Click Here to return to Retail Airbrush BLOG
This is the first post of a series of 3 on Advertising and Promoting your Airbrush Business. Visit the other two posts… How to get free Print and TV exposure and Radio and Live Promotional advertising to learn more about simple things you can do to help get your name out there.
Advertising is another question that comes up a lot when talking with other airbrush business owners. It is also one of the things that most artists fail to do on a regular basis and then wonder why they are not getting any customers. We all have that big dream of opening our first store and just waiting for the big rush of people to find us. As if somehow, magically, everyone in the city knows that there is a new airbrush shop in town. As in the movie “Field of Dreams”….”build it and they will come”…lol…well…I’m sorry to say that it doesn’t quite happen that way…lol… In reality its more like “TELL them you have built it and they will come”.
People have this idea that “word of mouth is the best advertising”…and it is a great way to get the word moving about your business. However, first you have to find the people who will be telling other people. Friends and family are great to start but one must eventually come to grips with the fact that they are not enough.
To start this topic off lets point out that there is a difference between "Advertising" and "Promoting"
Since my background before opening the store in 1991 was in illustration and I worked heavily with advertising agencies I learned the number one rule is to advertise when you are busy....offer deals when you are slow. This may seem like common sense, but you would be surprised how many people feel they need to promote a sale when they are busy or expecting to be busy.
So...when you are busy you should have the extra income to keep advertising, whether it be just flyers, paid ads on social media, radio, newspaper or even local TV....whatever you prefer you should continue when its busy.
However when you are slow or expecting to be slow that’s when you change your advertising from "Hey look what we do"....to..."Look what you can get"....in other words, “Advertising” is keeping your name out there by telling people you are here, in business and what you do. “Promoting” a special, sale, discount” etc...is completely different from just "Advertising" and in most cases is done when it is slow to help bring people in. This is basic "Supply and Demand"
So, where should one start when deciding on how to advertise? As small business owners we are all lucky to be living in this day and age of Social Media. It is the fastest and least expensive way to get started in getting your name out there. The first thing to do is open business profiles on ALL the social media platforms…. especially Facebook. DO NOT just use your Personal account…start a “business page”(see our post of Separating Business form Personal Social media )
Take the time to do the research on how each social media platform works. Just do google searches on “how to advertise on Social media” or Best ways to post on Facebook”….etc…there is so much information out there. There are even some good books such as “Social media for dummies”, “Facebook for dummies” , “An idiots guide to social media” etc…it will take some time to learn how to navigate the world of social media but in the end it will be worth it. Even consider taking a class at a local community college.
To start with however, just open business accounts, invite all your friends and family to like and share your pages and then post regularly on each platform. This will get you started but you have to keep up with it.
Now, a quick crash course of what you need to know about Social Media advertising. As I said above, do your research so will better understand what follows.
For simplicity sake we will concentrate on Facebook. Its important to keep in mind the way Facebook works is that no matter how many followers you have, only 10% of those followers will see any given post of yours in their news feed on any given day.
So if you have 1000 followers only 100 of your followers will see a post in their news feed. (whats called an "organic reach")....so if you were really lucky and all 10% of these people actually saw your post then that means only about 100 people saw your post. Out of that 100 people how many do you think actually needed something airbrushed at that moment or were even thinking about going to your mall, flea market, or near your location etc?......probably only 1-2
Now if you paid and "boosted" that post or did an actual paid ad then you would have "reached" more people(more people would have seen it in their news feed which is called “paid reach”) That would increase your chances of someone who sees it and plans on going to your mall, flea market or being near your location, stopping in and buying something.
Boosting and doing paid advertising doesn't really do as much when it come to an "offer/sale"...unless its during a time of year where people will be there anyway and/or if it is something that is so incredibly popular at the moment and everyone wants it.
What you need to concentrate on is making posts that capture peoples attention with whatever is in the picture. These generic everyday posts that show off your talent will do more in the long run then offering a sale item.
I always say that "you need to make people NEED airbrush not just "want" airbrush".
Lets face it airbrushed shirts, hats, helmets etc...are really not on peoples radar when it comes to necessities. So you have to keep it in front of them so that when an occasion arises in their life they may say to themselves "hey I need to get this airbrushed and I know just where to go"
So it's not just about people rushing in your place over one particular weekend just because you offered a deal....its about keeping your name out there and your artwork in front of people so they remember you when they think they could use something airbrushed.
You would be surprised how many of your "first time" customers came in because they NEEDED something airbrushed and knew you were there because they had seen a post a long time ago that stuck with them. These people may never say anything, but it is happening.
So it’s a good idea to jump on the social media bandwagon but stick with it.
The next thing you need to start with is print material. This includes such things as Business cards, flyers, banners etc…We generally have business cards, post cards, flyers printed on a regular basis. Our flyers we will have printed for special occasions and for specific reasons. For example, Flyers advertising the fact that we do Events, or around Halloween we have flyers for our Make-up and body painting. In store we usually have matching banners for special occasions.
The postcards are great for mailing, especially to clients who have been coming to us for years. They are also great way to let these clients know about new things we are doing or offering. Postcards also get mailed to Art Directors and Creative Directors of advertising agencies, marketing firms and event companies/planners because these type of companies are who uses our services in a corporate setting.
Having a good supply of cards, postcards and flyers on hand both in store and when we are at events is important. I even keep a variety of cards and post cards in the glove box of my car so I always have them handy.
Having the flyers and cards printed is really not expensive. There are plenty of online sources for online printing that are inexpensive. We have used uprinting.com , banners.com , sticker mule.com as well as local printers. Look around locally and you will be surprised the deals you can find at local printers. In a pinch we have even used Fedex/kinkos, and office depot for some quick same day color copies that work well for flyers.
The only other thing involved in the print material is designing the materials themselves. All the items you see here we designed in Photoshop. More than likely if you have a business already you are probably using some kind of program to do photo transfers etc… So these programs will probably work also. Even someone with a decent knowledge of Microsoft word can design some simple flyers etc…
Content for the printed materials is another factor. You need stuff to put on these flyers and banners. Start taking pictures of everything. Pictures of your orders, pictures of you or your artists painting, your store front, your work area….EVERYTHING!….and take pictures everyday. You never know when you may need a certain picture but I can tell you that you will always need pictures of your art and your displays. So take advantage of the camera on your phone. Download the pictures regularly to your computer, categorize them and back them up on a separate hard drive. I can not express enough how taking pictures of everything will help in the long run.
As far as distributing these print materials, as I said above, post cards and even flyers can be mailed directly to people you think will be interested in the content. Having them handy in the store for customers just to pick up is good because most people will pick them up thinking they might have something in the back of their minds and they believe this may come in handy. So this helps for future customers.
The bottom line is that printed material is the most common way to help keep your name out there. Every business has a logo and a business card…. this is where you start.
Be sure to checkout the other 2 posts on Radio and Live promotional advertising. and How to get Free Print and TV exposure.
As always feel free to leave comments or ask questions
