Content for arts sake
I’ll be focusing on my art from here on out, leaving this blog to rest for a bit.
Thank you to everyone who follows me here.
This is not a NY resolution thing. I don’t really abide by that. You should set goals to achieve them regardless of the time of year.
Online marketing is only one piece of the art marketing puzzle. You want to be spending more time on your art than working on your social media. Here are some ways to combine online and in-person marketing that will help you reach a larger and more targeted audience.
One option is to use your social media to promote in-person events on your website, through newsletters and on your channels. As I have mentioned before, letting people know when your next show is, or which festivals you’re participating in can be very beneficial to meeting your clients and potential buyers. You can make posts showcasing the art that will be available or videos of you getting ready for the show and preparing. Another way to make the event even more exclusive is to offer specific pieces for sale in advance that would be otherwise for sale at the festival. They would have choice pick before you took them to be sold.
Once the festival begins, you can document and share the experience of the event through your social media channels like Facebook, then review the event through your long-form content, highlighting the experiences afterwards. This will give the opportunity for those who couldn’t attend to experience it also (which extends the show, but more about that later). Share live updates through photos and video. You could showcase your booth or art that garnered a lot of attention. As a side tip, pay attention to the pieces that were popular, you’ll want to keep them in mind. Tag event organizers and thank them for the opportunity to attend the festival. This will help build relationships for the future.
You’ll definitely want to build your email list. Have an iPad ready to type their email into your database or on Notepad. It saves time later as you won’t have to re-type and possibly misspell their emails. Tip: get them to do it themselves. Once you get their emails, it will be useful for announcing future events and special, early access to exclusive pieces. For those who were interested and didn’t buy, have a way for them to follow up like through the email list. For those who couldn’t attend, offer limited-edition prints or smaller works that were exclusively available at the event and link them to your online store. This will extend the event to online sales as well.
Festivals are one of the best ways to connect, get customers engaged and see more of your art. Extending the event to your website and back online helps improve greater reach to everyone who is interested in your art.
So as a disclaimer, my overall goals are for mature audiences. Whether it be for my own art or for social media purposes. And while I’m big on Pinterest for artists, it’s important to keep a few other platforms on rotation in order to reach optimal number of eyeballs. The platforms that have the best audience for artists for their type of content is Facebook, LinkedIn and Pinterest. Plus a website. With a blog or some type of long-form content.
It’s one of the strategies recommended by many to be as successful as possible. One reason is because platforms change all the time. They upgrade, become obsolete, demographic changes, the list goes on. As a caveat, this is if your target market is older. I see many artists on TikTok, but as per my last post, I suggest avoiding it if your goals are for a mature audience.
Something else that artists should consider when beginning their social media journey and will help turn your audience into dedicated fans is sharing your authentic artist journey. This can include genuine stories about your path, maybe your struggles and your growing pains. Maybe you paint abstract art and so you could talk about bringing emotion to life through your painting or by discussing the expressiveness inspired by life experiences–it focuses more on the emotional impact of your work. This can be a powerful hook for connecting with your audience.
Next, one needs to consider building trust and doing it through consistency to show integrity and create authority on the web. Building trust takes time and dedication, which is where a lot of artists struggle. Balancing consistency with their art and at the same time, being consistent on the web…something’s gotta give. Never mind responding to comments, reviewing analytics to compare last quarter, posting content or putting out fires. Erhmeghrd. You build trust and show expertise through long-form content. So this could be blog posts and articles, YouTube/video series or vlogging, or podcasts or whatever. Do it for a long time. Like at least a year at the bare minimum.
So in conclusion, first, put on your thinking hat and choose your platforms. Whatever you settle on. Next, decide on your long form content. Then, create posts starting off with the suggestions above like, talking about your journey as an artist. Then do it for a long time. Consistently.
Discover proven strategies to make your art shine in a crowded Pinterest space.
Since you’re likely doing this social media thing on your own and standing out can feel like you’re looking for a needle in a haystack. The recommended posting frequency is 3-5 times per week if you’re aiming for growth. How many times per day of those 3-5 times per week? 1-2.
Yikes. Between art and posting (because you likely have more than just Pinterest), how will you ever get it all done? As I have said before elsewhere, schedule your posts and focus on engagement. Engagement is heads and tails more important than likes. Consistency is needed for growth and authority. Engagement allows your fans to meet personally with you. It gives you authenticity and a realness you might miss otherwise. Social media is still somewhat impersonal, real interaction breaks that barrier.
