Imagine, a slide show of an aritist's paintings being instantly delivered to a potential collector’s smart phone. By using "marketing tags" artists can make that vision and more a reality.
"What’s a marketing tag you ask?" Simply put, it’s a barcode that can be placed on anything printable. The market tag is scanned with a smart phone and instantly delivers a message. Artists can offer audiences a slide show, video, virtual tour, or lecture excerpt just by using a tag.
With over 2 billion marketing tags already in existence, millions of people have already downloaded the free Microsoft Tag reader and are using it. With over 49.1 million smart phones in use today in the US more than 50% of US homes own one or more smart phone and are using this technology to browse, shop and gather information.
Consumers are realizing that when they hold their smart phone over the tag, the digital information or video content appears in the smart phone window. No typing a URL or texting, waiting for a response – in an instant your message appears – driving it deeper into the hands of your potential buyer at the moment it makes the most sense.
Mobile is important for a number of reasons:
It has an immediacy that consumers expect.
It provides a portal from the real world to digital content.
To be successful the mobile activity has to follow some best practices:
The activity must be engaging.
The content must be relevant.
There must be a call to action.
Tags are already being used by museums, galleries and your peers.
Best practices for tagging include:
1) Putting one on the label of your painting or sculpture which can then be scanned as a thank you card or slide show of additional available work.
2) Using them to capture information about potential collectors - they have the option to opt in to your database.
3) As a teaser on an invitation to create buzz about an upcoming exhibition.
Mobile Marketing
Is mobile marketing a trend or just "fly by trendy"? From my research, I think that this is the next “thing”. Think back to when the internet was introduced and you may have wondered “do I really need to have a website? Does a digital footprint even matter?” We all know how important that move was to business. Now you have an opportunity to attach your digital presence to your print materials.
This is still new enough to garner word of mouth excitement yet it is also established enough for anyone to piggyback off of the successful adoption of the technology. Over 100 million magazines since August 2010 have carried Tags in their advertisements and editorial.
As ambassadors of the arts, it is important that we continue to nurture and engage our society in the appreciation of fine art. I am a believer that tag technology is a tool that will invigorate and sustain the cultural community.
About the Author
Carolyn "Charlie" Bogusz provides consulting services for artists and other small businesses. Learn more about tag marketing by visiting her blog at
http://primarycolorsconsulting.wordpress.com
