2024

6.20

The Five Fundamentals of Online Brand Promotion for Luthiers in 2024

The lutherie industry has experienced a golden era of growth in the last 30 years. The quality and diversity of guitar builds from independent makers is remarkable and historic. As the founder of the Luthier Bench marketplace in early 2024, I have had the privilege to talk with 100s of luthiers and hear the stories of their workshops. We often witness a chasm between the remarkable precision of the workshops and the artistry of the guitar builds as compared to the online presence of the workshop.

In so many cases, the Luthier's website, graphic design and build images are unable to either broadcast the builder's philosophy and unique history, nor to showcase effectively their guitar builds. It is the mission of the Luthier Studio to elevate the online profile and search status of workshops to inspire confidence in Collectors and to highlight their musical creations. Here are some basic steps on the road to workshop success in the digital space.

ONE - Build Virtual Workshop with Intelligent Design

There is a saying in the NYC Fashion district: "..a beautiful dress highlights the woman, not the dress". This metaphor applies seamlessly to the concept of web design, and might we suggest guitar inlay aesthetics. A well-designed website will highlight the brand, the builder and the unique philosophy and/or history of workshop.

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Each builder and workshop are unique and therefore each online presence should tell both the story and present a compelling case for the acquisition of your guitars. We deploy Intelligent Design based on our two decades of web development experience to create a virtual platform to highlight your workshop brand and to showcase both available guitars and build models for request.

TWO - Align Online Presence to Workshop Aesthetic

Our mission is the success of your workshop from the digital standpoint. Many luthiers share with us their belief that their website does not represent either the quality or philosophy of their workshop. Others share with us that they have concerns about their website's functionality or how guitar images display. Or, they ask us if their website works on mobile devices. And, they ask us how will people searching for luthier guitars find us? It is time for many workshops to apply the same level of attention to the aesthetics of the online presence as they do to their guitar inlays. We can align the quality and aesthetic of your website and media with your builder workshop.

THREE - Craft Online Content to Mobile Audience

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Anyone familiar with long-term trends in Internet browsing understands an increasing majority of visitors to a workshop site are on either a tablet or mobile device. Any workshop virtual platform that does not implement responsive, mobile-friendly code will be increasing the chances that the mobile audience will 'click away' from your workshop online. And, a lack of technical expertise in the virtual space is an unacceptable business failing when a platform is marketing musical instruments from $3,000 to $30,000. The mobile audience has the most discretionary income and your web platform should deliver your information, images, and video seamlessly to those potential Buyers.

FOUR - Leverage SEO+ to Maximize Build Time

Even the mention of those three dreaded letters (SEO) inspires boredeom from even younger, more tech-savvy builders. But the truth is SEO is a Luthier's best friend in the virtual toolkit. Search Engine Optimization is essentially a pro-acive engagement with Google communicating to search platforms what the exact nature of your business, who are your customers, and how can they find you during search inquiries. Every hour millions of potential Buyers are searching for guitars, and without SEO your chance of being found is reduced significantly. SEO is the leveraged rudder that provides the intended return on your investment in a website. And, with intelligent SEO+ you will have increased build time due to a reduction in marketing and outreach.

FIVE - Showcase Builds with HD Imagery & Rich Media

It is a statistical reality - Collectors and Buyers of high-end guitars are attracted to high-definition images of your guitar builds. And, viral videos including these HD images with an audio sample of the build and key textual clues are today's most effective virtual ambassadors of your workshop brand. While a solid SEO campaign will leverage search results, viral videos on social media platforms have enormous buyer reach. After spending 100 to 200 hours on a precision build, your guitar creations are best showcased at high-quality and with compelling backgrounds. Our studio has deep capabilities in both areas of rich media: high-definition images and video production.

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Luthier Success

The mission of Luthier Studio is to provide world-class digital creative services to Luthiers at deeply discounted package rates. We believe that a Luthier's online presence and graphic design should align in terms of quality and aesthetics with the guitars that the workshop builds.


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