We’ve all heard the term, ‘A picture says a thousand words’. Unfortunately, this rather passive saying will not help you get your work out into the world or help you gain any income.
Much like other businesses, artists are now required to market themselves.
Whether as a freelance artist or to gain a showing at a gallery. Marketing is essential to ensure your success and continuous growth.
Not sure how artists can market themselves effectively?
(Must read: How Art Storefronts Helps You Market Your Artwork)
After all, the artwork should do most of the heavy lifting. We have a guide of things you can do today to get you started.
Whether it’s a few creative social media posts or posting an ad in the local newspaper, you can begin to market yourself effectively.
As an artist you are not only marketing yourself, you are marketing your products and services. This means marketing like any other business.
And other businesses need to know their target audiences to market their products effectively.
You can begin to research your target audience by determining which audience you would like to market to.
This is often defined by age demographics. However, it can be segmented any way you like from gender to interests.
Your target audience is going to be your market and you will need them to be interested in your creations.
It will be simpler to connect with and market to the people who enjoy your creative work the more you understand about them. Consider your ideal client, their preferences, and the reasons they are drawn to your service.
Another element to researching your target audience is to know how to connect with them. Are they mainly online or offline.
This will allow you to know where to focus most of your efforts in order to engage with them.
You don’t want to waste your time, resources and marketing materials on a platform that your target audience doesn’t even use.
In the age of technology and with most of the world having some form of social media, you are going to need a website. This will be the foundation of your marketing strategy.
Your website should be used as a form of virtual portfolio for your work. Think of it as an online resume.
Potential customers can go to your website, view your work, connect and contact with you, and even purchase some of your products.
In terms of the design of your website, you will want it to remain professional and highlight that you are in the industry of creating and selling your art.
You can easily showcase your personality through the design of your website without being too casual. A popular way to do this is through blogging on your website with different tabs to purchase products.
It should be easy to navigate and use clear, simple language for people to follow and understand. You will want to include links to your work and interact with your audience to build a trusting relationship.
Through your website, you may convey these ideas to your audience. Your audience will gain understanding of who you are and the motivations behind your work if you blog and post frequently.
The days of posting ads in the local newspaper are quickly fading. Today you need to be present on a variety of social media platforms to market your business.
While there are a whole range of social media platforms that can be used, the main ones are:
Facebook is often looked at as the Dad of social media platforms as its main demographic of users are 35 to 44 years old. However, it is incredibly useful in social media marketing strategies.
With the ability to generate both organic and paid engagement, you can quickly grow your audience and promote your products.
Promoting on Facebook will place you in the eye of an older generation who tend to have more disposable income which is perfect when you are selling creative artworks.
However, there are still those within the ages of 18-24 on the platform which, depending on your target audience, may be extremely useful.
When promoting on Facebook it is important to have a slightly more casual tone, however, it should always remain professional and appropriate.
You are representing your business and building a reputation online for your brand.
Instagram is majorly used by a younger generation of 18-24. It is a great way to market and sell your products through the Instagram marketplace.
You can also generate engagement through different forms of content.
Your content should be fun and exciting for this platform. You will need to post more often than Facebook.
The recommended posting for Instagram is once a day on your main feed while posting 7-10 times on your Stories. This may seem extreme but your engagement will increase immensely.
It is also a great platform for connecting with others in your industry. Use this to your advantage by working on collabs with other artists to sell or even charities to raise funds.
Instagram is an incredible platform to build your brand and begin to sell your products.
TikTok is a difficult platform to gain any engagement. However, done correctly it can be an effective resource to attract sales.
As TikTok has a rather diverse audience you are going to want to create an assortment of content. You can also share your TikTok to other platforms making content planning slightly easier.
TikTok is one of the best places to implement call to actions. This can be done through giveaways, challenges, and sales to ensure people know of your brand and the products you offer.
Now that you have gotten to know your target audience and have begun interacting with them through various channels, it is important to keep them informed.
Got a sale running? Or introducing some new pieces? It is important to keep them up to date with your latest project, products, and offers.
The more you inform your audience about your business the more loyal they will become.
You can even invite them to any gallery displays you may have to interact with them in person.
However, if you are solely promoting online then showing your night through videos and pictures will allow them to feel involved in your progress.
The more you interact and engage with your audience, the more involved they will want to be. This is extremely important for small businesses who are looking to build trusting relationships and generate recurring revenue.
As an artist, you may believe that there is little you can do to showcase your art. This is simply not the case.
As you can see above there are many methods for promoting your business. From creating a website to interacting with your audience on social media, you can really explore your creative side through marketing.
Ensure to remain professional and appropriate when presenting yourself online as you want the best image for your brand as possible.
So, go explore the world of promoting and get creative! You never know just how much your business can grow.
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