How artists and art businesses can boost their sales during the holiday season

You must have already seen promotions and ads highlighting gifts and shopping options for the holiday season and surely, art is not exempt from this peak in the market. The last months of the year are very important in any art business plan because they come with an increased interest in investment in gifts and personal purchases.

You want to be on top of mind when a potential art buyer is looking for a piece to gift to a loved one, or even when new collectors are ready to make that big first investment in an artwork. But how can you and your art stand out in a sea of end-of-the-year promotions and sales? 

Follow these tips and strategies to boost your art sales during the holiday season in 2023.

Important dates for art sales during the holidays

From November to December there is a series of special dates across different cultures that are tied to the peak in sales at the end of the year. Which holidays are we referring to? Check this list:

Thanksgiving: November 23rd

Christmas: December 24th and 25th

Hanukkah: December 7th to 15th

Kwanza: December 26th to January 1st

New Year’s Eve and New Year: December 31st and 1st

The tradition of celebrating these holidays and also, presenting gifts to friends, colleagues, and loved ones, is part of the reason why sales spike in the weeks previous to these events. 

These are some of the holiday sales dates you should know before starting to craft your own strategy and how to target your audience with enticing deals and art purchase opportunities:

-Black Friday: November 24th.

-Cyber Monday: November 27th.

-Super Saturday (last Saturday before Christmas): December 16th.

-Boxing Day: December 26th.

-End of the year: December 26th and beyond.

Plan ahead: creating a strategy and setting goals for holiday season art sales

It’s time to really run the extra mile and take advantage of the trend in consumer behavior that arises during the end of the year. This is a good moment to familiarize yourself with certain art marketing concepts like “Target Audience” or “Unique Selling Proposition”. These will come in handy when you start drafting your specific goals.

Yes, increasing your profit is your main goal, but how does that look? This time of the year is also a great opportunity to increase your reach or expand your audience, and engage with collectors who have previously acquired your pieces.  Break down that big “sales” goal into 3 to 5 smaller goals, and you will have the blueprint of your art sales strategy for the end of 2023.

Creating a plan is the most important part of this process, and a good strategy needs clear objectives and deadlines. You already have a list of dates you can aim your efforts at, but the process starts way before that highlighted day in your calendar. Now, you have the chance to prepare content that will help you create an art buyer’s journey that leads them to a desired purchase. 

But before you start setting up your website or emails to reach out to potential clients, answer yourself this: 

–What is your audience looking for?: are potential clients looking for a piece in a specific medium or trans-seasonal art? Take as reference the past months and what were the pieces that caught the most attention. You can also check your online art shows and website analytics to see the characteristics that define your audience and their main interests.

–What you can or want to offer: maybe you want to bring attention to past artworks or put the spotlight on a new collection, or you might be interested in opening the spots for commissions or starting to sell art prints of your pieces. Defining the main “product” is essential.

–Your resources: from having the time to create engaging art marketing digital pushes, to having available pieces, shipping options, and other offers, make sure you take into consideration your ability to match your art buyer’s expectations during the busiest time of the year.

–Timing: a well-known phrase reminds us that timing is everything. Previous commitments like exhibitions or residencies, and even your personal schedule might interfere with your planning. These roadblocks shouldn’t stop you, they should spark your creativity. You can’t keep up with the end-of-the-year sales calendar? What about creating a “one-day sale” opportunity around your own storytelling? The possibilities are endless.

Check this exclusive ArtPlacer Academy recorded webinar where photographer Chase Teron, “Know your art buyer and present your work to increase your income”.  Take the lesson by logging into your ArtPlacer account or starting your free trial.

How to update your art website for sales during the holiday season

Whether you are an independent artist, an art print selling business, or a gallery, your website is your window to the world and during the sales season, this is the place where you want people to go, explore, and find that desired piece of art. 

Your website needs to look the part to achieve that goal. Follow this list of upgrades and improvements you can do to your web page to drive more sales:

-First, check our ultimate list of “Art website dos and don’ts” and start working on essential updates.

–Start your promotion in advance: add a pop-up with a clear call to action to check your available pieces.

-Consider motivating potential collectors to make a purchase with a special deal. This is a good time to run a promo code on the e-commerce or art shop section of your website.

–Update your online inventory: make sure you are showcasing all the pieces that are available.

–Enhance your artworks descriptions: list the size of the piece, medium, and theme, as well as shipping and framing options.

–Pro tip: add room mockups of your art to the product description and give visitors a better sense of how the piece will look in spaces like living rooms or office spaces. These visual aids also give the viewer a sense of the lifestyle associated with the showcased piece, solving the buyer’s doubts at the point of sale.

–Offer a seamless purchase process: getting one of your pieces should be as easy as making a click. Have a visible “Buy” button and offer visitors a “try-before-you-buy” experience with the help of AR technology. With ArtPlacer’s Website Integrations potential art buyers will be able to see how your artworks looks on their walls through their own mobile devices.

