Are you finding it difficult to be noticed online?
Are you discouraged by the lack of traffic your artist’s website receives?
Learning how artists are found online will help you build your online art business faster.
How Do Artists Get Found Online?
By the end of this post, you will know…
- What art marketing is
- Different online art marketing strategies
- Branding
- Blogging
- SEO
- Social media marketing
- Conversion optimization
- Email marketing
At this point, you probably already have an artist website, a Facebook Fan Page, a Pinterest account, and you share your images on Instagram.
But you are becoming discouraged because no one is visiting your artist’s website.
I have found one common reason many artists struggle to sell their art online.
They do not spend the time to learn how to market and promote their art.
It takes more than just creating beautiful art and uploading it on your Facebook Fan Page.
To sell your art online, you must make people aware that you have art for sale.
Do not think for one second that just because you upload an image on the internet, everyone is going to stop what they are doing and find your artwork online.
It does not work that way.
You will have to build an online presence and brand awareness if you want to have any chance at all to sell your artwork.
What Is Art Marketing
Marketing is the process of interesting potential customers and clients in your products and/or services. The keyword in this marketing definition is a “process”; marketing involves researching, promoting, selling, and distributing your products or services. (Source: The Balance Small Business –Susan Ward)
Creating your artwork or handmade crafts is the easy part.
Being consistent with your marketing strategies is where the challenge begins.
Online Art Marketing Strategies
The artists you see all over the internet have spent the time to learn about the six online marketing strategies listed below.
- Personal branding
- Content marketing (blogging)
- SEO (search engine optimization)
- Social Media Marketing
- Conversion Optimization
- Email Marketing
Is marketing art or science?
Marketing your art is a little of both.
To separate yourself from the other artists selling art online, you must create a brand for your art business that people can identify with and remember.
The science is taking the data from your art marketing strategies and tweaking them to optimize their performances.
The list above might seem overwhelming, which is why many artists fail to get started. They do not know where to start.
I will make it easy for you to get started, but before we get started, I want to give you some valuable advice I have learned over the years.
Take one step at a time. Do not try to tackle it all at once. Doing so will only discourage you.
Tackle one project at a time. When you complete the project you are working on, it will be time to move on to the next stage.
Personal Branding
Owning an art business is different from most companies.
You will not only have to brand your art website, but you will also want to brand yourself as an artist.
Creating a brand that connects you and your artwork will help you separate your art from all other artists selling art online.
Related Resources:
Create an Artist Brand Workbook
Sell Your Paintings By Building Your Brand
7 Effective Social Media Tips for Growing Your Artist Brand
Update Your Website Theme
If your website is more than a few years old, it might not be mobile-friendly. With the boom in Smartphones and tablet computers, this should be your first enhancement.
More and more people are surfing the web from their mobile devices.
You must stay on top of all the changes to be found online.
Now that more people are using mobile devices to surf the internet, you need a mobile-friendly website.
Google rewards sites that are mobile-friendly by listing them higher in search results.
I use StudioPress Themes for WordPress.
StudioPress offers multiple professional themes that are search engine optimized, secure, and responsive (mobile friendly).
Click here to download The Genesis Guide for Absolute Beginners (PDF – 1.4 MB)
Start A Blog
Do you have a blog?
Large businesses have discovered that people are in search of rich content. They would have to change their marketing strategy if they wanted to stay on the playing field.
Instead of spending money on advertisements that are not bringing in any revenue, they would have to put their energy into the work of creating content.
As an artist, you might think you have no idea how to do either of these tasks and have no budget to hire anyone. The good news is that you can kill two birds with one stone with a free program, WordPress.
There are two ways to accomplish this.
The first is to set up a free blog at WordPress.com.
Related Post:
Art Blogging For Beginners | How To Start A Blog That Sells Art
WordPress Basics Online Video Course
WordPress SEO Basics Online Video Course
This basic version of the program is mobile-friendly and will show you just how easy WordPress is to use. Link your site and vice versa to drive more traffic and increase your art sales.
The second way to do this is to use a third-party blogging platform such as Blogger.com. Using a third-party blogging platform is free but has limitations. If you are interested in starting a business, I suggest using WordPress.
The full version of WordPress includes two essential items that can help your art business take off.
The first is themes, and the second is plugins.
Themes set the overall appearance and functionality of the site, such as a text-based blog versus a photoblog.
Recommended Themes:
StudioPress Themes for WordPress
Plugins are little mini-programs that add various functions and tools to your pages and site.
The plugins can range from social media links that will let you promote your site on your social network accounts and allow your customers to share your content.
Recommended Plugins:
For blogging strategies that have been proven to drive thousands of monthly visitors to your site, take the 28 Day Blogging Challenge for Visual Artists eBook.
SEO (search engine optimization)
Focusing on SEO is how artists get found online.
In simple terms, SEO is optimizing your site for Google and other search engines.
Optimizing your site for search will help you to rank higher in the search results.
Related Posts:
How to Create a Snippet in Yoast SEO Plugin
How to Optimize Headings for SEO
Use SSL – SEO Basic for Artists Selling Art Online
WordPress Seo Optimize Your Artist Website
SEOPressor Plugin – Makes it easy to optimize your blog posts for search.
Social Media Marketing
Social media platforms are valuable tools for artists selling art online.
Popular Social Media Platforms:
Related Post:
Facebook Artist Page Tips That Will Build Your Following
Related Post:
12 Twitter Marketing Benefits for Artists
Related Post:
5 Ways Artists Can Make a Presence on Instagram
- YouTube
Related Post:
How to Promote Your Art Online with YouTube
- Pinterest (Pinterest is often mistaken for a social media platform, but it is actually a search engine)
Related Post:
How to Start Selling Art on Pinterest
Conversion Optimization
Conversion optimization starts by having a clear vision of your objectives.
Related Resource:
How to Write Goals You Can Achieve Workbook
After you have your goals documented, create call-to-actions that will help you to reach your goals.
Call-to-action is defined as (in advertising material) a piece of content intended to induce a viewer, reader, or listener to perform a specific act, typically taking the form of an instruction or directive (e.g. buy now or click here ).
Related Post:
Sell Art Online – Call-to-Action Strategy that Generates Sales
Email Marketing
Email marketing is a valuable tool that will allow you to stay in contact with your collectors.
Successful artists focus on building their email list, and so should you.
Related Post:
Ultimate Email Marketing Guide for Selling Art Online
Conclusion:
If you take the time to learn how to market your art, you can sit back and watch your traffic and sales grow.
Art marketing is not difficult to learn if you take it one step at a time.
How Artists Get Found Online Overview:
- What Is Art Marketing
- Online Art Marketing Strategies
- Personal Branding
- Update Your Website Theme
- Start A Blog
- SEO – Search Engine Optimization
- Social Media Marketing
- Conversion Optimization
- Email Marketing
Related Posts:
Blog Best Practices For Creative Businesses
9 Effective SEO Tips for Selling Art Online
SEO Tips For Artists – Increase Website Traffic
5 Selling Art Online Strategies That Work
