Mixed Media Artists That Want To Make Money Series 2: Part 1

Have you ever wondered what a customer's thought process is before they actually purchase your art? What if you had this valuable piece of information that would allow you to tailor your art exactly to who is going to be purchasing it while still enjoying the creation without actually communicating with them prior?

No, you do not have to be a magician to pull this off either!

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Hi, I'm Rachel, mixed media artist, blogger, and professional beach glass hunter. In the first series, I shared the reconstructed business model canvas and how to best utilize this important tool to maximize your business by selling your artworks. I hope that it has helped you on your mission! I would love any feedback so don't be shy to leave a comment.

I'm here again to present to you how to go about getting into your next customer's mind without actually literally going there. This post is part 1 of a 4 part Series II. I will be going over B2C (business to consumer) empathy mapping in this first post and in my next post, I will be doing B2B (business to business) empathy mapping. Of course, I always share secrets and relevant information along the way with my dedicated readers!

This is how I actually made the first sale that I talked about in Part 1 of Series I. This is going to help you connect with people in a way that you never imagined. You will probably see results quickly if you actually go through all of the steps and tailor it to each customer segment.


First and foremost, if you have no idea what B2C is.....let me explain....for those who already know please skip this and read ahead!

B2C = business to consumer

Your artwork + one person buying it = their wall is looking much better and their spirits are uplifted

Example: Art shows, pitching your art locally or to your friends, asking random people, selling online at the following galleries: Artfinder, Zatista, Artpal, Etsy, VangoArt, Saatchi Art, eBay, Facebook, etc. I hope you catch my drift! If not leave me a comment and I will explain further.

Before I dive into the empathy map that I want to share, I want to point out that the customer segments that you found in Series I: Part 2 are going to come back into play. For each customer segment, they will have a different map.

Empathy map

 Ahhh, of course, this series would not be complete without a generic bland straight from the book example of what I'm talking about. Thanks, Empathy Maps: Walk in your customer's shoes. Let's take it up a notch and make it more artist-like.

I used my own picture for the "Who" part because this is where I started in the art world...I was once a customer myself!

Empathy = walk a mile in their shoes just make sure that you observe everything while you're in their shoes though....what you hear from others, what you're ulterior motive is, what frame of mind you were in before you started thinking about art....what your wants, needs, and fears are through the eyes of who will be making a purchase.

I will warn you that by doing this you may not be comfortable with the results that you find but it's important to be completely honest and take a few days to digest your findings! You do not have to even know their names within the customer segment just a broad view of some in-depth information I will show you each step of the way. This is a very useful tool in the marketing world that I believe is more powerful than analytics compounded and condensed by a Big Data corporation.

Empathy Mapping

GOAL

Who?

Which customer segment are you going to start with? The more precise you are with this answer the better this map will serve you. What is their exact age? Where are they in life right now? What kind of power do they have when making a purchase such as your artwork? Are they married? Did they recently move into a new house? Are they in a niche or more of a broad range?

I chose the customer segment 25-30-year-old women who are recently married and recently moved into a new home who work part-time or stay at home who have one child or no children and either her or significant other has a college education or went to a trade school and have been in the workforce for the last 2-6 years. You do not have to be this narrow and keep in mind this is only one customer segment that I chose based on my own research.

If you are curious about how I break down my customer segments exactly, I will divulge further in my next post.

What do you want them to do?

What problem of theirs will you be solving if they purchase your artwork? How will you connect with them if they have your artwork hanging in their home?  What room would they be hanging your art in and how is this going to motivate them to want to make a purchase?

If both people within a household are at work until 5pm and do not arrive home until 5:30-6pm it would be beneficial to not market your artwork for a room that is dark by the time they arrive. This is where demographics come into play and further research on the statistics of where each room of the house is located for the location you are obtaining the most awareness at.

If only one person in the household arrives home in the evening I know for a fact that the person still at home all day will wait until that last crucial hour to power clean and cook before that moment when the arrival occurs. How do I know this....I've been very observant over the last ten years and I can smell that anxiousness brewing well before the vacuum cleaner sits around in the living room pretending as if it's been used.

If you are solving a problem such as motivating the consumer to get mundane tasks done marketing towards the laundry room or brightening a kitchen near the dirty dishes might be more beneficial. Always remember the mindset that this person is coming from is going to be different than what you went through when creating your masterpiece. Someone rushing out of the house almost late to work is in a completely different place in their head compared to being stuck in rush hour bumper to bumper and they still have laundry mountain to tackle and their dishwasher is broken still.

Seeing

What are they seeing every day?

What news channel do they watch or read? What social media outlet do they use the most? Where do they do their online shopping? Where do they get their groceries from? What do they enjoy looking at on the way to the grocery store? Are they a tactile, visual, auditory, or spatial learner? What is your competition offering and at what price? What sets you apart from them?

Seeing is believing. Keep in mind that your customer might not have adequate lighting or enough sunlight in the space where they are hanging your art. I've had a customer send me a photo of it hanging on her wall days after receiving it as she had no idea how to hang it (it was already framed) and had to wait for her husband to put the nails in the wall then there was an issue with the sun not appearing for days and they went out and invested in more lights so it would show up the best. I should have perhaps covered this in the description, however, silly me I assumed that someone purchasing art would already know this. Never assume anything and if in doubt mention something at the end of your description tailored to that particular customer segment.

