As Q4 is around the corner, I decided to start focusing more articles on sales, marketing, and making money as an artist. Last Monday I posted about how you can create your personal brand as an artist. And today it will be all about how to sell your art through social media marketing as an artist. So let’s jump straight into it.
1. Define your social media’s purpose
Before we get started, I want you to come clean about the real purpose of your social media presence.
Is your primary goal to sell your art through social media marketing? Or is it to become famous, to build a community of artist friends? Maybe you want to reach museums, critics, and the press. Or maybe you are purely using your social media presence as a portfolio to share what you love?
You don’t have to limit yourself to only one purpose, but it’s good to list them in order of priority because this will have a big impact on your marketing strategy as an artist.
Your marketing strategy means the platforms you choose to display and promote your art, the photography style you use, the CTAs (I’ll explain this in the 4th paragraph) you add to your posts, and all the other elements of personal branding. I highly recommend you check the previous article for more insights before you read this one. Whether you’re targetting buyers for digital or physical products, your strategy has to be sales focused and pretty consistent all over your social media channels in order for it to be most effective.
Now that you get the idea, ask yourself: “How can I address my target audience of art collectors (paintings and physical products) and potential buyers (both physical and digital products)?”
2. Be easy to remember and approach
Your social media marketing is built on your profiles. If you want to sell your art through social media marketing, your Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, etc., are your new visual resumes that live online and can be updated instantly. Once an art collector or customer discovers your work through a post and comes to your page, you only have a few seconds to capture their attention. Make it easy for them with this checklist.
- A recognizable profile picture. (It doesn’t have to be your face. It could be a logo, but it has to be consistent throughout your social media platforms.)
- A short description of who you are and what you do. (A Morocco-based artist creating paintings with recycled wood).
- Your contact info (email, phone number, DMs…).
- A website or a portfolio (optional).
3. Work on the visual cohesion
Your content online is mostly visual, so make sure your artworks are properly displayed and are actually aesthetically pleasing. To do that, you need to:
-Take good pictures of your artwork with great lighting. I recommend you take pictures in natural daylight between 8 am to 1 pm.
-Take different shots of your artworks that show perspectives, details, textures, and the process of creation. Art is a sensory experience, and you want the viewers to sensually connect with your artworks to trigger that desire to own and buy them.
-Create posts of your artworks photographed in homes or in art collections. You can do this through mockups and a little bit of Photoshop skills. I recommend you use Canva it’s so much easier and less time-consuming.
4. Be Open About Sales – Use Call to Action (CTA)
To sell your art through social media marketing, you have to let people know that your artwork is for sale. Even if they have the means and the desire to purchase art, the majority of potential buyers have no idea how the art market works. People get prints from stores because they don’t know that they can get the original artwork or prints from the artist directly and for a cheaper price, obviously. Being open about your art sales online is advantageous for both you and your potential customers who are seeking art but don’t know where to get it.
Tell your followers in a casual way where and how they can buy your art, whether it’s on your website, Etsy store, or Instagram shop.
Try out some small sales techniques by using calls to action. This means, announcing that you will sell prints or accept commissions and calling people to take action which is to buy or ask for a commissioned artwork. Once they begin interacting with you in smaller purchases, customers will feel more at ease making larger purchases and referring you to others.
Remember, no one will know about your art unless you tell them. Let the world know what you’re doing and selling on Instagram, and art collectors will follow.
5. Selling art through social media means Building trust
When you’re using social media profiles to attract buyers, you need to know that people like to create bonds with the artists they buy the artworks from. Let your followers, and potential customers know more about you and the art you create.
Using Instagram as an example, strategically put your story highlights (because they’re permanent in your profile) to build that trust you’re seeking.
- A “Start here” highlight, or “Who am I?”
- Artworks available for sale.
- Materials you use, experiment with, and your processes of creation.
- Studio shots or “Behind the scenes”.
- Inspirations for certain artworks.
- Thoughts on art-related topics…
If you attract the attention of someone who found your post on their explore page, the next thing they do is to check your bio, then view your Instagram Highlights. Here, you get the chance to do some storytelling, show your personality, highlight your achievements, and grow your following.
6. Share your values
Many people buy artworks when the artist is an activist or uses a share of the money they get from selling artworks to support a set of values.
Both you and your artwork are equally important to art collectors. Don’t be afraid to strategically display who you are as a person. When an artist conveys their thoughts on social topics that are significant to them, it creates a huge impact. Purchasing art is comparable to meeting a new acquaintance and inviting them over to your place. An art collector will feel more at ease and eager to buy your work if you are more open about your beliefs.
Which Social Media Platforms do I recommend?
I have personally tried almost every social media platform throughout my experiments in marketing and sales, and have come to the conclusion that you can sell anything, anywhere if you’re able to convince and persuade people to feel your artworks the way you feel them yourself.
However, for the average marketer or seller, some platforms are better than others. And the one that tops the list for me has to be Pinterest.
Pinterest in a search engine. Most people think that Pinterest is a social media site, but it’s not. This implies that, unlike on Facebook and Instagram, where your content vanishes a few hours after publication, your content on Pinterest can be accessible for years to come.
Based on Pinterest statistics, 47% of Pinterest users make purchase decisions on Pinterest, which is more than Facebook at 15% and Instagram at 11%. Also, The audience consists of high-income users. 27% of adults who use Pinterest earn $30,000-74,999 per year, and 41% earn more than $75,000.
Pinterest now has a shop that could be directly linked to your website, and it’s very user-friendly. Buyers could see the products in the Pinterest feed, alongside the price and other details.
Can you use Instagram to attract buyers?
Yes, you can. But what I see is that on Instagram, artists should prioritize exposure above sales.
Naturally, having followers on your feed is essential to your success. For instance, when they “like” or comment on particular posts, their followers may view those images and, if they agree, they may choose to follow you too. They may then tell their friends about you, and so on. When an Instagram feed is fascinating or amusing, the word may spread quickly, and you can get hundreds or even thousands of new followers. However, only gaining an increasing number of followers is insufficient if your goal is sales; you must also gain the trust of your new followers and, ideally, convert them from viewers to buyers.
Another thing that I want you to note is that the algorithm on Instagram is made to keep people locked inside Instagram for as long as possible. So if your strategy isn’t effective enough to keep potential buyers hooked, they can be easily distracted and forget about your art in the blink of an eye.
Conclusion
This article covered some general knowledge and beginner-friendly insights on social media marketing to increase sales in the art niche. If you are trying to make more money as an artist, check out the “make money as an artist” category of this website.
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