10 Best Ways To Increase Art Sales In 2024
Starting an art business is not enough to succeed anymore – you need more and more ways to increase art sales nowadays.
Is there a tried-and-tested way to achieve that? Moreover, will the common strategies work for any art business, or should you invent your own?
Most ways to enhance your art sales are universal – they will help you earn more regardless of how you do your art business.
For instance, taking high-quality product images, marketing products to your target audience, and optimizing your sales channels always deliver.
However, you should test other ways to make more sales, too. Today, I’ll show you some of them you might want to consider while developing an art business for the first time.
10 Ways To Increase Art Sales
1) Research The Market
What’s the goal of any art business? Assuming most people reading are aspiring artists without much (or any) business experience, let me answer the question for you:
By all means, the main idea behind starting an online business is to reach a target audience of as many potential buyers as possible. It doesn’t matter what type of online marketplace you plan to sell on:
Your artwork must reach a broader audience willing to invest in it. How do you make that happen?
We live in a digital world, and the internet is a powerful tool you can use to your advantage. Get online and research the most essential factors that will impact the success of your art business:
- What kind of art sells best?
- Should you sell art on consignment?
- Is it better to sell art locally or online?
- How do you make money as an independent artist?
Of course, answering these questions is just the start – many others entail answers before you launch an art business. Look for valuable info anywhere that makes sense – talk to fellow artists, contact gallery owners, interview art collectors, etc.
2) Understand Your Customer
Let’s get something straight from the beginning:
Even if you reach a global audience, not every person in it will become your customer. And that’s OK:
The jack of all trades is a master of none.
In other words, you don’t need millions of people to be your potential clients. Instead, you must showcase your body of work to the right people.
But how do you find your ideal customer base? Here is how:
Before searching for easy ways to increase your art sales, focus on scoring one sale first. You can achieve that by picking an art niche and working within it:
So, will you sell unique art from the depths of your heart and soul? Will your potential customers be art lovers easily amazed by landscapes, abstracts, or portraits?
Building a diverse collection of art pieces might seem like an excellent idea, but it won’t work at the beginning of your art career. Creating new art with your ideal client in mind is the best way to find your footing as a successful artist and business owner.
3) Craft Unique Message To Prospective Buyers
Why would any client spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on your art instead of another artist’s work? More importantly, what can you offer art buyers won’t be able to find elsewhere?
Am I not speaking clearly? Allow me to make my point more precisely:
Above all, any piece of fine art has a concept, story, and inspiration behind it. Understanding what makes your art compelling to art dealers, interior designers, potential collectors, and the larger audience is the next step to take.
You’ll benefit from creating a sales talk – your message to future buyers should do the heavy lifting of the sales process.
Any sales message has two purposes – proving the value of your work to clients and building a personal connection with them. Pour most of your marketing efforts into exchanging it effectively with your audience.
See Also: How To Market Yourself As A New Artist
4) Diversify Your Sales Channels
Generally, optimizing the sales channels you use to market your work is one of the best ways to increase art sales. Ask anyone who is someone in the art world how they score more sales, and they’ll tell you the same thing:
The key to selling more art is simple – the trick is to make the selling process as easy as possible for the client.
Nowadays, people have short attention spans – they often abandon shopping carts if something else piques their curiosity. As you can guess, you shouldn’t let that happen.
What can you do to avoid it? Here are a couple of selling tips and ideas:
- Set up your own website or online store: Having your own platform where prospective clients can easily purchase your art is a must. Allow them to spend money on your art pieces fast by giving them multiple payment options (credit card, PayPal, etc.).
- List your own artwork on different platforms: Doing digital marketing and maintaining accounts on social media platforms is not enough. Utilize someone else’s audience by showcasing your work on art shows, galleries, and other art marketplaces.
- Offer art variations: Your art can appeal to different audiences – one that buys expensive, original pieces, and another that prefers more affordable art. Consider turning your work into art prints. Limited edition prints and art posters can reach a wider audience since their price levels are lower.
5) Don’t Lower Your Selling Prices Too Much
Do you know the main difference between a first-time business owner and a professional artist already selling tons of old and new work? You can easily spot it just by looking at their prices:
An artist selling for the first time believes that the best way to attract clients and make sales hides inside a low asking price. Unfortunately, these people think listing a piece of art at a lower price is a good idea.
By all means, you should never sell yourself short as an artist. Your artwork archive and each new piece you present on your artist website or art galleries should be your business card.
Don’t accept anything else than what you deserve – the price points you pick should reflect the cost of time, work, and effort you have put into your pieces.
6) Don’t Overprice Your Work
While choosing high enough prices when selling art is essential, going in the opposite direction is not one of the ways to increase art sales:
Offering high-ticket items is a great way to earn a living as an artist. However, overpricing each original piece will not serve you well either.
That’s truer if you’re an emerging artist without an extensive online presence. Betting on low-ticket items at first can go a long way while you’re creating a name for yourself and your art business:
Finding the perfect middle ground between quality and price is a good thing for you as a newbie business owner.
7) Invest In The Materials You Use
You have to give money to make money – that is a universal truth, and you better be mindful of it when creating your art products.
Customers can make the difference between cheap and high-quality materials. It would help if you used the latter to justify their expectations and your price tags.
You’re building an art business. While you can start one with little to no money, investing in the best materials you can find is unavoidable.
Whether you offer art pieces on a personal website or at the local gallery business, ensure they are of the highest quality.
8) Take High-Quality Images Of Your Work
Taking stunning photos of your work should be a no-brainer:
The business of selling art is a visual medium. As such, your product images should reflect their essence in the best way possible.
How do you do that? Furthermore, how much money should you invest in a professional camera?
Quite frankly, it’s not about the money – it’s about taking your photography to the next level by implementing simple but effective strategies.
Will your work become a part of a gallery’s collection? Then, invest in a suitable frame that enhances the visuals of your art piece.
Are you selling original art in your online store instead of gallery space? If that’s the nature of your business, proper lighting should be your new best friend.
9) Drive Traffic To Your Product Listings
Boosting the organic traffic to your art store or website is one of the top ways to increase art sales. Here are the best places to start with traffic generation:
- Upload Content On Your Website: Write a blog post on a relevant topic many would like to read about. Once the article is ready, share it on your social media pages for further exposure.
- Implement SEO (Search Engine Optimization): In-depth knowledge of SEO will rank your content high in the search engines and the search results.
- Build An Email List: Collecting an email address for your mailing list is a great place to start email marketing. Sending an email newsletter will help you develop your art business without wasting much time.
- Share Information About Your Creative Process: Invite people to see the magic of your art creation. Please take advantage of our digital age and do that with no hesitation.
- Participate In Art Fairs: Diversifying your marketing channels is a smart strategy. Why should you showcase your work in an art gallery when that work can shine at many art fairs?
10) Find An Art Community
Finding an art community is something you should consider from the start:
Sometimes, selling art can be a lonely business – connecting with like-minded people can make it less lonely.
Ultimately, being an active member of a community of artists will increase your sales in the long run. You can do collaborations and group shows that will benefit all parties involved.
Top Ways To Increase Art Sales: Final Say
Many ways exist to improve your art sales – the ones you see above are not the only strategies you should follow.
You’ll gain your own experience once you become an art business owner. Test different strategies and implement the ones that work for you.
Researching the topic further wouldn’t hurt – knowledge is power, after all!
What questions do you have on this subject? Feel free to share them, and I’ll get you the answers.
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