Some artists believe that their work should sell itself. You can find these artists at guild shows or in outdoor booths dressed for a Saturday, maybe reading a book, hiding behind their art. These are the artists who exemplify the term “starving artist.” Nothing jumps into the arms of a buyer walking by. Like everything, art needs to be marketed. A marketing plan can help artists sell their art and be remembered when art collectors think of buying again.
 
The best marketing plan for artists, whether their art is photography or paintings, should include the art as well as the artist’s contact information. The product should be rather spare and modern, partly because modern has definite cool factor, but also because the modern look won’t distract from the art itself. Here are three promotional items that will help artists market their art:
 
Custom Promotional Refrigerator Magnets
I ordered a portrait package from a photographer who took my family’s picture. When she handed me the package of photographs, she included a custom refrigerator magnet calendar. The refrigerator magnet has a 2”x3” copy of one of the professional family photograph she had taken with a generic calendar 1.5”x3” beneath the photo. The entire magnet wasn’t very big. That magnet was unexpected, very appreciated, and went straight to the front of my refrigerator. In fact, I cut off the calendar part when the year turned and that beautiful professional photograph of my family still sits on my refrigerator 3 years later.
 
There is no contact information on the magnet, and that is the photographer’s one mistake. If she had just a thin line with her company name and phone number above the photograph part of the magnet, then I would have an easier time remembering her name around family photo time. By marketing herself with a custom refrigerator magnet, I have a daily reminder of her excellent photography skills.
 
Imprinted Acrylic Coasters
Imprinted acrylic coaster picture frames have a 3x3 space to show off an artist’s work, with at .5”x2” space to include contact information. These coasters aren’t inexpensive enough to give away, but would make a marvelous gift to include with an art order. The coasters are simple enough to match any décor so they’ll make it straight to a side table and start advertising the artist. The contact information is subtle so it feels like a free gift with the art order rather than a promotion. 
 
Full Color Promotional Bookmark
A bookmark with a four color imprint down the front of its 1 ½”x6 ½” size makes for a very visible example of an artist’s work. And the price makes it an easy giveaway. Bookmarks can’t be used a promotion just anywhere—or they risk getting thrown away too easily.
 
A good place for promotional bookmarks is at a gallery show that has a program—the bookmark can fit inside the program and help a particular artist stand out among the rest of the artists. A promotional bookmark is helpful to hand out from an outside booth too—if it’s connected to something bigger so it doesn’t get lost among all the other booth handouts. So add the optional tassel for attention and staple the promotional bookmark to the artist’s statement. A promotional bookmark should be used like a business card—and it stands out from the crowd so much better.
 
Custom refrigerator magnets, imprinted acrylic coasters, and full-color imprinted bookmarks are three promotional products that can help artists market their art, and get noticed and remembered by art buyers. Now the concluding part of the marketing plan: stand in front of your art booth, hand out your promotional materials and talk to people about your art.