-Offer a fully rounded experience to potential buyers with shipping, packaging, and framing options, just make sure this add-on won’t delay delivery time and your artwork will be there just in time for the special dates.

View Cory Huff’s exclusive ArtPlacer Academy recorded webinar, “How to optimize your artist website for sales”. Take the lesson by logging into your ArtPlacer account or starting your free trial.

Social media strategy for art holiday sales

A big part of your end-of-the-year art business strategy can rely on social media efforts like engaging content, post reminders, and an easy-to-follow journey that links back to your website to purchase your amazing pieces. 

Check this list of improvements, content ideas, and tweaks you can make to push your sales season strategy through social media channels:

–Update your social media profile: set up a bio and profile that lets visitors know what you do, and what your art is about, and easily find out how to reach out for more information for purchases or commissions. 

–Create engaging content: this is the space to let your creativity flow. You can make videos of your studio, share a work in progress, and sneak peeks into what will be part of your next big sale. 

-Insta-worthy Room Mockups can be a standout piece in your content strategy, this is a creative way to show product views.

–Create a calendar of publications to follow: start with an announcement post that launches an expectation campaign for the next big sale date, follow-up posts, and reminders, as well as a big post about everything that’s going on during the sale season. Get inspired and create standout posts with this free downloadable calendar of Social Media content ideas for artists.

-Choose your social media channel of choice and create an event for your next sale. Your followers on Facebook or Instagram will receive notifications with a reminder, this way you can make sure they don’t forget about this unique opportunity. 

–Set up your profile for sales: Instagram can be turned into a direct sales channel with the right settings. This is the time to activate your own Insta-shop, a simple process that can help you turn followers into collectors.

Email marketing: creating emails that drive holiday art sales

When it comes to art marketing during the holiday season, your audience’s inbox is prime real estate. From newsletters to email reminders, every time you hit send you have an exclusive chance to reach out to them and let them know about your artworks and upcoming sale opportunities.

Here are some emails that you should send to drive more sales as an artist or art business during this season:

–Announcement email: let your audience know about what’s to come. If you are working on a sale focused on a particular date you can add a countdown to the email.

–Email reminder: you want to be on top of mind for potential art buyers, reminders are the chance to keep them informed and provide them with key information to drive them further down their journey from intent to purchase.

–Customer appreciation: the holiday season is a great moment to say “thank you for your support” and that message can start a new conversation about the possibility of acquiring pieces or a great excuse to visit your website and check what’s available at the moment.

–Abandoned shopping cart: let’s say a potential collector went through the whole process of selecting a piece and clicking on the “Buy” button”, but then they stopped their journey. Many things might have happened, and life might have gotten in the way. For these cases, set up an abandoned car email that works as a reminder that they have already selected a piece they can acquire with just a few clicks.

–Follow up: especially when it comes to commissions and inquiries, if someone has previously reached out to know more, this is a good time to send an email to spark the conversation and let them know about your new work and offers.

–Newsletter: if you already send a timely newsletter to your audience, make sure to mention your upcoming sales or seasonal opportunities to purchase one of your pieces.

This special email marketing strategy focused on driving more sales during the holiday season is also a chance to get creative. See in the example above how artist Josée Levesque sends a little but meaningful gift in her newsletter: a wallpaper of her art that her audience can easily download and carry with them.

Room Mockups with seasonal settings are also a great way to showcase your art and give the viewer a sense of how they will look in space. Look for the special collections of rooms curated by the ArtPlacer Team next time you are selecting a room. 

Curating an end-of-the-year online art show that drives sales

Curating your own art show is a special opportunity not only to showcase your artworks but your artistic vision. If you are already in the midst of creating a full strategy to drive more art sales during the holiday season, here are a few tips to create a virtual exhibition that engages visitors and entices them to click on the “Buy” button:

-Pick the right digital gallery space: do you want a classic art fair booth or something more modern? There is a space for every aesthetic, check ArtPlacer’s variety of digital galleries.

–Choose a concept or theme: with holiday sales in mind you can curate a special gallery with selected artworks you are interested in promoting. Follow this guide to curate your own online art show.

–Make it visible: showcase your gallery on your website by embedding it, and add a highlighted section or banner on your homepage.

–Pay attention to detail: offer a fully rounded experience to all visitors. Take advantage of the customization opportunities a digital gallery offers. Get inspired with these Out-of-the-box ideas to curate a virtual gallery and get the free downloadable assets to take it to the next level.

–If you want to create a virtual exhibition that sells, you need a killer art marketing strategy to communicate it to your audience. From social media posts to emails, here is a full checklist of things to do to capture your audience’s attention.

Now that you know how to create a full art marketing strategy to drive more sales during the holiday season, it’s time to draft your own and start working on all the details to make the most out of the last months of the year.

Work on your strategy with top art marketing tools, start your ArtPlacer free trial today.