Once per week ensures consistency. Twice enables you to reach different audiences at different times.
What kind of growth can I expect? Again, once per day three times a week enables consistency. Twice per day three to five times a week enables a steady increase over 3-6 months. In saying that, the quality of your pins matters as well (sorry). A quality pin is a bit subjective, but keep it simple. Your niche also matters too. you can expect to double your monthly views with this strategy.
At the end of the day, put your focus on creating high quality pins that resonate with your audience. Consistency and quality are key to creating a loyal following and also driving traffic to your website or long form content choice.
The ones who need help with their social media and don’t know how it works.
For those who would like to learn more for themselves but mainly for their business.
For those who make art and want to start selling and get a website up and running.
For those who want someone to manage their social media for them.
It’s also for those who are interested to learn how social media works so they can keep up with friends and family.
How do I know what kind of digital marketer I should hire?
In a sea full of marketers, it’s always a difficult to know where to start. It’s certainly a process of elimination. What I’d suggest is thinking about your brand, where you want to be in a few years and how will you get there; along with that, there are many forms of content out there. You should have your ideal customer in mind and at least some idea of where you are coming up short. Do not leave that bit up to the new hire.
For example, perhaps you are a small business starting out. You’ll want to focus on brand awareness and building that value in the online community. Build loyalty, not likes. Think long-term and not short-term, inconsequential vanity metrics.
Find someone whose media style is close to the look you want and go for it. Listen to them and understand their limits and you have a good start.
“I don’t want to sellout”
“I don’t want to pester people”
“I don’t want to compromise my art”
We’ve all been there and identified with at least one, or maybe more of those comments, and now, the “not good enough” phase has passed and the first mountain has been climbed.
You want to make money selling your art without compromising your integrity.
The first scary first step. I am here to help you and guide you through your journey.
We’ll delve into who your buyer persona is, we’ll work together to create a strategy for posting, we’ll study the best platforms for you to be on and so much more…
Content creation in relation to marketing is like white to rice. You can’t have one without the other.
As a creative person, it’s the ultimate dream job. There are a bazillion combinations of content to get your message across. The hard part is getting your message across. Lemmie back up.
Just like with art, there are good ideas and there are bad ideas. Some are just better than others and they communicate perfectly and effectively. Like Nike. And just like a good teacher, you need to know when to take the drawing away from the child. You can overdo it.
It’s why it’s so important to have a positive, nurturing work environment.
So in conclusion, while there are many ways to get an idea across, just like a good roast, it takes time. You can’t have a marketing idea without content to support it. White without rice.
For excessively creative people like myself, writing and content creation comes a bit naturally. However, knowing where to go to find ideas and be able to put a unique twist on them to make them your own yet still be trendy and trending and relevant and relatable? Now that’s a bit tricky.
Don’t forget authenticity.
I figure the most essential part in content creation is finding your writing voice. From there you develop your style. I enjoy writing. Relating and connecting with people brings an immense amount of fulfillment so I figure this is what I’m meant to do. I don’t mean content creation specifically but connecting with people through art and creativity.
I’m biased (let’s just put that out there) but it’s very important to find someone who loves what they do. It’ll bring a freshness to their work and you will both be all the better for it. In saying that, not everyone who loves what they do will be your jam. Everyone has different values and goals. Sit down. Have a conversation and see how it goes from there.
After looking at the definition of both, freelancers work for themselves contractually and consultants work for a company or organization (still contractually) but tend to stick with one business for longer periods of time. Basically, freelancing is inconsistent when it comes to obtaining a client as opposed to consulting which is more steady.
Freelancers have a reputation of not having college degrees, or formal training. Of being self-taught and have little loyalty to one particular company or business. They learn as they go and study in unconventional ways in their field, but mostly they learn by picking up information by trial and error. Basically. It’s not to say they aren’t skilled, instead they have insatiable creativity and drive which pushes them to learn. It’s what also makes them great at what they do.
Consultants are more experts in a field and typically have some kind of college degree or training. That training goes further down the rabbit hole for very specific training. They provide council and guidance to businesses and advise where decisions need to be made. They make recommendations and will make long-term plans and set goals to achieve them. They have more loyalty towards a company because of the time factor.
It’s important to note, however, that some freelancers do pursue certifications or obtain technical training in specific skill areas. However, consultants will go one step further by choosing a broader study of the same subject in order to advise decisions between say, types of programs within that subject for a company to purchase.
