a reasonable art marketing budget?
January 20, 2018 6:54 PM Subscribe
What's a reasonable amount to devote to marketing? Any rules of thumb?
Our household has a retired person with artistic talent who's started an encore art career (mixed media). This isn't a side hustle exactly, more of a calling, but it does need to pay for itself if at all possible. No pressure to make a living, but not drenched in cash either. Willing to put some sweat equity into marketing, but not terribly tech savvy.
Last year's income from 12 sales was $3000. No profit, mostly due to framing costs, travel expenses and the formidable health insurance premium. Work in two galleries in 2 states.
Last year the focus was on determining costs and setting prices. Making a plan for this year, what's a reasonable amount to devote to marketing? Any rules of thumb?
Our household has a retired person with artistic talent who's started an encore art career (mixed media). This isn't a side hustle exactly, more of a calling, but it does need to pay for itself if at all possible. No pressure to make a living, but not drenched in cash either. Willing to put some sweat equity into marketing, but not terribly tech savvy.
Last year's income from 12 sales was $3000. No profit, mostly due to framing costs, travel expenses and the formidable health insurance premium. Work in two galleries in 2 states.
Last year the focus was on determining costs and setting prices. Making a plan for this year, what's a reasonable amount to devote to marketing? Any rules of thumb?
Response by poster: What drove sales? That's a helpful question.
Last year, 4 sales came from juried shows, 1 from an art crawl, 3 direct to known individuals, 2 to a gallery owner, 2 from a gallery. Of these, 2 are repeat buyers.
So far, there are no e-commerce sales, so trying to figure out what to spend on experiments in that area this year.
"Set a revenue goal and a profit margin and work backwards "
Thanks, this is helpful. Last year, the goal was only to aim to sell 1 piece a month. Now there's enough info on costs, and the prices are adjusted that maybe there could be a profit margin. This year's costs will include prepping for a gallery show later in the year.
Efforts to cut travel expenses will continue!
posted by egk at 6:38 AM on January 21, 2018
Last year, 4 sales came from juried shows, 1 from an art crawl, 3 direct to known individuals, 2 to a gallery owner, 2 from a gallery. Of these, 2 are repeat buyers.
So far, there are no e-commerce sales, so trying to figure out what to spend on experiments in that area this year.
"Set a revenue goal and a profit margin and work backwards "
Thanks, this is helpful. Last year, the goal was only to aim to sell 1 piece a month. Now there's enough info on costs, and the prices are adjusted that maybe there could be a profit margin. This year's costs will include prepping for a gallery show later in the year.
Efforts to cut travel expenses will continue!
posted by egk at 6:38 AM on January 21, 2018
You need to build profit modeling into your marketing, so you can set realistic goals. Your marketing costs should ultimately reflect a percentage of the profit, but allowances must be made to spend significantly more at the early stages (meaning the first 3-5 years) to build a following. The amount spent depends on their financial situation and how invested they want to be in making this into a profitable business. Successful marketing takes both time and money, as well as skill.
You should know for a fact that a sale will result in profit, no maybe about it. When pricing art for sale, the general rule of thumb I was taught is to take ALL of the costs (materials, framing, shipping, wear and tear on brushes) and triple them. Then give yourself a decent hourly wage for the time spent on creating it and getting the piece to the gallery if that’s where it’s being shown. That’s your baseline. If you are putting the work in a gallery, take their commission amount and add enough to the price so that your still get your baseline.
Ideally, the work should be placed in a *selling* gallery that represents the artist. If not, the burden lies much more on the artist to build an audience and promote the work. For either scenario, Instagram is where it’s at these days. Running a successful Insta account is a whole separate thing. There’s also the print on demand market that goes along with this if prints are an area they want to get in to. If so, also look at limited signed editions which they’ll have to have printed so they can sign them.
It’s critical to understand your target market and how to reach them. Who does the work appeal to, and where do they go to find artwork? Do they value originals over prints?
Once you’ve given all this some thoughts, you can start to figure out how much to spend to get to the level they want to be at. We all want marketing to be effective, cheap, and quick. In reality you get to pick two of these.
posted by ananci at 12:24 PM on January 21, 2018
You should know for a fact that a sale will result in profit, no maybe about it. When pricing art for sale, the general rule of thumb I was taught is to take ALL of the costs (materials, framing, shipping, wear and tear on brushes) and triple them. Then give yourself a decent hourly wage for the time spent on creating it and getting the piece to the gallery if that’s where it’s being shown. That’s your baseline. If you are putting the work in a gallery, take their commission amount and add enough to the price so that your still get your baseline.
Ideally, the work should be placed in a *selling* gallery that represents the artist. If not, the burden lies much more on the artist to build an audience and promote the work. For either scenario, Instagram is where it’s at these days. Running a successful Insta account is a whole separate thing. There’s also the print on demand market that goes along with this if prints are an area they want to get in to. If so, also look at limited signed editions which they’ll have to have printed so they can sign them.
It’s critical to understand your target market and how to reach them. Who does the work appeal to, and where do they go to find artwork? Do they value originals over prints?
Once you’ve given all this some thoughts, you can start to figure out how much to spend to get to the level they want to be at. We all want marketing to be effective, cheap, and quick. In reality you get to pick two of these.
posted by ananci at 12:24 PM on January 21, 2018
Response by poster: cheap/effective is the best fit for now
He's comfortable with Instagram and is trying to learn how to use that more effectively
He has works that were framed last year, so that should make the finance look better this year and the initial pricing errors were corrected last year.
Both galleries seem good, but are there things to do to help the galleries? Or is it better to focus time and energy on audience building with Instagram or ecommerce sites?
Thank you for pointing out several areas that need a lot of thought.
posted by egk at 1:52 PM on January 21, 2018
He's comfortable with Instagram and is trying to learn how to use that more effectively
He has works that were framed last year, so that should make the finance look better this year and the initial pricing errors were corrected last year.
Both galleries seem good, but are there things to do to help the galleries? Or is it better to focus time and energy on audience building with Instagram or ecommerce sites?
Thank you for pointing out several areas that need a lot of thought.
posted by egk at 1:52 PM on January 21, 2018
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How much marketing can you afford? Set a revenue goal and a profit margin and work backwards into what’s left for marketing. (Thid is good for first or second year planning.)
posted by Kalatraz at 1:47 AM on January 21, 2018