By Dave Geada, Master of Marketing and Strategy at FASO
Everybody loves to get email from people they know and like. Even in today's busy world of social media, people still love to get email. Don't believe me? Then ask yourself this question. How many times have you checked your email today? And how many times have you checked Facebook? I bet you checked your email more often. You don't have to take my word for it. Salesforce.com, a market leading software company that helps people market and sell everything under the sun, recently published a list of mind-blowing statistics about email marketing. Two of these really got my attention. The first showed that 77% of consumers prefer to receive marketing communications through email as long as the sender has their permission first. The second showed that 44% of email recipients made at least one purchase last year based on a promotional email. Email marketing through a newsletter can help you sell your art too.
Are you convinced yet? If so, you're probably wondering how to get started with an email newsletter. Here's a list of steps that will you get off on the right foot.
Make it easy for collectors to sign up for your newsletter.
Add links to your newsletter signup form on your website. Add a link at the bottom of your email signature. Add a link on your business card. Prominently display it on a sign at your next showing.
Keep your signup form simple.
Just ask for an email address, a first name and a last name. (and make the first name and last name optional).
Verify email addresses before you send anything.
Send subscribers an email asking them to confirm that they really want to receive your newsletter.
Get into a routine of sending out email newsletters.
Decide how often you want to send out your newsletters and stick to that schedule.
Tell your story.
Collectors want to know more about you and your art. So make sure you tell them that story.
Interact with your readers.
Every now and then, ask your readers a question or ask them to take some small action like voting on their favorite art work.
Find the right email newsletter tool.
Finding the right tool will mean you'll spend more time painting and less time working on your newsletter.
If you're interested in the details behind why these steps are so important, you can check out an article that I wrote in our FineArtViews newsletter. And if you're ready to jump in and put these steps into practice, don't forget our special offer to readers of David's newsletter. You can TRY FASO FREE FOR 120 DAYS. Along with ArtfulMail, an awesome tool designed especially for visual artists to help you get your email newsletters out the door, you'll get a website, a blog and access to BoldBrush, a social network just for artists and art lovers.
-Dave Geada
