Artists have a variety of ways to connect with their audience and grow a more significant following. Instagram marketing for artists has recently become very popular among visual artists.
Social media has changed the way small businesses are doing business, but social media is continuously evolving.
Years ago, artists used Facebook to showcase their artwork and build a fan base.
Today it is all about Instagram marketing for artists selling art online.
Instagram Marketing For Artists – How To Promote And Sell Art
By the end of this post, you will know…
- How Instagram can help build your art business
- How to have your art seen by more people on Instagram
- 8 Instagram marketing tips
- How often you should post on Instagram
- How often you should promote your artwork
- The best tool for Instagram hashtags
Why Should Artists Start An Instagram Business Account
Only a few artists were fortunate enough to make a living selling art in art galleries in the past.
Today, anyone can build a website and sell merchandise.
But it takes more than creating beautiful art to sell your artwork online.
You must focus on promoting and marketing your art online if you want to earn an income from your crafts.
Many businesses still use social media to connect with their customers and build a more extensive fan base.
Unfortunately, many social media networks are changing the way businesses reach their followers.
For example, Facebook business page posts only reach about 2% of the publishers’ followers.
So, if you have a thousand Facebook fans, only twenty people will see your post in their newsfeed.
The only way you can reach more people is by purchasing Facebook ads or boosting a post.
Related Post: How Many People See Your Facebook Posts?
The good news for artists is that there are platforms like Instagram and Pinterest that focus on images.
Instagram provides a way for artists to showcase artwork to people from around the world.
The amount of people you can reach on Instagram verses at a craft show is unimaginable.
So if you are interested in having more people see you are, than yes, you should create an Instagram account.
I do have to mention that it will take much more than publishing a few images on Instagram to gain a large following.
You must develop a strategy that compliments your business objectives.
Related Resource: How to Write Goals You Can Achieve Workbook
How To Get Your Art Noticed On Instagram
You started an Instagram business account because you want your art to be seen by many eyes.
But how do you get your art noticed on Instagram and build trust from your audience, so they want to purchase your artwork?
The first step is to know what your objectives are.
Do you want:
- More people to see your art
- Drive traffic to your artist website
- Increase original art sales
- Increase art print sales
- Increase the number of people who visit you at your craft shows
- Have people purchase your drawing or painting tutorials
The next step is to craft some strategies that will help you to achieve your objectives.
Many people ask me, “What is the best way to build a following on Instagram?”
My answer is always, “The one that works for you.”
I wish that there was a simple answer to the question, but unfortunately, there is not.
There are many reasons why a strategy works for one person and not for another.
The only way to find out the best strategy for your art business is to try many plans and see which ones produce the best results.
Unfortunately, this will be tedious work, but if you invest the time into it, you will eventually see great results.
I do have some good news for you.
There are some standard practices used by successful artists on Instagram, and I am going to cover them in this post.
But remember, you might not see the same results as other artists.
The best advice I can give you is that if something is not working, try something different.
If something is showing positive results, stick with it, and go full force with that strategy.
Below are some common Instagram marketing strategies used by some of the top-selling artists on Instagram.
Tell The Story Behind The Artwork You Are Showcasing
Instagram is a visual social media network.
That is one of the reasons, so many artists prefer Instagram over other social media platforms.
If you want to increase the chance of growing an audience on Instagram and increase your art sales, you will want to share the story behind the art you are featuring.
After you have uploaded your image, write a few sentences that explain what inspired you to create the art and what message you are trying to get across.
Your goal is to connect the viewer with your art. If you can do that, you will gain a loyal art collector.
Share Your Story
Like I mentioned above, your goal is to connect your audience with your artwork.
One way to do this is by letting people get to know you.
Even though Instagram is a visual platform, it is still a social media network.
Instagram is not a selling platform. Your artist website is a selling platform.
So be social on Instagram and let people know who you are.
Share pictures of you:
- In your studio
- Painting your latest project
- With your pet
- With your art collectors
- At your craft shows
You will be pleasantly surprised when you see the results you get when you post personal images in between your artwork posts.
Behind The Scenes
This strategy is similar to the one mentioned above.
People enjoy learning how artists create their artwork.
Behind the scene post ideas:
- Supplies you use
- What is on your easel
- Your studio
- Your work area
- You packaging a painting for shipping
- You painting or drawing
- You at a craft show
- You at your favorite art gallery
- You with an art collector
- You with a different artist
- Your pet in your studio
These are just a few ideas that will help you to connect with your following.
The more your audience get to know you, the more they will talk about you to their friends and family.
The end result is that you will gain even more new followers.
