Unique art gallery revamps marketing efforts to better target niche customers

Showcasing experienced entrepreneurs offers an added marketing communications or social media element to help promote their businesses. In addition, it provides a forum through which they can share solutions to unique business challenges that might be the answer to a similar challenge with which yet another entrepreneur is struggling. This openness of information flows with the following story offered by

Sandy Guenther, president
Guenther Gallery and Design
www.guenthergallery.com
sandy@guenthergallery.com
630-773-4278

ABOUT OUR BUSINESS
Guenther Gallery and Design is an art gallery and conservation framer. We provide comprehensive services and art consultation for both corporate and residential customers. What we offer includes original artwork such as oil paintings, watercolors, lithographs, glicee and art glass. And, we frame unusual items some of which include medals, machetes, papyrus, clothing, musical instruments, sports equipment, and dolls.

OUR UNIQUENESS
The first thing that makes us unique is our conservation framing. This is a process in which we use only acid-free materials – acid-free mats, backer boards, backer paper, tape and UV glass which is all we ever use to frame pieces. We also provide art restoration and Photoshop™ work, plus, we are one of just a few who offers professional needle art lacing. Guenther Gallery carries a line of green frames that is continually growing and becoming ever more popular. Actually, 75 percent of the frames that we sell are green frames produced in green factories. Corporate clients, in particular, really favor the eco-frames.

IDEAL CLIENT PROFILE
We like to say that all our clients fit our ideal client profile, but in reality we are specifically targeting the small to medium-sized business looking to redo their visual image to create a more exciting customer and employee environment. This includes businesses that prefer unique items that are not catalog pieces.

UNIQUE BUSINESS CHALLENGE
Our number one challenge continues to be marketing our business to new customers. We have tried many conventional methods without great success. Direct mail, phone calls, coupons, and fliers just don’t seem to work for framers like us because we are in a unique type of business. Not to mention that we are currently trying to market our very unique business during a time when both corporate and residential clients are very mindful of their discretionary spending.

SOLUTION
Banking on the popularity of social networking, we recently began a Facebook™ page which, in its short existence, has already generated some interest. Our website has been very productive in helping customers find us. As a result, we will be updating it more regularly which includes a blog that features current events. We will be working a second blog on which we will be posting useful information on unique pieces, as well as talking about the latest eco-friendly items in the world of custom framing. To round out our reformatted marketing plan, we will continue with face-to-face networking since word of mouth has worked best for us, and to try to move into more corporate work. We believe that this new direction will help us create new business and we look forward to tracking what we hope to be a successful marketing effort.