After the buzz wears off from the first few days of temperatures above 30°C, 32°C, 35°C, summer starts to feel less like a vacation and more like an exercise in futility. Luring audiences out of their air conditioned homes and into your art space is going to take more than the promise of an aesthetically enlightening artwork hung up on some wall. When the worst of the summer doldrums hits, we have 5 suggestions to help boost foot traffic and keep your art business booming into the fall.
1. Plan a KOL activation
Whether your space regularly invests in online advertising or is new to the game of social media, KOL activations have become the preferred way to advertise across consumer markets in China. And you don’t necessarily need to spend money. Strike an exchange agreement with a local magazine or professional photographer in need of a location for a photoshoot, and make an event of it.
2. Throw a Summer Party
If your foot traffic is slow, others out there are probably suffering from the same problem. Craft a summer party that brings your businesses together. Your joint inertia can make a bigger splash. If this proves too difficult, one could at least make use of the longer days to extend visiting hours, potentially attracting more of the nightlife crowd.
3. Kids Camps
School’s out! And that means audiences are younger. Plan a few week-long activities that will engage kids, building the rapport of your brand within the communities it serves by nurturing the future generation.
4. Curate Something Special
Too often we see galleries leave summer shows up to storage, putting together loosely conceived group shows that do not create much buzz in the media. It might be too late to plan a summer blockbuster, but doing something even slightly different this time of year can catch the attention of many. Don’t be afraid to try new things with your brand.
5. Pop up restaurant!
Collaborate with a local restaurant and make a pop up happen in your space. It could be as simple as a food truck or as sophisticated as a multi-course dining experience with wine pairings, cocktails, the works! Food motivates the human mind and appealing to alternative senses—taste and smell—can create lasting and meaningful impressions of your brand.
