Social media has become an integral aspect of most artist’s marketing. For some, it has become a part of their art and, in a sense, an extended canvas.
From our perspective, traditional media is the most powerful approach for enhancing your social media outreach. Launching a traditional PR campaign will garner you media coverage in magazines, newspapers as well as on TV, radio and online media outlets. You can then post those media links on your various social media platforms. You have now separated yourself from most other artists online. You aren’t simply posting your thoughts, or personal images, as everyone else is posting. You are establishing that your art is newsworthy.
That said, working your social media outreach hand-in-hand with a public relations campaign is only one approach to utilizing social media for your art and your career as an artist. The initial question that you need to answer is –
Why you are launching a social media outreach? Is it to establish yourself as an artist? To build your identity (some would say brand, but if that word bothers you, stick with identity) as an artist? To sell your artwork? To connect with other artists? Or ________ fill in the blank?
Define your goals before you start your outreach. You don’t want to start on a journey if you have no idea where you’re headed. Actually, sometimes that approach makes for the most interesting life journeys, but, in this case, I’d suggest defining your destination before you take your first step.
Different platforms are designed to reach different audiences. Keep that in mind from the onset and do your homework before you start. You definitely want to consider Facebook and Twitter, as well as visually-oriented platforms such as Instagram and Pinterest.
Pinterest is artist-friendly and covers quite a few different categories. It is also a platform that can lead directly to the point-of-purchase sales. To take advantage of that you want a website with ecommerce capabilities. You can then pin your works directly from your landing page where visitors can access details and the shopping cart. If you don’t have that capacity, you can pin images from sites such as Etsy.
Although Instagram does not have similar sales features, it is an incredibly important platform for artists. Instagram is swiftly becoming its own online art market. It is free, and an amazing tool to use to facilitate art sales. It’s a portal for artists to connect with their ideal dealers. Keep a look out for our upcoming post on how to use Instagram to sell your art.
Keep in mind that you want to showcase your art and represent yourself as an artist. Your social media platforms have a specific objective. You are not on those sites to simply share what you had for lunch or chat with friends.
Keep your objectives in mind. Use those objectives as a roadmap to create the look, feel and information that you share.
Keep your audience and your followers in mind. Don’t post, tweet or share about subjects that are completely unrelated to you, your work or art in general. You want to connect by making your posts inviting, enticing and appealing. Don’t only share your work, but share about your journey and your process.
Respect your audience. For example, if someone follows you on Twitter, take the time to return the favor.
Being opinionated is fine, but being combative or rude will only hurt you in the long run. Unless you are truly on a mission, you don’t want to use your social media as platforms to try and convert others to your world views. This varies from artist to artist, there are times where the art itself reflects particular world views. Then, so be it. But on the whole you don’t want to use this as your digital soapbox, you want to present your art in the best light possible.
And if you want to build a following and entice buyers online, remember:
Share.
Sales will come.
Copyright © PR FOR ARTISTS / Anthony Mora / Aubrie Wienholt 2016
Sell Art Online