Marketing Unusual Items

At Biddle & Webb, you never know what will enter the auction doors, at any time! I have come across many unusual items that I have never heard of, let alone seen.

During December a variety of stationary engines and a JB Type Morris Postal Van entered our salerooms. My first initial thought was, who would be interested in a variety of engines?

Surprisingly, when researching I gathered there were loads of machinery enthusiasts across the UK!

Through Social Media I was able to locate individuals who have shown interest in stationary machines. I created a list of the target audiences from machinery societies, engine museums, stationary engine dealers and postal museums. On Twitter & Facebook it is important to create creative content especially when trying to engage potential customers. I tweeted and posted the upcoming lots from a Wheatley lamp starter oil engine to the JB Type Morris postal van by capturing striking photographs and videos.

An informative email was also sent to the list of contacts with information regarding the upcoming lots, viewing times and a link to the auction catalogue.

‘LIVE with Ellie’ has been a success in engaging customers in our marketing campaigns. To receive further engagement from potential customers, we went live on Periscope, Twitter and Facebook. I and colleague Ellie took the viewers around the saleroom screening the selection of steam engines, farm machinery, stationary petrol engines, pump generators and petrol vaporing oil engines. We also answered any questions our viewers may have had regarding the sale.

To measure the success of Social Media and email marketing I analysed the analytics on the social platforms, the engagement rate, viewers on the live broadcasts and auction attendances.

At the January Interiors Sale, we had some impressive sale results for the stationary engines.

Here’s a few of the sale results.

Lot: 383 – A large Wheatley lamp starter oil engine sold for £3,000