Now that you have a blueprint for your website you will want to develop an art branding strategy for your art business. In this article discover how to create a brand for your art business that will separate you from the rest.
Art branding differentiates your art from other artists. Unlike a corporate business, your artist brand is about you as an individual, and will include your ethics, philosophy, and beliefs.
Creating an art branding strategy for your website will give you a major edge over your competition. Your customers will know what to expect from your business, including quality, value, and services that you offer. Your brand will separate you from the all of the other artists.
With so much competition you will want to take every step necessary to give your art business an advantage. Many artists wonder why they should take the time to work on a brand. They believe that a brand is for larger corporations. A branding strategy is important for any size business.
Everything that you do reflects your brand. The way that you communicate with your audience on social media networks, customer service, articles that you write, the look and feel of your website, logo, and tagline/slogan makes up your brand. Your brand tells the story of you and your business. Pay close attention on how your story is perceived by people.
Art Branding Basics for Artists
Concentrate on these questions when you are designing your branding strategy:
- What is your mission?
- What style of art do you create?
- What value does your art offer?
- How is your customer service?
- What is the quality of your product?
- What are your policies?
- What do customers already think about your business?
Answering these questions will help you design your branding strategy. Start your branding with your websites logo and tagline.
Logo
A logo is a symbol, image or letters that will allow people to identify your art business. Your logo will be the foundation of your brand.
Take a look at the BMW logo above. It is simple, elegant, classy and recognizable. Anyone that sees BMW’s logo knows the quality and the values of the company.
Take your time and think of a logo that you would like to have for your business. If you are a solopreneur, you might use your initials, an image of your artwork, or you can design a symbol that reflects your artwork.
Your logo will be prominent on your website, blog, social media sites, packing, and promotional materials.
Tagline
After you have designed your logo, you will want to start working on a slogan or tagline. The primary focus of your slogan is to describe your business that will separate your artwork from your competitors.
When you are writing your slogan:
- Keep it simple
- Make it memorable
- Keep it honest
- Describe your brand
Here are some example of slogans:
- M&M’s – “Melts in your mouth not in your hand.”
- Snickers – “Snickers satisfies.”
- Disneyland – “The Happiest place on earth.”
- Subway – “Eat fresh.”
- Taco Bell – “Think outside the box.”
- Nike – “Just do it.”
- Red Bull – “Red Bull gives your wings.”
- McDonalds – “I’m loving it.”
- BMW – “The Ultimate driving machine.”
How to write a slogan:
Schedule a couple of hours when you can have some quiet time. You will want to avoid any distractions. Before you start to write anything down, think about what the value of your art business is and what makes you different from your competitors.
Start writing down adjectives that describe your business and artistic style. After you have the list of adjectives, start making sentences with the words that you chose. Do not spend too much time trying to make them perfect. This is only a rough draft. When you cannot think of any new sentences, put your list away.
In a few days take out the list. Read all of your sentences that you have come up with. Take the best three or four sentences and revise them if necessary. Start showing them to your friends and family and ask them for their thoughts. They will be able to tell you the one that they like best or give you something else you can work with.
Take your time with this process. You want to be 100% satisfied with your slogan. You want to be proud to start sharing your slogan to the world.
Now that you have a blueprint for your website, your brand, and your slogan it is time to start building your artist website.
Art Branding Benefits
- Recognition
- Value
- Customer loyalty
Recognition
Your artwork and your brand go hand and hand. When there is a connection between an artist’s work and an artist’s brand the value of the art will increases. When people recognize an artist’s work they are more likely to purchase it over another artist’s work that they do not know. The more you can build customer recognition the more your sales will increase.
Here is an excellent example of an artist branding his work. Walt Disney was a master at branding and marketing. He took a drawing that he created and built a dynasty. Every adult and child can name this character.
Value
Not only did Walt build his brand from his art, but he also increased the value of his work by making Mickey Mouse a household name around the world.
When customers can recognize your artwork, the value of your work will increase. Your work will no longer be just another piece of art. Your work will be special and unique. People will be able to recognize your art and style and they will become loyal fans of your art and your brand. When our art is in demand the value of your art increases.
Customer Loyalty
You build trust with your brand. A customer will have an understanding of your values as an artist. When you build your trust, you build their loyalty. A loyal buyer will always go to you first when they are in the market for purchasing new art. They will help you build brand awareness by showing your artwork to their friends and family.
How to Build Brand Awareness
- Social Media
- Blog
- Art Gallery
After you have your brand, you will need to start building brand awareness. Your goal is to have everyone talking about your art, and you operate your business.
There are many places that you can start building brand awareness online.
Social Media
Social media sites are a great place to start making a presence. You can share images of your artwork and links to your blog posts to sites like Facebook and Twitter.
Pinterest is a great site for artists to build brand awareness.
Videos are becoming very popular. YouTube is the second largest search engine. Build brand awareness by making videos and posting them on YouTube.
Created by Mushroom Networks
Blog
Your blog is a great way for you to build brand awareness. This is where you can tell your story as an artist. The more that people get to know you and trust you, the more they will want to buy your art.
Here are some helpful articles to help get you get the most out of your blog.
- 5 Writing Tips For Art Blogs
- Use Internal Links To Increase Art Blog Traffic
- Increase Blog Traffic With Great Titles
- How To Brainstorm Art Blog Post Ideas
Art Gallery
Your art gallery is another place that you will build brand awareness.
Develop a strategic art branding strategy to incorporate all of the different ways you will be marketing your business. Your brand should be the same for your social media sites, blog and art gallery. You want the look and the feel to be the same or you will start to confuse your audience.
Conclusion:
If you are just starting your art business, or you have been in business for some time now, you will want to take your business seriously. It is great to have a passion for what you do, but it is still a business. Take the time to develop your brand. Take pride in everything that you do. Be creative with your art branding.
The quality and recognition of your artwork is the formula for increasing your sales.
You might also be interested in:
- How To Open an Etsy Store Step by Step
- Art Business Start-up Plan
- Online Presence – Share Your Art to the World
Do you need help starting and building your art business? I would love to help and coach you through your journey. Start off with the FREE course “How to Write Goals.”
Visit Nevue Fine Art Marketing Courses. Courses are being added monthly.
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Everything you need to know to sell art online.
In my opinion, it would be great idea to use the brands of artists not huge companies that have a boat load of $$ , such as M&M’s.
It’s hard enough as it is.
Sue Furrow
Sue, thank you for your thoughts, and you make a great point. I just wanted to share slogans from companies that everyone is familiar with. It was just an example to help artists to start thinking about how they can stand out of the crowd and create a slogan that everyone can remember.