How does social media play into your art gallery’s holiday marketing strategy? This article will help you prepare for success and provide fresh ideas for keeping your fans and followers engaged during the season of “marketing overload”.
This time of year has a lot of competition for shopper’s attention. Marketing through social media can be planned and scheduled in advance, making your life a bit less stressful when the holidays arrive.
Create a Holiday Social Media Plan
Once you have established what your art gallery will be offering for the holidays, such as shows, offering additional items, and special holiday services, etc. you can begin to plan out your social media strategy to get the word out.
Your plan should cover October through January.
Some key elements to include in your art gallery’s social media marketing plan are a content calendar, number of daily posts by platform, advertising strategy and artist collaborations. Let’s look at these more closely.
Content calendar
The first and maybe most important is a content calendar that plans the type of posts and messages on your most engaging social channels throughout the season. Doing this in advance helps you see if your social media aligns with your gallery’s goals for the holidays and your other marketing intiatives, such as email campaigns. For example, LinkedIn might be the best place to promote gallery rentals for company parties. Facebook and Instagram will meet sales-focused goals, increasing attendance to holiday events and sharing your gallery’s holiday spirit.
Goals beyond art sales
Whiles sales are the primary goal, engagement with your followers is also crucial. The holidays present an opportunity to share the holiday spirit gallery staff and your artists. Your followers will be turned off by an all sales, all the time message. Here is where a content calendar can be so helpful. You can see if you have a nice balance of sales and fun.
The more followers that engage with your gallery on social media, the more organic reach you will receive from the platform.
Holiday posts
Create a few original holiday-themed cover images that can be posted on your pages during the season. These images help set the tone of your gallery’s holiday message when someone first arrives on your page. Start using these in early November.
Plan to increase the number of daily posts on your best social media platform. If you currently post twice a day, try increasing to four or five times a day, including days and times when the gallery is not open. Use a scheduling tool to help you accomplish that.
Advertising
Decide where and what messages you will invest in advertising on social media to help you reach a broader audience that is very targeted. Define your budget and use that money to promote your specific holiday offering. That might be a collection of artworks you have highlighted as affordable gifts or special seasonal items or holiday parties.
Look for ways to integrate your social media with e-commerce platforms through Instagram Stories. If you have installed a Facebook pixel, another social media advertising strategy you should experiment with is creating a “lookalike audience” and advertising to them during the holidays.
Marketing collaborations
Lastly, you want your social media marketing plan to establish how you can collaborate with your artists on social media during the holidays. For a collaboration like this to be successful, clearly defined expectations of each party. The holiday season is vital for both galleries and artists to make sales. Working together makes sense particularly with the artists you plan to highlight during the season.
Content Ideas to Market Your Art Gallery During the Holidays
Posting a variety of things will help your offerings get attention. Here are a few ideas for posts to get your creative mind thinking. These types of posts can show off your gallery’s holiday spirit, and most of these can be created and scheduled in advance.
Social platforms love video, so don’t be afraid to post short videos of you talking about featured artworks or goofy holiday fun among staff.
Festive Photos
- Images of staff decorating the gallery.
- Photos of your artist’s studio decorations.
- Available artworks with a bow on it, ready to be a gift.
- Images of artwork installed in a home or office to help buyers imagine the work in their space.
Event Information
- Teasers about your gallery’s holiday shows.
- Reminders about special local shopping days.
- Alert your followers of fun holiday activities going on in the community, not just in the gallery.
Holiday Spirit
- Individual holiday wishes via video from your gallery artists.
- Share posts from charities the gallery supports.
- Thank your artists and collectors for a great year.
Special Gallery Offerings & Services
- Information about available payment options.
- Details about the gallery’s gift-wrapping or installation services.
- How to buy a gift certificate.
- Most obvious – Lots and lots of art.
I encourage you to brainstorm with your artists and staff for other ideas. Make your sales message for the holiday season fun and engaging, but also ensure it is indeed a clear sales message. Your gallery is sure to make an impact with both current clients and new art collectors.
To the Point
Have fun during this holiday season and show your social media followers how easy giving art from your gallery can be (even self-gifting). Art can be such an exceptional gift because it is so unique and personal.
Collaboration with your artists and community on social media will help make your gallery stand out and expand your reach. It’s a busy time of year for everyone, and collaborations can help make you more active on social media during this critical sales season.
Schedule as many of your social posts in advance as you can to make you the season less stressful for yourself. This strategy allows you to focus on other things when the holidays get closer, and life gets more hectic. Use a social media management system, such as Meetedgar, Later (for Instagram), Hootsuite, or SproutSocial, to schedule gallery content across all your social platforms.
By planning in advance, your art gallery business can have a very joyous and profitable holiday season.
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