A variety of people come to art events and everyone may be looking for something different and they’re all in different phases. Some people come just to browse and other come with cash in hand itching to buy.
As an event vendor, knowing what these phases are and how to treat people in different phases is crucial to succeeding in any business. The sales funnel that we are going to go over is not our invention. It’s been used for years with great success and this post should be used as a starting point to launch you into understanding more about what your consumers go through before they buy your product.
AWARENESS-
At every event or art festival hundreds, if not thousands, of people come by your booth and look at your art.
HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU HEARD PEOPLE COMPLIMENT YOUR ART AND NOT BUY ANYTHING? A LOT, RIGHT?
It’s not that they don’t want to buy your art. It’s that before they saw your booth, they didn’t even know you existed and had no time to go through the sales funnel. Now that they know you exist, they enter the awareness phase.
The awareness phase of the funnel is easy to enter and leave very quickly. They just found out who you are and what kind of art you do and now, most likely, they move on and forget about you. So, how do you get that festival-goer to move down the funnel into purchasing from you?
Moving people from the awareness phase into the interest phase is all about presentation. This is when all that booth design comes into play. If they don’t come in to look at your arts or crafts, they definitely won’t be buying.
We won’t go much more into booth design because of how much material is already written on the subject on the web. Just make sure you do your research and be constantly improving. The sales funnel works like a real funnel, the more you have at the top, the more people trickle down and purchase.
INTEREST-
This is the phase where the potential customer knows who you are and likes your product. They haven’t yet thought about buying but at least they like your stuff!
They are now ready to do some product research on their own. How much everything costs is the most obvious part of this phase. The consumer may also want to know what the piece is made of, what inspired it, etc. If it is a craft that has a function what is that function? How long will it last? Where in their house would it go?
This doesn’t mean they don’t want to buy! Just not today. If you don’t help them progress down the funnel then they may never buy. So in this step, it’s crucial to get their contact info! Their name and email at least. Giveaways work great for this.
Here are some ideas:
- Put one of your pieces as a prize for a giveaway. To enter, they have to give you their name and email. You can easily do this with a tablet.
- Another idea is to offer a 10% coupon if they give you their info. At the very least offer them some candy or a bottle of water in return for following you on Instagram.
This way you can email market to them when you have new art. Of course, this requires you to have an email marketing plan which is free if you use MailChimp. That way you can push them to your website or Etsy page when they are ready to buy down the road.
EVALUATION-
Let’s say you have a newer type of art, whether it’s a unique painting or piece of jewelry, people passing by your booth have never seen it before. They leave without buying from you and they are very interested in your product. Now, they are at home figuring out where your piece would go or when they would wear it. On top of that, they are now researching artists like you to see who else makes what they want.
They are researching prices, quality, shipping times, etc. If you make an amazing seashell necklace and sell it for $150. A consumer will go online and see if they can find something similar to what you sell, but less expensive.
This is why getting their email is so important, so you can tell them what makes your product unique and worth every penny of that $150. Whether it’s because you handmake each one or they are all from the same local beach to which the consumer may have an emotional attachment. Or maybe you flew to Fiji because you can only find a specific shell there.
Without telling them this info how would they know? The traffic levels of many art festivals make it impossible to tell everyone all the details that you’d like.
DECISION-
The consumer has now decided to purchase. At this point, people will start negotiating with you. Many talented artists fall short on the business sides of things and learning to skillfully negotiate will serve you in all parts of your business.
PURCHASE-
In this phase the purchase is made; however, the customer journey is not over. You want thrilled customers that talk you up on social media and tell all their friends about how you are the next Michelangelo.
In order to delight your customers think about the following aspects of the purchase process:
How do you pack up your art?
Think of the best packaging you’ve seen. One reason it was so great was that the packaging was specifically chosen to fit the product. So, do you wrap your art it in a newspaper and then put it in a plastic grocery bag? Or do you pull out measured boxes that fit the product perfectly and tie a bow on it?
Some art can be big and/or heavy so how do you improve the delivery process?
Do you offer to help people take heavy or bulky pieces of art to their car? If you have a huge picture or a wooden table with the words “FREE DELIVERY!” on a sign next to it, do you think that would eliminate a consumer’s concern?
It’s the things after the purchase that work wonders to solidify an amazing impression in a customers mind leading to repeat sales and referrals.
Wrap Up
Understanding where your customers are in the funnel will you allow you to treat them differently and market to them more efficiently. While some people seem to go through the whole funnel within minutes and purchase. They most likely have been thinking for a while about getting something like your product and you happen to be in the right place at the right time.
