CREATE YOUR MONEY MAP (Marketing Action Plan) Social Media

Social media, I will just go on record as saying, is public relations. But I have separated social media and public relations for our Money MAP exercise, since they require different tools and tactics to implement them.

Social media is has outgrown the ‘maybe’ to the full blown ‘gotta-be-in-it-to-win-it’ stage. So you either commit to doing social media or you stay out of the game and lose that potential connection to manufacturers, colleagues and customers (consumers).

But whatever stage you are at, make a commitment to doing one thing and doing it well.  For example, if you like to jot out notes multiple times a day as you do things, then Twitter is probably a great fit for you.  Once you decide, then stick with it before adding other social media platforms to your daily and weekly roster.  Here are a few tips to incorporate:

• Tell Stories – let evidence start with a story, because people respond to stories, not data.
• Be Creative and Artful – tell your stories through all the new tools available, Tumblr and Storify, as well as with video, photos and audio slide shows.
• Choose the Right Channel – LinkedIn for business, Twitter for broader reach and topics, Facebook can get more personal, Pinterest can showcase collections and products.
• Be Honest – social media has ushered in the age of transparency.
• Work together – fuel your efforts by aligning and collaborating with people and organizations who share your same beliefs and causes; sharing hashtags can be a powerful way of rallying around a time critical event.

Advertisements

CREATE YOUR MONEY MAP (Marketing Action Plan) Direct Marketing

When thinking about putting direct marketing on your MAP (Marketing Action Plan) and subsequently onto your calendar, you will want to consider a plan for releasing new collections that you can stick to. 

If you are developing collections for a trade show, then perhaps pick 2 or at the most 3 other times during the year to launch your latest work. Your direct marketing should include updating your website, sending sales letters (or emails), and launching direct mail campaigns (electronic or printed) for each wave of new collections created.

You can do your direct mailing campaigns to via a low-cost (Constant Contact) or no-cost (Mail Chimp) email service.  But be aware that if you send a generic piece to an email list, it is likely your email, whether a promotion or a portfolio release will go to their spam folder. Avoid this pitfall by collecting personal names and emails whenever possible. These services can usually get an email into their personal in-box if it includes their name.

Other alternatives include sending individual emails to clients and prospects with one PDF attached or a link to a new section of your online portfolio, as well as the old-fashioned and still impressive (yet wildly more expensive) direct mail piece.

Direct marketing needs to be scheduled so you don’t forget to do it.  Really, it’s one of the most important promotional tools you have at your fingertips. And don’t forget to try and schedule your efforts around the manufacturers’ trade show schedules.

CREATE YOUR MONEY MAP (Marketing Action Plan)Trade Shows

Trade shows are marketing events with very specific audiences.

By bringing everyone together in one place, trade shows provide opportunities to meet people you wouldn’t be able to afford to meet if you had to travel all over the U.S., or even the world, or have access to these executive level decision-makers. So think about investing in trade shows when your budget allows, but be sure to work hard on your promotions before the show to ensure that you get the most bang for your budget.

There are trade shows for all types of audiences. Make sure you know, before booking to attend a show, who are the booth exhibitors and who attends the show.  I always recommend ‘walking’ the show as an attendee before you spend the dollars to exhibit, so you can get the lay of the land and check out your competition.

One of the reasons I put trade shows as the first promotional tool, is because they have fixed dates.  This means they need more lead time and planning, so you will want to get them on your calendar for the year as soon as possible.  After you have decided on your trade show events, other promotional tactics can be devised to enhance your trade show experience and results.  On the All Art Licensing website’s resource page, we offer a list of trade shows which are often attended by artists wishing to license their art for a variety of product categories, such as the AmericasMart, International Housewares Show, Licensing Expo and SURTEX.

CREATE YOUR MONEY MAP (Marketing Action Plan) CREATE PRODUCT

Creating is what artists do.  Creating collections for manufacturers to license is what art licensors do. This is your product. So becoming an expert at developing art licensing collections and putting together a dynamite portfolio is essential to closing licensing deals and generating income.

Whether you want to find an agent, have a great agent or are licensing your art DIY style, make sure to consider these important items when developing your portfolio:

-Create art that sells.

-Have a big enough portfolio to interest agents and manufacturers.

-Create art that works on many types of products.

-Think in terms of colors that are trending and offer a couple of color palettes for each collection.

-Develop art collections that work with a variety of target audiences and embrace traditional and/or popular and cutting-edge themes (depending on your bent in life).

-Be flexible, if someone is interested and suggests changes to your art, carefully consider.

-Offer art that fits with selling-seasons AND giving-occasions.

-Be true to who you are and your own creative process.

CREATE YOUR MONEY MAP (Marketing Action Plan) IDENTIFY YOUR MARKETING STRATEGIES

 

I’m going to keep this blog entry simple because here is where creating your MONEY MAP is different than a marketing plan.

Most marketing plans include positioning, pricing, placement, people, promotion (and other P’s).  They are often long-winded explanations of what you already know, and sometimes actually ignore the well-thought-out ‘planning’ part.

Marketing plans should follow your mission statement and show how you intend to achieve your goals. They are about strategies and then the tactics which will be used.

For artists in the licensing arena, or wanting to be licensors, I recommend your marketing strategies focus on prioritizing your products and promotions.  That’s it.  I’m going to say it again: Prioritize Your Products & Promotions.  If you can execute market-ready products (art/designs/products) that meet consumer needs and promote them successfully to licensing manufacturers, you can virtually ignore your competition (who most likely won’t do this!) and meet or exceed your goals. (Keep reading…we’ll cover how to promote your art licensing collections in many of the days to come.)

CREATE YOUR MONEY MAP (Marketing Action Plan) WRITE YOUR MISSION STATEMENT

It’s a great exercise to write your own Mission Statement and you’ll be glad you did – once it’s done.  If you have one, I congratulate you! 

A mission statement doesn’t need to be a paragraph, if a sentence will do.  Try to incorporate why you are in business, your target audience, what you are selling and your distinction (USP).

If you are one of those who think they don’t need a mission statement, I’d like to suggest that the time and effort put into writing one can help your business grow for several reasons. First, it helps determine your direction; it’s like the North Star or a compass which helps guide your company’s future. Here is how a mission is different from a vision statement; it’s what you must and will do to reach your goal vs. thoughts about your imaged future. Third, it will provide decision-making direction, a framework of sorts for all types of tactics which will keep you on track. Fourth, your mission statement will shape the strategies for reaching goals.  And fifth, when you know where you are going, it makes it easier to evaluate when you are getting off your preferred path, so you can make changes and improvements quickly as necessary.

CREATE YOUR MONEY MAP (Marketing Action Plan) DESCRIBE YOUR PRODUCT

The next MONEY MAP question asks: What is your product? Here is where you get to describe exactly what your product is. Are you a designer, illustrator, cartoonist with a character, an author or a brand? Make sure you are thorough in this description and focus on the details of how your product relates to the marketplace (specifically your audience).

If you are an art licensor, your product is not one image or even one collection, it’s all your work which embodies your design style, its qualities and the characteristics which make your work unique. This is what makes you distinctive, your unique selling point, or USP as marketers refer to it.

All artists, who become brands, have a USP. So make sure you can identify your USP and are able to explain it to others.