253: How else were you going to find THAT bidder in a few days or weeks?

We’re in the golden age of auction advertising.

Every once in a while, I miss the days of designing postcards and brochures for auctioneers. I can get nostalgic for the excitement of opening a box of samples from the print shop, the chance to see my creativity expressed visually, and the NAA award notifications. Now, direct mail accounts for only 6% of Biplane’s work.

I’m happy for that change because social media advertising has proven a much better fit for auction marketing. We can now target our ads with uncanny specificity. We can reach 50 to 200 potential bidders for the cost of mailing one postcard. We don’t have to wait for publications or our brochure to reach mailboxes. Auctioneers can accept consignments later, closer to the auction.

This efficiency and flexibility help auctioneers make bigger commissions with leaner marketing budgets in shorter exposure windows. And that leads to happy emails after the auction. Rick Scrivener reported last week about his equipment consignment auction in the middle of the country: “Over 600 buyers. 17 states. Another GREAT DAY.” Thomas Mau expanded the geographically good news. Our Facebook campaign for his British car restoration shop auction (in Pennsylvania) led to “bidders from Australia, Italy, South Africa—terrific.”