers.
- Benefits: There are no upfront purchase orders for a retention inventory. Without incurring any costs, artists can provide an extensive variety of items as these products are created only when orders are received.
- Statistics: According to a 2022 industry report, artists have used print-on-demand services to increase their product range by more than three times, with no extra space or shipping needed to store these products.
How can these platforms assist you in reaching the right audience for your products or services?
SEO and Visibility: Shopify, for example, has features which enable you to optimize it for search engines which will, in turn, help your website rank higher on Google searches. This will of course helps increase the number of people able to view it. For Etsy, due to the nature of the marketplace, it already receives lots of visitors, and therefore doesn’t require a great deal of SEO knowledge.
Integration of Marketing Tools: Did you know? Social media marketing can be a breeze since both the platforms provide the functionality to connect your store to Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts and Market them right away. Merchants on the platforms are equipped with tools that allow them to market their products right away.
Accumulation of Customer Data: The two platforms also have sophisticated reporting systems in place giving you tools to analyze the trends in customer behavior, enhance marketing strategies aimed at increasing sales or improving sales efficiency.
Case in point: An artist focused on digital art can maintain a neat, sophisticated look using Shopify while linking their store to their YouTube sales channel. In contrast, a painter may consider selling on Etsy where the audience is more appropriate than the market, and may use tools on Etsy to reach art buyers seeking original work.
How Important is It for an Artist to Have an Attractive Online Portfolio?
In order for artists to be able to promote their works, an attractive online portfolio is a must-have. This portfolio serves not just as a foldable brochure displaying the artist’s work, but also as an opportunity to establish themselves as a brand or present themselves in a desired professional way to buyers around the world.
High-end Cameras and High Res images why are they necessary for Artwork?
- Quality Presentation: High-resolution images help viewers appreciate the works since they can see the detail and true color values of the paintings; this is most important for online sales where a photograph of the painting has to serve in place of a live demonstration.
- Professionalism: Good camera quality art photos enhances the possibility of buyers trusting your work.
- Engagement: When an image is detailed and clear, the chances of it attracting visitors and keeping their attention on the site for a longer period of time making a sale greatly increases.
- Statistics: It is proven that engagement rates of nearly 94% are found with websites that post images of a higher quality. Art websites that have professional pictures taken are 30% more likely to turn a profit than those of mediocre quality.
- Examples: Artist such as James jean and Lois van Baarle have used quality images of the art work and in return received more engagement on their social media accounts and a boost in sales on their websites.
What are some effective ways of writing program descriptions when trying to appeal to buyers?
Tell a Story: Share the inspiration behind and the technique employed in the artwork so that an emotional bond can be established with the potential buyer.
Include Specifics: State size, medium and relevant information so that the buyers are well informed on what they are purchasing.
Call to Action: Motivating buyers to take a step whether directly visiting the page and making a purchase or contacting me to know more about the product.
Data Point: A study from Cornell University found an increase in sales by 20% for art that had personal anecdotes in the description as compared to simply capturing the size or medium of the art.
Examples: Artists have a better chance of selling their art on popular platforms such as Saatchi Art or Artfinder if they tell a captivating story, or even provide a longer description explaining how their work is unique.
How Would Practicing Artists Price Their Artwork to get Different Types of Buyers?
Setting the correct price could easily be the most important factor for an artist, since it results in many determining factors such as earning and the amount of art sold. Some important concepts to keep in mind include the cost incurred, the demand in the market, and the value estimation by customers.
What are different defined pricing strategies based on the cost of the artwork, market demand and the value the art holds?
Cost-Based Pricing: Estimate the total cost incurred to create the artwork, this typically includes the material, the time spent creating and the overheads and then add a percentage for profit.
Value-Based Pricing: Set a price for the art piece that the target audience believes it would be worth depending on the artist reputation, how one of a kind the piece is, and previous auctions on the same piece.
Dynamic Pricing: Change the price depending on various factors such as the demand in the market, special events, or new competitors.
Statistics: Through price promotions, artists that employ dynamic pricing are able to boost their sales by 10-15% during the promotions period. This is according to a report published by the Business of Art.
Examples: When artists of the caliber of Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons are mentioned, value-based pricing comes to mind as they sell their works at very high prices owing to their considerable market penetration and demand for their pieces.
How to Utilize Pricing in Order to Appeal to Multiple Types of Buyers Segments?
Tiered Pricing: Introduce your buyers to a different level of budget and sell them the same piece of art but at different prices. This can be done by producing different versions of art pieces for example, limited or different sizes.
Introductory Offers: Use this pricing strategy on your new prints or works and come up with an introductory price that will draw customers’ attention.
Discounts for Return Customers: Encourage those buyers that already bought your art pieces to come back again to purchase more by giving them discounts.
