The end of the year is imminent and will be celebrated, as usual, by several must-see festive and commercial events for your gallery. Black Friday, Christmas, New Year's Eve or even the January sales... There is still time to prepare your communication to seduce and convince potential customers who have not yet decided! Artsper shares its best advice to boost and best adapt your communication. Remember, good communication boosts your sales and builds customer loyalty for the rest of the year! Find out why, and above all, how to develop your own promotional operations at the end of the year in our article.

I. Why communicate now?

As the holidays approach, shoppers' behaviors are different from the rest of the year. The buying-barriers fade and everyone begins to plan and anticipate a specific budget. Therefore, the act of purchasing is stronger than the rest of the year during this period. This is evident by an increase in traffic to e-commerce sites and sales. In addition, recently we have assistes to an incredible growth of "click&collect". With this purchasing method, the consumer orders their product directly online from a website and then withdraws his purchase at a point of sale. A phenomenon that should grow and therefore a great opportunity for your gallery to highlight its latest works and new artists in vogue!
 
The current trend is, as you have understood, to find and prepare Christmas presents online, taking advantage of Black Friday sales and offers during the whole month of December. Thus, actively and thoughtfully developing your communication strategy on the various e-channels of your gallery is essential to highlight your products. In doing so, you will skillfully encourage your most loyal customers or potential new buyers to find work that will satisfy their loved ones!

Christmas Tree at the City Hall Square, by Elina Lukina

II. Adapt your communication

Timing

The idea is to prepare your communication strategy in advance in order to approach this period as calmly as possible while getting ahead of your competing galleries. Start putting in place special holiday communication, starting at the end of October, to catch the attention of buyers who are ready and willing to buy. All you have to do is convince them to finalize their purchasing decision from your gallery!
 
The desire to find the perfect gift exists among all consumers. However, some have yet to decide and do not know how to go about it, or which gallery to turn to. Therefore, they need to be indirectly stimulated and influenced upstream before making their buying decision. Your role is to reveal the desires of these undecided customers, by understanding their needs and providing them with inspiring answers.

The cross channel strategy

Prospects on various online sales sites, price analysis, discovery via social networks, and online ordering decisions… Today, consumers' purchasing journey is punctuated by a multitude of channels before going to buy a product or pick up their order directly in store. We then speak of cross channel! This strategy involves several distribution channels in your customers' purchasing journey in order to reach new customer segments! Your gallery should try to create and integrate these various virtual and physical channels with each other in order to energize and diversify its sales windows.

III. Steps for successful end-of-the-year communication

1. Analyze your gallery’s site data

Measuring the performance of your website is a crucial step in understanding what communication actions to take, subsequently to interest your current and future customers. Prioritize the development of a report separated into different axes, for example:

• The number of your sites daily visits
• The weekdays and the times of the month/year that attract more visits
• Number of sales made 
• Average customer shopping cart amount 
• The tendency of your customers to take an interest in promotional works

This data is KPIs, indicators to be monitored and analyzed over time. You don't need to have dozens of them, just target a few and try to stick to them. Then set goals to achieve. For example, aim at an increase in online visits, a realistic growth percentage in your sales, or an increase in the amount of the average shopping cart.

2. Set up a commercial strategy

Once you've decided on your goals, it's important to identify which are your bestsellers. These are the works, artists, or trends that are most likely to interest your customers. At the same time, it is interesting to choose for yourself how to redirect your customers to artists or works that you want to sell as a priority. For example, on Artsper, we have concentrated a collection of "favorites" with works and artists, which we share within a single category, called "Our recommendations".

It is then up to you to decide which business strategy will be the most coherent for your gallery. So, if the analysis of your KPIs shows that your customers are more inclined to purchase promotional works, why not focus your strategy on implementing end-of-year promotions?

• Holiday Discounts: Offer discounts on select pieces or early-bird specials for holiday shoppers.
• Exclusive Releases: Announce limited-edition prints or artworks available only during the holiday season
• Gift Cards: Promote gift cards for those unsure of what to select.
• Appealing Features: Add buttons or banners to your website to appeal to the buyer and to highlight the special activities.

Do not forget to also announce your upcoming promotions and then relay them widel through specific digital marketing campaign, they play an important part today in the purchase prospecting phase!

• Email Marketing: Send out a holiday newsletter featuring events, special offers, and gift ideas.
• Social Media: Share holiday-themed content, such as behind-the-scenes videos of artists creating festive works or tips for decorating with art during the holidays.
• Hashtags: Use seasonal hashtags like #HolidayArt, #GiftsThatInspire, or #ArtUnderTheTree.

Christmas Festivities, by Ruslana Levandovska

3. Optimize your online content

Adopting good habits to communicate well online is not a simple matter, it is about mastering with agility, called "content marketing". This type of marketing is all about creating and delivering your own editorial content with the goal of acquiring new customers and retaining them. Most of the time, these will be newsletters, blog posts, and social media posts. Your website, your Facebook page, or even your gallery's Instagram account, are valuable showcases for your art gallery. This is why it is necessary to make your gallery website, your social networks, and email campaigns as attractive as possible. Both visually and editorially!
 
Remember that your various social networks should not be overlooked. They generate more traffic on your site, especially as this commercial period approaches! Personalize your posts and adapt your visuals across all of your social networks for the holiday season while remaining original to stand out from other galleries. Now is the time to highlight your specificities and your favorite artists of the year. Keep in mind that your main goal is to induce consumption, so post content that is consistent with both your gallery's DNA and the Christmas spirit! Putting works in a cozy interior with winter colors can surely convince your subscribers. The period is conducive to a comforting or festive atmosphere, to rethink the decoration of your interior, and please those you love. Thus, send in your newsletters, gift suggestions, and scenarios of works according to the latest decor trends. This is a valuable way to allow your potential customers to view their purchase in their personal space... and convince them to give in!

A final word

You now have all the tools to display relevant and solid communication to a large audience of consumers. Inspire your loyal customers or new buyers, whether they are undecided or already very informed. Suggest offering art to their loved ones or simply to redecorate their interior. So, are you ready to reconsider the content of your various digital platforms while soaking up the Christmas spirit? All this, without forgetting to update your content and promotional offers in advance, in order to brilliantly anticipate the next periods of strong commercial activity.