There are a multitude of aspects to consider as an artist or gallery. You must act on both a personal and a business level, maintaining a quality relationship with your customers, all while providing a service that is as efficient and professional as possible. From advice on how to choose the correct shipping provider, to how to market towards younger generations of collectors, our specialists have put together a list of tips, both logistical and customer-based, in order to fully profit from 2023.
1. Choose a trustworthy shipping provider
For galleries and artists, partnering with a quality courier service is not only paramount to the ease of your logistical organization, but also in maintaining a good relationship with your customers. Afterall, the experience of buying a work doesn’t just end with the transaction, and the shipping provider that you choose should reflect the level of service that you aim to give your clients. This is echoed by the French courier service, Convelio:
"Maintaining an extremely fluid and transparent conversation throughout the logistical chain is essential in offering a quality service."
Your shipping provider should reflect the same standard that you want to give, ensuring that works arrive promptly and in perfect condition. © Convelio
Here are some aspects to think about when choosing with whom to partner:
- Quality of the packing, care given to works of art. Art is a luxury investment, and as such the packaging and care needs to reflect this, as well as protecting highly valuable works.
- Does the service save time? Find the sweet-spot between a quality service, but also an efficient one.
- Good communication and transparency between you, your shipping provider, and your customer.
- Finally, today’s collectors are rightly ever increasingly concerned about the environmental impact of their acquisitions. Think about choosing a service that offers sustainable alternatives to traditional transportation methods.
2. Expand your audience to attract younger collectors
In 2022, Gen Z and millennial art collectors continued to prove themselves as key players within the art market. With Gen Z collectors spending more than 30% of their net worth on buying art, and Millennials representing 52% of high-net-worth customers, it is clear that these younger generations of collectors are the beating heart of the market. But how can you, as a gallery or artist, appeal to this consumer demographic?
Out of all the generations, Gen Z and Millennials are making the most amount of purchases, which extends to art. © marketingcharts.com
Both Gen-Zers and Millennials are guided by their moral compass when buying works, with 95% of millennial collectors citing “emotional benefits” as a factor for making a purchase. Transparency and honesty is key from the gallery, as well as buying from socially and politically aware artists who champion values resonated through both their art and their daily actions.
Young collectors have grown up alongside social media, and as such, as a gallery or artist, mobilizing your social media accounts is important to attract the attention of these Instagram-native art enthusiasts. In 2020 it was reported that 87 percent of young art buyers use Instagram as a key factor in discovering artists and buying art, so make sure to give your artists a platform to shine!
Gen Z collectors use social media, in particular TikTok, as a key feature in determining their purchases. © marketingcharts.com
3. Utilize videos and dynamic content in your marketing strategy
A dynamic presence on social media boosts your visibility as an artist or gallery, and one of the key ways to achieve this is through video marketing. 2022 saw Instagram Reels and TikTok dominate collectors’ feeds. Video content has now become the most engaging, and most successful way to boost your profile, with video content performing 40% better than traditional photo-based posts.
Some examples of art market inspired Reel content - left to right: Artist Maldha Mohamed in action, a video diary of Paris+ art fair, a collage of videos from a visit at the YSL Museum in Marrakech © Artsper
In 2023, posting regular video content is key to having a successful marketing strategy. Short for ideas? You could feature artists in the form of an interview, a timelapse of work being created, a gallery tour, exhibition tours or visually appealing video-moodboards. The videos don't have to be long, a maximum of around 15 seconds, and minimal text is needed so long as the visuals are engaging and the audio works well. The only limit is your imagination! Through posting this type of dynamic content it allows you to present a more informal, “insider” look into the art world, while still maintaining your brand image.
4. Keep an eye on NFTs and digital art
Over the past few years, NFTs, non-fungible tokens, have gone from being the rising star of the art world, to a real cause for concern. After experiencing top sales in January and February 2022, the market has seen a swift drop in the total volume of NFT sales and the number of buyers and sellers on the market.
Understandably, some galleries may be reluctant to include such works in their portfolio. However, with the art market gradually embracing new technologies, it is still important to keep up-to-date with the world of NFTs. In the meantime, as Verisart, an NFT minting and blockchain certification platform, explains:
“Spend some time immersing yourself in the space. Follow NFT artists and collectors on social media, join Twitter Spaces and ask questions… Artists and galleries shouldn’t replicate the physical in a digital medium but instead, consider what a digital medium offers that the physical doesn’t.”
5. Look for inspiration at a diverse range of art fairs
It is no secret that art fairs help form the backbone of the market, giving a space to artists, galleries, collectors and art lovers to meet, make purchases, network and discover new talent. However, with so many fairs on offer, and preconceptions regarding certain events, it can often seem difficult to broach this world.
Art Basel Hong Kong gives fair-goers a first hand view into the exciting future of art. © Art Basel 2022
As a gallery or artist, think about what you want to achieve from going to a fair. Perhaps you want to purchase art? If so, manage your budget accordingly prior to the fair. Familiarize yourself with the general “mood” of the fair to understand where your work would best be showcased. If you want your work to be featured, make a note of the submission dates for pieces at the fair. Finally, try and diversify the fairs you attend. Frieze and Art Basel offer incredible works from world-renowned galleries and artists, however smaller fairs such as The Affordable Art Fair or Drawing Now are also well worth a visit.
Make the most of 2023…
Whether browsing upcoming art fairs, expanding your reach to younger generations or exploring trustworthy courier services, as a gallery or artist it is important to make sure that you have all your bases covered in 2023. Think about your logistics, your marketing and your outreach into the art market, and make sure to both embrace new methods and technology, all while maintaining the key aspects of industry success.