10 Social Media Marketing Tips Every Artist Must Know

Are you becoming overwhelmed with all the social networks that are out there? You know the importance of making a presence on social media but are your efforts less than exciting? In this article, discover some social media marketing tips that will help you get noticed.

10 Social Media Marketing Tips Every Artist Must Know

Video Transcription

Social media networks have exploded in a short amount of time. It seems like every time you turn on the computer or surf the net with your smartphone you hear about the birth of a new social network platform you must join.

There is no debate about why social media networks became so popular. People can stay in touch with their family and friends all around the world or meet new people that have the same interests. Marketers also learned the benefits of making a presence on social sites. Businesses can reach a large group of individuals with little to no expense.

As an artist, you will be able to showcase your art to more people than you could have ever imagined. Learning some best practices will help you save some valuable time and be more productive with your efforts.

10 Social Media Marketing Tips

• Platforms
• Social Media Marketing Plan
• Profile
• Target Audience
• Be Consistent
• Quality Content
• Assess Your Efforts
• Mobile Friendly
• Engage
• Be Willing to Change

 

 

 

Platforms

There are so many social media platforms that you can use to market your artwork. You will hear people say you should be promoting your art on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Snapchat and Instagram to name a few. Showcasing your art all of the major social sites might sound like a good idea at first, but in time you will realize you are not getting the results you were hoping.

Start with one social media site. What is your favorite? When it is at the end of the night, what site do you visit to see what’s new with your friends and family? The one social media site you use the most would be a perfect place for you to start.

Spend your time marketing on one site and grow your audience. You will soon see that marketing on a social site will take more than just posting an image up once and a while. You will have to make a regular presence and converse with your audience.

Joe Pulizzi Founder of Content Marketing Institute shared his thoughts on this subject.

“When you first start blogging, you think you have to be everywhere your customers are at. I actually believed that until quite recently. But success in publishing, believe it or not, hasn’t changed much in 100+ years. There are four things – focus on one content type (is it textual, video, audio, in-person), one platform (my blog/website, iTunes, YouTube, etc.), consistently deliver relevant content to a specific audience, over time. That’s it. In the beginning, I became so distracted about trying a little bit of everything that I wasn’t great at anything. Own something amazing and build an audience on that platform. Then (and only then)) should you diversify to other platforms.)”

 

Social Media Marketing Plan

You can start developing a social media marketing plan after you know what platforms you will be working on.

Ask these questions:

• How will marketing on this medium help to grow my business?
• Do I want to focus on building my online presence?
• Do I want to grow a loyal fan base?
• Do I want to drive traffic to a particular destination?
• Do I want to increase sales?

Decide on one thing you would like to achieve and develop an action plan to achieve your goal. When you have reached your goal, review the questions above and design a new social media marketing plan.

 

Profile

Take some time and review your social media profile.

Is your profile image up to date?

Does your profile share your mission and vision?

Do you have a link directing your audience to your art gallery on your profile page? Most social networks have this option. If yours does take advantage of it and include a link wherever you are allowed.

Is your Bio up to date? Some sites limit you to the amount of text you are allowed to use in your bio. Review yours and see if there are any adjustments you can do to make it better.

 

Target Audience

Antonio Tooley quoted Joe Griffin, Co-Founder, and CEO of Clearvoice in an article posted on Social Media Today.

Joe said, “We are going to be more aggressive in social this year, but strategically, we’re going to be much more targeted. The existing targeting capabilities in Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook, in particular, have never been stronger. We’ve created a 5,000 keyword portfolio breaking down our audience into buying cycles and interest categories (primary, sub, and tertiary).”

Instead of trying to reach everyone, put your efforts in reaching people that would be interested in purchasing your artwork.

For more information on how to find your target audience read, How to Find Your Target Audience.

 

Be Consistent

Some people feel they have to post a significant amount of content to be noticed. A few years ago this tactic work. Times have changed. With so much content being delivered you will want to focus on posting on a consistent schedule and producing high-quality content.

For the most part, I only post once a day around the same time on my Facebook Artist Page Nevue Art Studio. My audience has learned when I will be posting and look forward to the post of the day. I have studied many different strategies and have found that providing quality content and being consistent with the times I post, works best with my audience.

Every artist’s audience will be unique. You will have to find what your audience is expecting and provide that to them. The key is to be consistent. Once you know what works, produce it on a regular schedule.

