Keys to reaching your highest bidder

“At the end of the day, all we care about is getting bidders to our auction.”

- Midwest auctioneer

This is a solid truth in the auction industry. When putting together an auction, approximately 40% of the time or more is spent marketing the auction to potential bidders. Get the audience to the market place. It used to be, as a norm, an auctioneer would get a contract for a sale and then negotiate advertising with the seller. Now days, negotiating and managing the advertising is crucial to the success or failure of a given auction, regardless of category.

Advertising is mandatory

• 1 – Leverage your current contacts, bidders and auction attendees. This is your most valuable marketplace. These people know your brand. They know what to expect when they attend your auction live or online. They trust you. This is important.
• 2 – I mentioned online auction above. Your auctions NEED to have an online component. Whether its promoting the auction through your website, marketing your auction through ads in publications online, or using one or multiple online auction platforms. Your auction needs to be online.  At a recent association meeting where the discussion was based around the online auction component, one auctioneer said, with confidence, it “DOUBLED” his business. Items he never would accept at a live auction he now accepts and “throws it up online.” Why, because there is always a market online!
• 3 – Stay relevant in the eyes of your bidders and buyers. Use the mediums available to you. Social media, blogs, and email marketing are all components that are relatively easy to implement. These help you stay in front of your audience and help you grow your bidding base.
• 4 – Always, and I mean always, look for ways to improve processes in the marketing plan. Try split testing in email campaigns. Look to grow your list. Make sure you have a place on your website, above the fold, where people can sign up to get on your email list. Email list attrition can vary between 8 and 18 percent per year if not more. 
• 5 – If you don’t have time to do the “online marketing,” hire someone. You can not afford NOT to market you auction online.