Why doesn't running a flash sale ad on Facebook work for selling art?

Art doesn’t sell the way product advertising works. Many artists think they can create an ad offering a discount or time-sensitive flash sale (like ‘40% off metal prints today only’), run it to people who’ve never seen their work before, and generate immediate sales. This almost never works. Art sales require relationship building over time. A more realistic scenario: Someone sees your ad and follows you. Weeks later, they watch your live video and get to know you. They join your email list. Then life happens—they get busy, change jobs, move to a new place. Months later, when they’re finally settled and looking at their blank walls, they remember you, find your emails, and then make a purchase. This romance and relationship-building over time is how art actually sells online, not through cold flash-sale ads.

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Asked by artists expecting immediate results from ads · Answered by Patrick Shanahan · art-marketing-podcast · 2020-08-13