Another example of this, I had a customer purchase a painting that I had marketed for a dining room however, they had just remodeled their bathroom and wanted to hang the artwork in there but were worried about the moisture issue. In this case, I specifically added 6 layers of different varnishes so that the paint would last through the years of steamy showers. I did have to set back the shipping date as it had to dry another 3 layers under a heater I wanted to make sure it was cured which was not an issue for the buyer.

Saying

What do they talk about on their social media account(s)? What can you imagine them saying when your artwork arrives on their doorstep? Do they want it to arrive with a more branded appearance (branding of yours on the box, tissue paper, sealed with branded logo stickers) or would they rather have a more home-like feeling when unwrapping? What are they going to say when others view it?

This is where you want to make a connection with them somehow before they receive it. How is this artwork going to make them look to others and what are they going to tell others about the entire experience and why they purchased this particular piece?

One of my customers bought a painting of mine because of the inspiration that derives from it. It was Love Unlocked Bridge which was inspired by Love Locked Bridge in Conneaut, OH where she and her husband go every year for their anniversary as its the famous black beach glass insulator beach and they are avid beach glass hunters. This connection was awesome for both of us as I was able to tell the whole story to my side as well as she was able to light up as guests to her home wanted to know what the bridge painting was of.

Doing 

What are they already doing that must be changed because they are not happy or they just want a change in their life?

What do they do on their day off? Do they have a large circle of family/friends? Do you imagine them sharing a positive experience with this circle and if not how would you remedy this situation effectively? What do they already buy online or at boutique stores or galleries and has their experience been good? What do they already have in life? How do they already decorate their home?

This is where you are going to find that they are just as similar to you as any human and just as different to you in many ways! People tend to say many things but don't end up doing half of them, however, there are those that end up doing way more than they said! Imagine yourself in your customer segment, what they are going through, how they are behaving prior to the purchase and how you can deliver something to them that will help them solve their problems!

Hearing

What are they hearing from their inner circle saying before they even make the purchase? Who influences them the most? Who do they just hear and who do they actually listen to? Listening and hearing are two different things....hearing involves the ears and listening involves the brain!

Once you go through each of these you can see all of their outside influences and where they are coming from before buying your art. What motivates them on their outer layer that everyone sees. The next part of this is going to take some creativity and being able to relate to them on a level more inside their head because that is where we are headed.

INSIDE THEIR HEAD

Wants

What do they want out of life? Wants are those things that you really don't need but you want them anyways sometimes overriding basic needs and superseding secondary needs! These are very powerful and should be used sparingly!

Needs

Are all of their needs satisfied right now? Needs are those things that you cannot live without...I mean really cannot live without such as water, food, a roof over your head that is stable, an inner circle that you can vent to, an outer circle that you can form your public appearance on, sleep this is not interrupted by a train at night, tranquility by being yourself without a mask, love from within that is shared with others, intellectual food to fulfill your racing thoughts, eye candy of dreamscapes to escape after a long day at work, and happiness when you smile at the world.

I bet you could probably supply at least  4 or 5 of those needs from your artwork!

Fears

Are they anxious in front of people? Are they very extroverted but need a half hour after work to debrief their day in solace? Are they introverted with an avoidant attachment style? All of that mumbo jumbo is going to come out right here.

Its also going to fuel sales as if you are able to alleviate those fears with a connection with your art or if you are able to get someone to stare at your abstract art they are going to go back into themselves to find themselves while losing themselves and that is the best therapy that only costs what you are pricing your artwork at which is a one time payment rather than a weekly therapist that they have to drive to sit in a waiting room then talk to a stranger about!

Obligations

Do they have children? Do they take care of an elderly parent? Do they have any pets?

I've found that the more obligations that people have the appreciation for art increased. It's just reaching this group of buyers that is the difficult part. They may not show up in your repeat viewing section of the statistics for a few months however, they will return to make a purchase when they do! Why is this? In between their high demand obligations, they have actually been thinking about your art and you don't even know it which is why I do not trust all of the analytics programs out there as they are machines doing the math when you are a human that can connect the dots on your own.

I know how important numbers can be I'm a 6 sigma green belt, however, sometimes for marketing purposes they cannot be trusted and your own intuition can be more valuable than any percentage!

Frustrations

When a 26-year-old comes home to a barking dog that wants to be fed after picking up her sweet 2-year-old from daycare and her husband will arrive within the next half hour and the dishes aren't done from last night or laundry even started not to mention the carpets are a mess its enough to start yelling and freaking out about if the work day was in overload. If the home she enters however, has a connecting and inspiring piece of art that you created at the door entrance she might breathe a little easier knowing that things will soon be calmer as she steals glances at the artwork while helping her toddler take her boots and coat off then lets the dog out viewing another work of art towards the back door while she turns on the stove or oven starting to prepare dinner before her hubby returns soon.

See how your art can actually transform a crummy day into a not so bad day?!

This hypothetical situation was my third customer whom I specifically asked what my art means to her in an everyday real life situation and how it alleviates any anxiety upon returning home from work. I am very grateful for her candid response as she asked me not to share her name of any identifying information, she did agree to share her reaction!

I hope that by mapping your potential future customers and viewing inside of their mind helps to increase your sales as I'm sure this important tool will serve you well if used properly! I will be returning next week to reveal a lucrative B2B empathy map, as well as a sneak, peek into your competitor's game plan!