How Do Visual Artists Market Themselves Effectively in 2023?
(Here Is A Guide Of Things You Can Do Today)
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, visual 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?
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.
Research Your Target Audience
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.
Learn where your target audience gathers.
Knowing your target audience also includes researching where those particular people gather, both on and offline. Knowing where they gather means you can send your marketing materials to those places to reach out to them. The best marketing materials won’t do you any good if your ideal customers don’t see them. So put your marketing in places they’re likely to notice them the most.
Build A Website
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.
Write to one person.
Now that you know your ideal customer and where to reach them, you need to target them in your writing.
You are marketing to them in particular, because they’re the ones who are going to care the most about your work. When you’re writing your marketing materials, this is your chance to reach out to them directly. So don’t write like you’re writing to everyone, write to that person in particular, like I’m doing right now. I’m not writing to everyone, I’m writing to you and trying to help you with a particular challenge I know you have, which is marketing your creative work.
Use stories to engage.
Stories are magical. Use them whenever you can in your marketing.
Stories are more engaging for your audience, which means they’ll be paying more attention. They’re also more emotional in nature and will connect on a deeper level with your audience. And they’re more memorable, which means you’re work will be more memorable and those people are going to be more likely to talk about your work to their friends, spreading word-of-mouth.
Stories can be about a particular piece you’ve created, why you chose your medium, how you became an artist, who inspires you, why you chose your subject matter, etc.
Write persuasively.
Marketing is all about persuasion.
You’re writing or talking to people about your work to try and persuade them to buy it, share it, or utilize your services. In order to do that, you have to write persuasively. You can’t just list the facts or say, buy this. Instead, you need to pull on their emotions to connect them to the work and promise them they’ll gain something from their purchase as a benefit.
Focus on THEM.
Your creative process is about you.
Your work is about you and how you see the world. But make no mistake, your marketing is all about your audience. Everything in your marketing needs to be focused on your potential customer and what’s in it for them. You’re only mentioned in your marketing materials because of their interest in you.
Talk about the benefits.
Like I said above, your work can’t speak for itself.
But if you learn about your audience and can then talk to them about why they should buy your work, you’ll start making more sales. Connect it to their emotions and if a piece makes them happy, make them realize they can’t live without it and they’re going to want to see that piece every day in their own homes for it to continue to make them happy every day.
Or perhaps what you do has a more direct benefit, like a handmade quilt or scarf. In that case, you can talk about the emotions behind the design and colors, while also focusing on the benefit of staying warm in a quality-made product, high-end materials, unique design, etc.
Recommend, don’t sell.
Still struggling with the thought you might come off as pushy or “salesy”?
Here’s a trick for you: instead of trying to sell something, pretend like you’re recommending it to a friend.
Ignore for a moment that you’re going to make money off of the transaction if they buy it and try to connect it with that customer or client. When you recommend a restaurant or book to a friend, you’re not doing it for money, you’re doing it to help them experience something you thought was great. Well, that’s exactly what you’re doing with your artwork too. So start recommending it instead of trying to sell it by focusing on why they might like it and why it would make their lives better.
Use a call-to-action.
You’ve seen these at the end of every newsletter and infomercial and marketing that’s been directed at you. It’s the, “Call now”, or the “Shop our selection here” buttons and phrases.
The reason they’re used so much? Because they work.
Sometimes people need a little reminder as to what you want them to do. So give it to them with a quick call-to-action by saying things like, “See the new series here” as a clickable link, or “Visit my website for more”, etc. Let your audience know what next step you want them to take, and make it as easy as possible for them to take it.
Social Media Platforms
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
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
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 visual 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
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.
Keep Your Audience Informed & Involved
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.
Summary
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.
Source: https://www.artworkarchive.com/blog/9-step-guide-to-marketing-your-art-without-being-salesy
Source: https://blog.artstorefronts.com/how-do-artists-market-themselves-effectively-here-is-a-our-guide-of-things-you-can-do-today