Data Point: A strategy involving tiered pricing has been shown to increase overall revenue by 25% for online art stores, as it broadens the appeal across various economic demographics.
Examples: Bypassing tiered pricing is not an option for many sellers, including Etsy artists selling original art prints ,who size down or reduce the costs of their creative prints such that they combine well with more elaborate pieces.
How To Promote Art On The Internet
An artist will quickly grind to a halt if he does not promote his works online. There are some marketing strategies that the artist can follow which include: Social Media Marketing, SEO Services, and Email Marketing.
How do social media channels like Facebook & Instagram help in selling art?
One can use social media channels like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter to promote their artworks as well as interact with art lovers and potential buyers.
What best practices should be taken into account for instagram and other platforms?
Visuals: Ensure that the photos of your artworks are of good quality. As Instagram is largely a visual marketing tool, good pictures will attract attention.
Branding: When posting, do so in a particular style and tone that assists in growing brand awareness.
Engagement: Communicate with users through commenting and through stories and live sessions.
Statistics: 56% more interactions are received on Instagram posts that tag other accounts (@). Posts with at least one hashtag have a 12.6% greater engagement rate than average.
Would you please give some examples of artists who have been very successful in their use of social media boosting their sales?
Example 1: Digital artist Sophia Mirov boosted her sales by 200 percent by promoting her artworks through instagram ads that were relevant to the current visual trends.
Example 2: Mark Fennel, a landscape painter, has taken advantage of using Facebook live sessions to broadcast painting while simultaneously boosting his follower count and doubling direct sales via the platform.
What SEO Strategies Should Artists Use in Building Online Reputation Goals?
A search engine optimization strategy is something, that every artist has to consider in order to make their online portfolio and store easy to find online.
What SEO Techniques are Best for Websites Dedicated to Art Sales?
Basic SEO: Add keywords to the website such as the domain name and other basic details. Provide structure of the website that will be SEO friendly.
Advanced SEO: Provide structured data so that crawlers understand how to interpret the information on your site easily and enjoy an enhanced visibility in rich snippets and search results.
Keywords and Tactics: Use specific keywords best related to your work type and your desired audience, for example, ‘buy original art online’ and ‘affordable digital prints’.
What Is the Efficiency of This SEO for Online Store Selling Art?
Data Point: Artists using targeted SEO have enjoyed an increase of up to 70% in traffic within the last 6 months.
Evidence: The Art Business Institute’s research shows that proper use of SEO improves the position of the site in the search engine, and this also increases the chances for the company to sell by up to 80%.
In the article provided, the focus regarding email marketing is for artist-centric marketing. In the same, strategies regarding how to enhance sales and also how to work on customer engagement using effective email marketing have been discussed. The article provides details with regard to securing a newsletter and how to build a client base along with fellow marketers.
The article emphasizes on the use of promising marketing strategies to build on visibility and to secure a plethora of buyers by providing discounts and ensuring participation in loyalty marketing. This has been labeled as “Offering Value” by the authors, along with this the article states how effective positioning of sign up forms can be within web pages.
Additionally, the article outlines different strategies for artists to design their newsletters while ensuring client retention. Tips such as sending newsletters monthly and incorporating new behind the scenes material to increase the relatability of the content have been advised.
This strategy is said to target buyers in wrapping them around the use of emails without using traditional advertising. The authors explain how Emily Jeffords and Frank Moth employed this strategy and were able to boost their community and in turn enhance sales.
How do artists handle their portfolios and clients?
Sales and customer relationship management services are crucial for artists who want to run their online art business successfully, Fulco goes on to differentiate between selling and serving, which she explains is vital for the business.
Art selling: How can a seamless selling process be achieved in an online art business?
Selling becomes seamless by ensuring that a combination of tools and systems for achieving Points of Sale activities and managing sales and related data is in place.
Simplified transactions: What eCommerce tools and POS systems simplify transactions for the artists?
E-commerce Platforms: Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce are excellent e-commerce enabling platforms that come with inventory systems, payment systems, and customer tracking tools.
POS Systems: Square and Vend are some of the POS systems that are specially designed for artists who market their works online, attend art fairs or sell in galleries.
Statistics: A recent survey shows that artists whoelectronically conduct sales operations using POS systems cut down the time they spend on such operations by 30 percent and their sales increased in efficiency by 25 percent.
What are Practical Tips on Stock Management for Print on Demand Items?
Stock Level Tracking: Print-on-demand services such as Printful and Teespring offer stock level tracking services or tools which artists should take advantage of.
Product Diversity: Use the same design across multiple products so that you can diversify your stock whilst also reducing the amount of unsold inventory.
Examples: Artists Lisa Congdon or Cat Coquillette design a single product in the form of T-shirts, mugs or prints and use print-on-demand services to produce multiple products. By doing this they eliminate risks of having unsold merchandise.
