Marketing and tools
You have taken the first step: You have uploaded your best works. But now it’s time to focus on letting other people know that your shop exists. The quality of your art is paramount, but marketing is essential for making sales. On this page, we'll give you tips and tricks that will get you started with promotion.
Marketing of your shop
Marketing of Art Heroes
Art Heroes is constantly increasing its brand awareness. This means that your profile is also being built as a result. We actively promote through both offline and online channels. These include:
Offline: trade shows, TV, collaborations with physical shops, billboards, radio and the Art Heroes magazines.
Online: social media advertising, affiliate marketing, advertising via Google and online collaborations with partners.
When it comes to marketing, Art Heroes never stands still. Our monthly newsletter and the marketing update on the forum will keep you informed of the latest developments.
Actively promote your shop
Would you rather be in control? Actively promote your shop yourself. You can promote your shop in many different ways. Some suggestions:
Promote through your website
Tell visitors on your website that your works are for sale
Social media
Use Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest to reach more people
Promote in your email
Newsletters or a simple mention in your email signature
Offline promotion
Think of flyers, business cards or posters
Helpful tools for getting you started
To make things easier, we have designed a number of tools that you can find in your Marketing Dashboard. There’s a blogpost template that explains how customers can buy your work, a collection of Art Heroes logos and visuals that can be used on your channels and tools aimed at specific platforms and applications such as our WallApp, the Activity Stream and a WordPress plugin.
Log into your dashboard and go to marketing
Wordpress Plugin
Integrate your shop into your own website
The Wordpress Plugin can be found in your dashboard
Frequently asked questions about marketing
What do you mean by promotion?
You’ve taken the first step: You’ve uploaded your best works. Now it’s time to focus on letting other people know that your shop exists. Creating beautiful art is the start, promotion is the next step.
Where can I find the marketing info about my works?
In your sales overview you will find more information about your sales.
For each sale, you can see whether the sale took place on:
Art Heroes main site
Your shop page
While placing their order, we ask customers how they heard about us. The customer can currently choose from the following options: seen at vtwonen & design fair, seen on TV, searched for a subject via Google, I know the artist, seen in Art Heroes magazine, seen on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.
How can I make my titles catchy and descriptive?
We recommend using powerful titles that are clear and precise. Compare the following: ‘London 12' and 'Panoramic photo of London, the Thames and Big Ben at sunset'. The later more descriptive title is much more likely to increase your visibility; you stand a chance of being found when people are searching for London, the Thames or Big Ben.
Descriptive titles have the advantage of containing relevant keywords and are therefore easier to find.
What are good descriptions of my artwork?
There are two success factors for good image descriptions: Quality and length. A text is of high quality if it is "unique", i.e. appears nowhere else online. Image descriptions are picked up by Google and other search engines. Make your description as detailed and interesting as possible.
Tell the story behind your photo or artwork and use appropriate keywords to make your image easier to find! Sophisticated wording is secondary. An absolute no-go (also from a legal point of view) is copying text or text modules from other websites. Be creative and unique.
How can I write a good artist profile?
Talk about your style, what you do and the techniques that you use. Describe what moves you artistically; share your likes and passions. Tell readers about your favourite places or about other artists who inspire your art and approach. Be creative! Text length and quality are important! A popular, extensive and well written profile will rank more highly on Google and other search engines and increase your exposure.
How can I link to my artworks on Art Heroes from my own website?
If you are an artist or photographer who has their own website, you can link to your Art Heroes. You can find your individual links in your dashboard under 'My account > manage shop'.
Tip:
Do you have a website in Wordpress? Then use our Wordpress plugin.
Artwork linken
For each work, and album, you will find an 'embed' button, containing the appropriate links to that work.
How does Art Heroes promote your art?
Art Heroes is constantly working on expanding our brand awareness to increase conversion. This means that your opportunities increase along with our visibility. We actively promote the platform using both online and offline channels.
Offline
- Trade shows. Art Heroes regularly attends trade fairs (e.g. vtwonen & design fair) to reach potential customers and increase brand awareness. We advertise on television via commercials and by sponsoring/featuring in interior design focused shows.
- Art Heroes magazine. We regularly publish our own Art Heroes magazine which is packed with inspiration.
Online
- Art Heroes is very active with social media advertising. For promotion, we use Google+, Pinterest, Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook and Instagram.
- Google Ads. We use Google Ads to increase the visibility of Art Heroes and increase conversion.
- Partners. To promote the platform, we work with many partners such as Flexa. We also use external partners in the field of advertising and suppliers of conversion-enhancing tools.
When it comes to marketing, Art Heroes never stands still. Through our newsletter, we continuously keep you informed of the latest developments.
How can I promote my own shop page?
You can draw attention to your shop in many different ways. Here are some suggestions:
- Via your website
Linking to your Art Heroes shop or integrating it directly with the Wordpress plugin will attract people interested in your work and make it easier for them to buy.