Giveaways
Everyone enjoys free stuff.
How often have you purchased something you didn’t need at the grocery store because they were offering a BOGO (buy one get one free) special?
It might not be in your best interest to give away one of your paintings, but offering a signed print is a great way to get more engagement on your Instagram account.
Study how other artists are offering giveaways and see what strategy will work best for your objectives.
Call-To-Action
It is difficult to generate sales on Instagram because they do not allow you to include links in your comment section.
But that does not mean you can not promote events you are active in.
Promote every event you are going to be at.
Include the name of the event, date, and time.
You can also change the URL in your bio to a new painting you are promoting.
This might seem like an inconvenience, but if you land a sale, it will be well worth the couple of minutes it took to change the URL.
Including a call-to-action to your Instagram posts will help you to increase the chance of landing a new sale.
Share Testimonials
One way you can earn your follower’s trust is by sharing testimonials.
Testimonials can help significantly with the conversion rate of visitors to your business website to customers. This is because they add legitimacy to your website and make people more willing to buy from you. (Source: DigitalDonut)
Encourage your followers to purchase your artwork with testimonials.
Engage With Your Followers
Instagram is a social media platform.
Engaging with your followers will inspire them to comment on your future posts.
Replying to your followers on Instagram shows that you care about your customers, that your business is up to date with social media, and lets your customers and potential customers know that you are there for them. (Source: EA)
High-Quality Images
High-quality images of your art are essential for selling art online, but this does not mean that you have to hire a professional photographer to take behind the scenes photos of your studio or you at craft shows.
Images Should Represent Your Brand
You tell a story on Instagram with the pictures you publish.
All of the images you share should represent your brand and you as an artist.
Personal images are for your Facebook personal feed.
Brand imagery is the result of all the visuals that represent your brand’s identity. The images that make up your brand imagery can appear in a variety of forms, from billboards to Instagram, websites to print ads. These images are more than simple visuals—they convey an emotion in the viewer (known as “brand feelings.”). This often occurs on an intangible level, building trust and confidence over time and repeated exposure. (Source: 99 Designs)
Image Tips For Instagram
Here are some more tips to help you create images that will have you stand out and make a presence on Instagram.
Before we get started, I would like to recommend that you take some time and research what others are doing on Instagram.
Take note of what is working and what is not working.
See if there is anything that might work well with your audience.
Add Graphics To Instagram Posts
Have you tried Canva yet?
Canva is a free online image editor site that makes creating images for social media sites a breeze.
Instead of posting the same old close-up photos of your artwork, try creating an image with text and graphics that feature your blog posts.
Canva makes it easy to add text and graphics to a plain background or over an image.
Simply upload an image from your PC or use a background Canva provides and start becoming creative with grids, frames, shapes, lines, illustrations, icons, and charts.
Note, you will have to email the image to yourself to access it on your mobile device. As of now, Instagram does not allow you to upload pictures from a PC.
Experiment With Colors
Another way to make your images stand out is to use different color schemes.
Scroll down your Instagram newsfeed and take note of what colors are dominant.
Try using colors that will contrast with other images in the newsfeed.
The goal is to grab someone’s attention.
If everyone is using blues in their images, nothing will stand out.
There are a few different ways you can use colors to have your images jump off the newsfeed.
Use a colorful background that contrasts with what is standard on Instagram. Just make sure that the background does not take away from your artwork.
Add a contrasting color for your text.
Experiment with using a color overlay.
In time you will start to notice what works best for your audience.
Videos Work
Even though static images perform the best on Instagram, you can change things up by adding a video here and there.
Maybe post a short video of you creating your art before posting an image of the finished piece of artwork.
Create a video of you explaining your art techniques.
Talk about the art supplies you use.
There are many ways you can use video to help build an audience on Instagram.
Use Multiple Images
Instagram allows you to upload up to 10 images to a single post.
When you are showcasing a finished piece of art, including ” in progress” photos, people love to see art come to life.
You can create a post of all the art you created that month or year.
Showcase all of the art you sold for the month.
Building an audience on any social media site is all about grabbing someone’s attention. You can easily do this by posting different types of content.
How Often Should You Post On Instagram
Building brand awareness is accomplished by having your art seen by people on a regular basis.
Why do you follow some artists on social media?
Do you follow artists because of one painting you saw or was it multiple posts?
Many people follow artists after they have seen multiple posts by them.
So what is the magic Instagram formula?
According to CoSchedule, you should be posting 1-2 times a day.
The first post should be between 8:00 am – 9:00 am, and the second post should be at 2:00 am.