How to Better Enhance Online Art Sales for Artists through Positive Customer Engagement?
It can without a doubt be said, that good customer service will not only help earn trust and customer loyalty, but will also lead to repeat businesses and even referrals.
What strategies assure good customer engagement?
Quick Responses: Customer questions and problems should always be answered as quickly as possible. Automated messages can help with frequently asked questions.
Easy Communications: Engage in the most personalized communications that you can, this can include Thanking customers for their business with a note or a small gift with the order.
Statistics: According to one survey, 70% of purchasing experiences are based around how a customer believes they are being treated, which is why good interactions with customers are built around.
The Role of Customer Reviews in Online Art Sales and in Requesting Positive Feedback- How Critical is it?
Trust and Credibility: Reviews do help build trust and credibility among buyers, especially potential ones. Positive reviews, if displayed, can tilt the balance for buyers.
Encouraging Reviews: Invite customers to leave reviews by sending post purchase emails thanking them for their order and letting them know they can review the item.
Data Point: Research indicates that a product with positive feedback can, in some cases, lead to an increase in sales of 18%. (Huang et al 2021, Vafeas et al 2021). This is because reviews assist in overcoming the buyer’s reluctance.
Examples: This is exactly the procedure that Moth and Mock used in their online art stores that operated during the past year when they would offer discounts on future purchases to clients that wrote them reviews.
FAQs
For Creatives Who Want To Promote Their Digital Art And Original Artwork, Where Is The Best Place To Do So?
When picking a marketplace for their digital art and even original artwork, an artist must think about who the intended buyer is, the facilities provided and even the charges. Below are some examples you might want to consider:
Etsy is perfect for artists whose aim is to sell only artwork that is deep in character or highly individualized such as custom made. On Etsy marketing is targeted to the fond of handicrafts.
Shopify is a suitable platform for artists seeking full autonomy of their brand as well as their online shop, more so if they wish to sell either digital or printed art pieces.
Saatchi art is a prominent gallery for contemporary artists wishing to sell higher-level original pieces on an international scope.
Artfinder is one such market place that focuses on empowering art creators for it solely specializes on selling original art pieces and caters to a wide range of styles.
As per the findings of the 2023 art market analysis, Artfinder and Saatchi art and several other targeted platforms greatly enhanced the sales and visibility of digital artist with the percentage over passing 65.
How to make sure that any digital art remains secure and protected from cloning or editing when selling it online?
In order to safeguard art that is in the digital form involves the practice of these strategies:-
Watermarking: While it is rather easy to beat the process of using watermarks. Its important to understand that the true goal of including a watermark is to aid in the prevention of ID theft rather than the theft of the art itself.
Low-Resolution Images: In order to shield the authentic works of art from people intending to create replicas or counterfeit then high detailed photos should not be shared online.
Copyright Notices: In several cases, it is advised that such information is posted visibly alongside the pictures of the art if ownership information are housed on the web.
Utilize Technology: Setting up a Digimarc account allows for the use of digital watermarks that provide each artwork with a unique identity to never get misused on the web.
Artists such as Derek Kaplan utilize watermarks for their digital imagery and manage the sale of high resolution images in an encrypted environment such as Shopify.
What marketing strategies should an artist engage in to maximize their social media exposure as a newbie artist?
For neophyte artists, embracing social media is an absolute necessity for promoting themselves and accumulating followers. Getting the optimal exposure involves:
Regular Posting: Establish a calendar for regular posting so as to prevent an audience dry spell.
Interaction: respond to followers via comments, conduct polls, use stories or provide anything largely interactive.
Teamwork: Work with other artists or influencers in order to tap into new marketplaces.
Paid Ads: Make use of the ads in Instagram and Facebook to boost your visibility.
Data Point: According to a social media trends report, artists that are in contact with their audience on social media on a daily basis for marketing purposes increase their follower count by about fifty percent every year.
Conclusion
Artists must identify suitable strategies in order to effectively vend their art and earn passive income online. These strategies include identifying threats to their digital assets, and developing strategic marketing. To successfully sell paintings online, the following strategies are essential:
Target Platform: Pick a platform that best matches the type of art you do and those people you are looking for.
Artwork Protection: Secure your screenshots, clips, collages, images and anything else from unauthorized access.
Marketing: Float social media and email marketing campaigns in order to interact, engage and definitely communicate with your target audience.
Motivational Words: Being an artist in the modern epoch comes with a plethora of advantages – the chances are unfathomable. By venturing into the digital and print on demand business, you can not only expand your art business but also reach out to art fans around the globe. Seize these opportunities, and let your imagination soar. Keep in mind that a great artist was once an amateur, but what marks the successful ones is that they never stop learning.
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