 

Quality Content

It is becoming harder for businesses to receive free organic reach on social media sites. The reason is simple. There is too much content being delivered. If you want your audience to see your posts in their news feed, you will have to produce amazing content.

Think about when you visit your favorite social media site to catch up on what’s going on. How many posts do you pass by before you stop to read more about a post? The post will have to catch your attention for you to stop scrolling.

You need to produce something that will make your audience stop and want to learn more about what you are saying. Creating content that will stop your audience in their tracks is not easy to do. You will have to find out more about your audience and study the progress of your efforts to pinpoint what will work the best.

 

Assess Your Efforts

It is important for you to know what is working and what is not working. If you want to separate yourself from the crowd, you will need to know what your audience likes.

Amy Lynn Andrews, blogger, and social media specialist understands the importance of assessing her efforts.

She stated:

“My most popular post How to Make Money Blogging is successful because it addresses a very common question and it appeals to readers on many levels. Beginners are interested in the basics and intermediate to advanced bloggers are always looking for more ways to monetize.”

I assess my blog posts monthly to see any patterns based on specific content topics. By knowing what topic my audience is interested in allows me to produce more content they will enjoy.

Google Analytics is a powerful free tool offered by Google that will provide you with valuable information regarding your blog post traffic and much more.

 

Mobile Friendly

Google and social media sites are favoring sites that are more mobile friendly. With more and more people using their smartphone and tablets to search for content online Google and social media sites are ranking responsive themed websites higher in search rankings.

To learn more about Responsive sites read, 5 Reasons a Responsive Site is Important for Artists.

You might also want to consider keeping an eye on new platforms that are performing well on mobile devices.

Gary Vaynerchuk, CEO, Serial Entrepreneur, Investor speaks about Snapchat on the Huffingtonpost.

This is what Gary had to say:

“If you are running a business in 2016, you need to be thinking about Snapchat as a channel to grow your customer base. Period.”

The important thing to keep in mind is that you do not want to market on too many sites at one time. You want to be the best, and you can only do that if you are spending quality time on the social network. On the other hand, it is always a good idea to see what is trending. You might discover a platform that will produce better results for your time invested.

Here are some books you might be interested in by Gary Vaynerchuk:

#AskGaryVee: One Entrepreneur’s Take on Leadership, Social Media, and Self-Awareness (Amazon Affiliate link)

Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion (Amazon Affiliate link)

Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World (Amazon Affiliate link)

Engage

So many marketers see little benefits from social media marketing because they lose focus of the real picture. Social media networks were created for people to have a place where they could go to be social, hence the name social media.

Why are so many businesses only focusing on what pictures will produce the most shares, what is the best video length, how many words should be in the post and so on? The focus should be how to engage with your audience.

The easiest way to get started is just to respond to any comments made to your posts. I take the time to answer every comment personally made to my posts. It only takes a few seconds to open your social media app on your smartphone and respond to a comment. This is a sure way to build trust with your audience.

Another way for you to start a conversation is by asking a question on your site. The only rule of thumb is to make sure your question supports your brand. You do not want to ask, “What is your favorite wine?” If wine has nothing to do with your artwork.

 

Be Willing to Change

If someone asked me, “Why I was successful in the businesses I have started,” my answer would have to be I am willing to change my game plan. I have no problem scratching an idea and trying something new.

I am always researching and following all of the trends that are going on and implement what relates to my business into my marketing strategy.

If I do not know how to use a new social media platform or tool that will benefit my business, I will take the time to learn everything I can about the site and or tool and incorporate them into my marketing strategy. If it works, great, if it does not work, no problem, I discard it and move on.

I have no pride in saying, “I came up with this plan and I will sink with the ship if it does not work.” Failing is not an option. I will try new things, learn from the process and integrate my findings with new strategies. Change is good. Change creates growth.

 

Conclusion

Take a step back from your social media sites and see what is working and what is not working. Start with the basics and work up from there. Strive to do your best. Hard work will always pay off.

You might also be interested in:

• 11 Ways to Build Trust on Social Media for Artists
• 6 Social Media Marketing Tools for Visual Artist
• 7 Effective Social Media Marketing Strategies for Visual Artists
• Developing a Social Media Marketing Strategy

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.

 

 

Are you struggling with time management? Do you have a winning mindset that will help you achieve your goals? Do you have goals?

My book The Productive Artist How to Live Your Dreams will help you to have a winning mindset, increase your time management skills and have you write goals that you will achieve. Available at Amazon.