7 STRATEGIES TO AMP UP YOUR ARTIST NEWSLETTERS

Email marketing today is a very strategic way to market your artwork. While the social, promotional tab, or spam filters can make it a bit harder to show up in the actual inbox, email marketing is still a direct way to get in touch with your audience. 

Algorithms and the social media game don’t come into play with email marketing. This is why email marketing is so effective. The people on your mailing list opted in, so they want to hear from you and are expecting emails.

Here are some strategies to try when transforming your email marketing strategy.

1. Be an Email Magnet

Being a magnet for collecting new emails is a great way to increase your marketing reach. It's an active strategy to grow your list. Try a variety of methods to collect new emails: swap business cards, leave an email sign-up sheet in your studio or at events, or add a pop-up or form to your website. 

2. Share on Social Media

When using email marketing service providers, you can usually publicly share a link on social media to your email. This strategy is great as it allows people to view your email before clicking to subscribe. Giving people an opportunity to see the email preview and see the value in your content will allow you to continually grow your list with people are long time subscribers and future customers. 

3. Get Purposeful 

Every time you send an email, you must have a purpose. No more generic updates because it’s a new month. Every creative business is sending out updates and it's time to put some strategy behind this marketing tool so you stand out. Multiple emails with unengaging content will lose readership and interest over time. Your content must be engaging, quality, well-written and keeps peoples attention. 

A very simple strategy to help adjust your marketing from standard updates to purposeful emails is to develop your subject lines. Instead of using “August Newsletter,” spend some time writing a catchy but honest subject line that will get people interested in opening the email. 

4. Watch Your Timing

Being more intentional about the messaging and content may change your email cadence to be more or less frequent than you usually do. You also may want to research the best days of the week or times or email so your well-intentioned email gets the most attention. 

5.  Give Give Give Ask Strategy

Have you heard of the give-give-give-ask model? Giving provides interest, and asking takes resources. Gives could include: telling a story, emailing out a freebie, sharing what inspires you, or showing a behind-the-scenes photo or video in the studio. 

When it’s time to have your audience directly support you, it's time for an ask. An ask is perfect for launching a new project, selling a new piece of merchandise, or inviting your audience to show up to an event or exhibition. This is your CTA, or call to action. Be clear on what you want your audience to do by using action words: buy, attend, pre-order, sign-up, etc. 

Paced messaging between the give and ask will allow people to keep coming back to your emails knowing that every message isn’t going to be a sales pitch. Plan to give more than you ask as a long-term strategy.

6. Segment your Audiences

When building or adding to your email list, spend a few more minutes organizing your contacts into segments. Segment your audience groups based on what they want to read and open. For example, you wouldn’t want to send an art workshop opportunity to someone who is an art collector who would likely never take your class. Even having two segments can greatly impact the effectiveness and open rates of your emails. 

Segmenting can be done with an email service provider like Constant Contact or Mailchimp. You can also organize your audience on a spreadsheet or within your general email account by creating groups. 

7. Linked Navigation

The goal of an email newsletter isn’t just the open rate. You ideally want your audience to navigate from your email to somewhere else. This can navigate people to your “give” or “ask.” Ideally, this is to a website that you control or own, like your website. Make sure all links and photos are clickable and lead to sites that provide more information and context. 

This strategy is also important because you can curate the amount of content included in your email marketing. Instead of writing a bunch of information, post a clickable link headlining the information which you post on your site or blog. This will reduce large amounts of text and boost your website attendance as well.