- Through your social networks
- Promote in your e-mail
With every e-mail you send, you can draw attention to your shop by putting your shop's link in your e-mail signature.
- Links
Whatever channels you are active on, make sure there is a link to your shop. Not only do you make visitors aware that they can buy your work, but links are also used by search engines to find websites.
How can I make it easier to be found online?
Being ‘found’ online means that you have to make your shop more ‘attractive’ to the search engines which automatically index the internet ranking the sites they encounter. If your shop can be found on search engines, you’re doing a good job.
Search engines are dynamic so precise advice is difficult to give. However, working on your profile and online visibility via links is the surest way to boost your chances.
Good artwork titles.
We recommend using strong titles. Be as clear and precise as you can in this. A bad example is; “London 12.” An excellent example is; “Panorama photo of London, the Thames, Big Ben at sunset.” Make sure every work has a unique title, but that it isn't absurdly long. Use the description for adding further information.
With a strong title, such as the example above, you have a good chance of scoring high in the search results if people look up, London, the Thames of Big Ben.
A good description
There are two success factors that make a successful description:
Quality. The quality has a lot to do with the uniqueness of the description. This ensures that the text you write can’t be found on other websites. Copying a line of text from Wikipedia, for example, only lowers the quality of the description. The more distinctive your description, the better it will score on Google results.
Length. The more text, the better! Google loves text. We suggest you aim for a minimum of around 100 words
Copying texts from other websites ensures that the quality is very low, and also may infringe someone else’s intellectual property.
A good profile
In your profile, you can share more information about yourself. The same tips as for the artwork description are applicable here. The more text, the better. Cover things about yourself, your style, and your favourite topics. Remember though that uniqueness is also key. It is in your interest to write a different text than you might have on your own website.
How can I integrate my Art Heroes shop page in my own website?
With our Wordpress plugin you can easily integrate your shop into your own website. More information about the plugin can be found on your dashboard when you are logged in to your shop.
Can I organise promotional actions?
Yes, you can surprise your potential customers in so many different ways. Unleash your creativity! Tip: people love a discount! This is a great way to claim time in the spotlight, with periodic discount promotions or short sharp sales. Lower your margin and share this promotion everywhere you can; your website, blog and social channels.
What do you mean when referring to the Art Heroes WordPress-plugin?
You can integrate your Art Heroes shop on your website with our Wordpress Plugin. This is handy, as visitors to your website can buy works directly (without having to go to Art Heroes first), but don't worry, we handle the rest. You don't have to use iframes, which are sometimes difficult to integrate, but instead you can include the works directly in a page. You can download the plugin from the Wordpress Plugin Directory. In your dashboard → 'Wordpress Plugin,' you will find detailed instructions to install the plugin.
Do you have any other plugins available for my website?
We only have a Wordpress plugin at present. You can of course manually place the most popular works on your site and then link to them.
We have documented the API we use for the Wordpress plugin (API documentation forum https://forum.werkaandemuur.nl/t/api-documentatie/1457) so someone else could potentially pick this up for other platforms.
Do you have advice for organising an exhibition?
Great that you are organising an exhibition! Who are you trying to appeal to? Who will visit? These questions should play a role in the selection of works to display. It’s a good idea to look at your statistics to see which images are viewed the most in your shop. When thinking about format you should think about the circumstances in which the works will be displayed. Do you have 1 large wall? Or will the works be spread over a room? Here are a few ideas:
- 1 art piece in 3 sizes and 3 different materials, this shows immediately that variations are possible in terms of both size and material.
- Perhaps think of displaying one piece in a (very) large format in a luxurious material - this focuses attention and creates that show piece gallery effect.
- Other works can be displayed at smaller sizes on canvas once people understand that more drastic effects are possible.
Tips for promotion:
Maybe produce a postcard for promotional purposes with an arresting image on the front and your Art Heroes address on the back. Giving people something they can take away is a way of sticking in minds and increasing your profile.
Business cards and flyers are also handy ways of promoting your shop. A press kit can be found in Brandox. Make a video of your creative process so that people have an idea of how your work is made. This could be shown on a screen at the exhibition to give context and help produce a narrative.
Tip: people love discounts! It’s a fabulous way of attracting attention. Perhaps devise periodic discount promotions, or make one work cheaper for a week? Lower your margin and share this promotion everywhere you can; your website, blog and social channels. If you want to work with a discount, let us know via email (note; discounts are always a maximum of 10%).
Can I make my own discount code?
At the moment, you cannot do this yourself. Please email community@Art Heroes.com and provide the following information:
- Name of discount code
- Duration discount action
- For which country do you want this code
For discount codes, we always apply a 10% discount.
I get an error message when I open my shop, what’s gone wrong?
You might have used the wrong shoplink. For example https://www.jasper.artheroes.com instead of https://jasper.artheroes.com So don't use www.
Didn't find your question?
Go to the forum and ask your question! Among thousands of artists, there is always someone online who knows the answer.
