Here let’s talk about marketing your art gallery events and look at how focusing on purpose, and attendee value can kick your marketing message up a notch. These two critical elements are often lost in event communications to art buyers.
While the subject of an exhibition or the artist’s perspective on the work is an enormous part of most gallery events, marketing messages should not be one-sided.
Hosting events is often a big part of running an art gallery business, whether in the gallery, at a fair or a pop up shop. However, even before COVID, as art gallery foot traffic continues to suffer in a digital age, marketing your events in creative and meaningful ways is even more critical for success. You can no longer simply send an email out with who, what, when, and where and expect crowds to form.
Planning Gallery Events with Purpose
A critical aspect of success is planning your events to be attendee-oriented vs. entirely artist-oriented. You must also be able to communicate the purpose of an event from the attendee’s perspective to get people off their couch and into the gallery. Such messaging is particularly true when trying to attract new collectors to your art gallery because it more clearly tells this audience what’s in it for them by attending.
So what is the purpose of going to a gallery event? Typically, the most fundamental benefit of attending a gallery event is to see the latest work, buy art, meet the artists and socialize. However, as a marketing strategy, it is hard to stand out as being an event not to be missed from your attendee’s perspective when most galleries never go further than the basic purpose.
Each of your events, whether connected to an exhibition or another kind of event, will have more significant potential of standing out and attracting new people if they have a distinct purpose.
As Priya Parker recommends in her book is The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters, repeatedly ask yourself why you’re hosting an event until you arrive at a more profound reason that hits on a belief or value. When you reach this level of “why”, that is where a wonderful connection happens for your guests.
Putting some strategic thinking into the purpose of an event means defining the intended outcome for your event attendees. You want to be able to clearly outline what you want your attendees to experience from the event. When you have a clear purpose that is specific to an event, communication of value in your marketing message is more relatable to those invited and more compelling.
Planning events with intended purpose has many benefits including:
- Produces more attendees and qualified leads when communicating purpose throughout your event marketing
- Strengthens the gallery following by connecting purpose with collector’s personal values
- Improves chances of increased sales and customer loyalty
- Helps you gain a better understanding of your gallery’s prospective art buyers
Clarity of purpose for those you invite to your events also means you are more likely to meet the goals of your artists and your gallery business.
Communicating Value within Art Gallery Event Marketing
Once you determine the purpose of hosting an event, now you can define value. The value of attending your gallery events must also be specific and clearly communicated within repeated marketing messages. After all, value helps encourage connection and meaning for your attendees making it more compelling for them to turn off Netflix and Instagram and go see some art in person.
You should begin planning your gallery event marketing by examining your target audience to inform the value message for an event. The first rule of marketing is to know your audience. Consider these two questions to get started.
- What values might your target audience have that ties into the event?
- How would you talk about those values in relation to an exhibit or event theme?
Look for connections between the values you know your collector base to have, and the purpose of your event. For example, consider the value of attending an exhibit centered around a particular social issue or sentimentality. The value of attending might be learning more about that issue or seeing an aspect of it through the artist’s eyes. Or perhaps a portion of the event proceeds go towards supporting a cause. Value of attending could also be injecting meaning into your attendee’s lives and increasing their personal growth.
Visiting a gallery in person can still offer entertainment and intellectual pursuits that the online experience simply cannot deliver, but this value is not always apparent to the average art lover as it is to you. Emphasize the educational value in your marketing materials in a fun and relatable way that speaks to the artist’s intentions or exhibit theme and more importantly, how your target audience might relate to those intentions or theme.
To the Point 
With dwindling attention spans, repetition of your art gallery event marketing message becomes more necessary. Consistently repeating relevant messages and good story-telling on multiple marketing channels is essential to getting prospective buyers in the door. This is much easier when plan purpose and value for each event ahead of time.
Focus your event purpose and value on being attendee-oriented, which helps provide the direction you need to create a gallery event that meets the needs and expectations of your collectors and prospective buyers. As a result, you will also be serving your artist clients and business better.
Try putting purpose and value front and center in your event marketing for six to eight months and see if you notice a difference in attendance, sales, and engagement as a result. This strategy needs time to take hold and resonate with attendees. Be sure to allow ample time for your prospects to notice the change of messaging from your gallery.
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