Why doesn’t good art sell? (Sales messaging.)
Every year 1.3 trillion dollars of bad products and services are sold.* Is there that much value in innovation for one specialized task that only takes 3 seconds without it? Does that “inventor” really make a living that way? We have all bought some snake oil in our lives—but why doesn’t good art sell?
This likely fuels frustration for you as an artist. So why is bad art selling when mine is not?
Why does bad art sell?
Less than stellar creativity likely sells for a few reasons.
First and foremost, people know that it exists (even if it isn’t good). They see it. They hear about it. They experience it for themselves. A message about the work has gotten to the audience to let them know that something was made. The artwork is being marketed.
Secondly, they desire the object enough to part with their hard earned money to bring that poorly composed artifact into their home. A message has moved them to the point of a transaction—even if it’s not a wise decision from our perspective. The artwork is being sold.
Great art still needs good sales messaging.
Why doesn’t good art sell? It probably doesn’t have good sales messaging.
To sustain yourself as a creative person, your messaging is a very important part of your practice. First, we need to communicate that we exist (marketing) and we need to communicate the distinct value, and cause for desire, that our work produces (sales). There is a good chance people know that you and your work exist. If not, that is a good place to start. Let people know that you are making things. And yes, there are ways to expand who knows about you. But, how do we enhance the desire for our work?
Next, your practice should have a strategy for increasing the connection your audience feels to you and your art. This includes patrons, collectors, customers, fans, and even curators and museums. You have an opportunity to create more resonance with the way you present yourself (e.g. on social media).
Start with a framework to simplify sales.
There are many tools to help you develop a plan and draft tactics for your marketing and sales. Billy Broas has been studying messaging for years and offers a simple framework he calls the 5 light bulbs. Each bulb helps illuminate distinct values to customers. He is bold enough to say that nearly every effective piece of commercial communication includes at least one of the bulbs.
The five light bulbs of Billy Broas’ effective sales messaging are:
- Customers Status Quo
- Things they have tried (to move to a new life)
- Your approach (to move them to new life)
- Your offer (How they can get your approach)
- Customer’s new life
Briefly, the light bulbs expose a journey that a customer is on. At the start they are in a less than satisfactory position and at the end they are in a better place with your product or service. Each bulb can be translated into simple statements and images or can be an involved conversation and meeting. The bulbs can help you show your audience where they are at, what they desire and how they can get there.
Keep going.
Do you want to move beyond the frustration of seeing your artwork not sell? Read on for more steps about marketing art that can take you towards a more sustainable business and more time in the studio.
You can also join the Burkholder Agency for our next Marketing Monday session. We work with you to let people know your great art exists and enhance your audience’s desire for your art.
* A completely fabricated statistic. Few would fund a study that likely undermines the economy and embarrasses many. AND it makes for good messaging. 🙂
Banner art credits: The Peddler, 1632 is an etching by Dutch artist Johannes van Vliet (born c. 1610). Originally created for reproduction, the digitalization and reinterpolation of 16th-century etchings aligns with an original facet of their purpose. These works were intended to be viewed primarily as reproductions, rather than as the ‘negatives’ of the plates themselves. The final images were subject to the various materials, collaborations, and limitations inherent in the reproduction process. Returning to these etchings with the digital tools of reproduction could be one simple way to reawaken them with integrity.