You can read more by visiting How Often To Post On Social Media? (Proven Research From 14 Studies)
Does this mean that you will receive a million followers on Instagram if you publish a post at 8:00 am and 2:00 am every day?
If you do that is great, but I would find it unrealistic.
I have found that being consistent works better than any studies I have come across.
See what works best for you and stick with it for the long term.
The only advice I would like to recommend is to try to post every day. You want people to see you every time they visit Instagram.
For more information on scheduling Instagram posts visit –
Schedule Instagram Posts: The Definitive Guide
How Often Should You Promote Your Artwork
Like I have said earlier, Instagram is a social media network.
You will have better results if you use it as a social media platform.
Don’t try to sell a product with every post. If you do, people will start to scroll past your posts.
Use the 80/20 rule.
80% of your posts should be entertaining, educational, and help to solve a problem.
The other 20% is for promoting art or a product you are trying to sell.
Letting people get to know you without being too pushy is how to sell your art on Instagram.
When your followers are in the mind frame of purchasing art, they will go to you first because you built a relationship with them.
Best Hashtags For Selling Art
Instagram is similar to Twitter when it comes to the importance of hashtags.
Hashtags make it easy for your target audience to discover your posts.
How do you know what the best hashtags to use for your posts are?
Tailwind’s Hashtag Finder has made it easy for you to pick the best hashtags for your Instagram posts.
Don’t waste your time guessing what might work.
Tailwind will provide you with the best choices so you can multiply your Instagram reach.
5 Instagram Features For Artists
Below are 5 Instagram features that will help you to grow your audience.
These Instagram features allow you to reach a larger audience.
Follow from Search
If you are interested in increasing your following, you are in luck.
The Follow from Search feature allows users to follow accounts straight from search.
You can increase the odds of being followed from search by having a clear name and descriptive headline that represents your art business.
Top Posts
Instagram’s Top Post feature has been around for some time, but it is worth mentioning because it is an excellent opportunity to build brand awareness.
There is no way to know exactly what affects Instagram’s algorithm by I have found that images that receive likes and comments within 10 minutes of being published have a better chance of being displayed in the Top Posts.
Having your Instagram posts showcased in the Top Posts helps you build your following and have your artwork seen by people worldwide.
“See All” Suggested Users
The “See All” feature allows you to find other artists and influencers on Instagram.
Simply click “See All,” and a new page will open showcasing accounts that are related to the one you began on.
Studying what other artists and influencers are doing on Instagram will help you to develop a more productive digital marketing strategy.
For example, you might want to consider uploading “art in Progress” posts if you find that other artists are benefiting from it.
Spend some time to learn what is working for other artists and see if the strategy will work for your goals.
Stories In The Explore Tab
This is a powerful feature if you are using Instagram Stories for your art marketing strategy.
Instagram features a variety of Instagram Stories on the explore page, which allows you to have your stories shown to a target market that is not even following you yet.
Instagram Live
Facebook and Periscope discovered that people are moving from static content to video content.
Live video has quickly taken over social media, thanks to Periscope and Facebook.
Instagram took notice and has launched live streaming.
The only difference between Instagram’s live video and the others is that Instagram is not offering a replay. Once the live video ends, it is gone.
Continued Learning:
Instagram is a powerful marketing tool for visual artists and crafters if used correctly.
Below are some popular Instagram marketing online courses available from CreativeLive.
Growing Your Audience On Instagram
Final Thoughts On Instagram Marketing For Artists
The art world has changed over the years and how people discover new art for their art collection.
Traditional art was once purchased locally at galleries of craft fairs. Now an art collector can buy fine art worldwide.
There are potential buyers continually searching for new art on the Instagram feed as well as other popular social networks.
Developing an Instagram marketing for artist strategy will help you to be noticed by a broader audience.
Even though many artists have seen a great deal of success on Instagram, it was not an overnight success story.
The artists who are doing well on Instagram have suited how to market on Instagram, and they put in the hard work.
If you are willing to dedicate the time to learn how to market your artwork on Instagram, you will also see the same success as the artists you are admiring.
Popular Art Marketing And Sales Tutorials
Are you ready to take your art business to the next level?
Investing in marketing courses and tutorials will maximize your profit and speed up the growth of your business.
Below are some of the most popular art marketing courses that will grow your online art business:
Most Popular – How to Make a Living Selling What You Make by Megan Auman
Most Popular – Build a Successful Creative Blog by April Bowles-Olin
How to Build a Business While Learning Your Craft by Megan Auman
Pinterest Marketing for Makers & Designers by Megan Auman
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