Today we are going to talk about the power of collective marketing. This isn’t the first time collective marketing has been discussed. In Part 1, I talked about how the broad based marketing that County Studio Tour puts out there will work synergistically with your own marketing efforts. Let’s apply that same principal to the pocket of artists around you that are also participating in County Studio Tour.
Before we get started, I want you to say the following 5 times as fast as possible..
When we work together, we grow together.
It’s actually easier done than said.
Your local #artsquad will be your best source of referrals the weekend of Studio Tour. Getting to know the people surrounding you is good for many reasons. First, new friends are always fun, especially when they like art too. Second, at some point you’ll be asked if you can paint a pet portrait of a dog sailing a boat using only organic toothpaste. You sigh and tell the patron that sadly since you are a sculptor working strictly in clay that you’ll have to pass only to remember that your neighbor is an award winning pet portrait painter that just recently broke into the world of organic toothpaste! You connect them, you feel great, the patron gets their amazing portrait and your neighbor is so thankful for the referral that they refer anyone that even thinks about clay over to you. #worktogethergrowtogether
So, let’s talk about how to get the networking juices flowing in your 'hood.
See below or open up the map page on the County Studio Tour website: https://www.countystudiotour.com/map
Find the local studios participating and look up their studio by the number on the map for contact information. Send over an email inviting them to a meeting.
Pro Tip1: Doodle.com is great for finding a time that everyone is available to meet. Free to use.
Pro Tip 2: https://zoom.us/ is perfect for hosting a video conference meeting. Free for 40 minute meetings or less.
During the Meeting
When everyone is gathered, take time to introduce yourselves and clearly define what it is that you do. Have someone be the scribe and record the responses.
Create a hyper local map that includes your #artsquad studios, street names, points of interest, places to eat, parking, road closures, etc.
Also include artist names, a thumbnail of their work and a very short description.
Before the Tour
Discuss a social media plan. Everyone should be creating their own FB event page. Once created, each person should tag their #artsquad in the event. This will create overlap and repetitive posts (a great thing in marketing). The more you can “touch” people, the greater chance they take in the info.
Sponsoring posts in Facebook works.
Print up the maps and insert some into the catalogs before passing them out.
Have extra copies of the maps on hand for each studio.
Work together with your #artsquad when placing the signage before the tour so you have the whole area covered effectively.
During the Event
Greet people as they walk through your studio door. Develop a standard greeting, introduce yourself and your art, and if you have guests, introduce the guests to their work as well. Ask them where they’ve been on the tour so far, and where they plan on going. Engage. When appropriate, offer a suggestion on where they should go next based on what they are interested in.
They will be so grateful for your help as will your #artsquad!