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Selling Paintings On Facebook
Do you feel like you are wasting your time trying to promote your online store on Facebook?
Are you discouraged because you are not landing any sales from your Facebook Artist Page?
Learn all of the tips for selling art online from the artists who are thriving.
Below are some effective marketing strategies that many artists are using to sell art on Facebook.
How To Sell Art On Facebook
It seems like Facebook makes an extreme shift every time you turn around.
I can still remember when Facebook started.
If I remember correctly, It took me about a year before I created a personal page to showcase my artwork to my family and friends.
I was skeptical at first, but I was soon pleasantly shocked at how many people saw my posts.
Businesses of all sizes soon realized that they could post information about a product or service, and the post would reach a large group of people, and best of all, it was free.
Small local businesses discovered that they could build name recognition to a broader audience without spending a dime.
With every positive effect, there is a negative effect.
In a short amount of time, people’s newsfeed became oversaturated with advertisements.
Facebook knew that they had to make a change and make it quick, or people would soon become frustrated and stop going to Facebook.
If I remember correctly, the first change is that businesses had to create a business page if they wanted to promote a product or service.
Everyone who was selling a product or service jumped on the wagon and created business pages.
Why not, it was free.
A small business with a low marketing budget could promote their goods to people around the world for free.
Business page posts were posted on most fans’ (people who liked the business page) newsfeeds.
Soon news feeds were oversaturated with business page posts because marketers learned that the more they posted on Facebook, the more people their posts would reach.
The strategy was to publish several posts throughout the day to reach people who visit Facebook at different times.
It made sense if your audience was on Facebook at different times during the day, you would want to post throughout the day.
Facebook soon realized that people’s newsfeeds were becoming oversaturated with business page posts.
Think about it for a second. If you liked ten business pages and posted ten posts a day, you would have one hundred business posts sitting in your newsfeed.
You would have to scroll through all of the business posts to find out what is new with your family or friends.
Facebook was forced to do a significant algorithm change that would only allow a small percentage of business posts to be shown in fans’ news feeds.
Today you are lucky if your Facebook posts reach 2% of your audience unless you boost your posts.
The most popular question today I hear from artists is, “Should I waste my time learning how to sell my art on Facebook?”
Even though it is more challenging to have your Facebook posts seen by a large percentage of your fans, I feel that it is still an excellent platform for advertising your art.
Why Artists Struggle On Facebook
Before we get into what are some popular Facebook marketing strategies artists are using today, let’s go over what is not working, so you do not waste your time on things that do not work.
Many artists find it difficult to complete our artwork, never mind worrying about what to post on our Facebook page.
These artists are trying to juggle two jobs, a family, and hopefully have a few minutes to relax.
If you have many priorities in your life can learn how to get everything done with learning some time management skills.
When you want something, you will find a way to get it.
Here are some reasons why artists fall short on Facebook:
- Do not have a clear vision of what they would like to achieve on Facebook
- Do not learn what is working for other artists
- Do not have a plan on how to achieve their goals
- Do not use a Facebook marketing calendar
- Do not analyze what is working for them and what is not working
- They use Facebook to sell products instead of building relationships with their fans
- They do not create unique images to separate their brand
Selling art online is all about building brand awareness.
I have been talking about brand awareness for over ten years.
Over the past few years, I have learned that Facebook marketing is not about selling art on Facebook anymore.
Facebook marketing is all about building relationships with people who have a passion for what you are creating.
If you want to sell art online, you must accept that digital marketing and online advertising will continue to change.
What works today might not work tomorrow.
But if you are willing to adjust your art marketing strategies, you will continue to reach your goals.
Why Artists Should Still Promote Their Art On Facebook
There are over 2.45 billion active Facebook users as of September 2019 (Source Zephoria)
If you want to build brand awareness, you have to go where the people are.
Facebook is still the most powerful social media platform, with over 2 billion active users.
81% of U.S. online customers purchase decisions are influenced by their friends’ social media posts versus 78% who are influenced by the posts of the brands they follow on social media. (Source: Marketforce)
It is important to remember that over 80% of people who make a purchase are influenced by their friends versus business posts and advertisements.
Why do we need to know this information?
Because marketing your art brand on Facebook is all about building relationships with your audience.
- Your target audience will become the best advocates for your brand.
- Your target audience will be the people who share your posts and recommend your art to their friends and family.
Always remember that 80% of people purchase because their friends influence them.
So start building relationships with your audience today.
Related Posts:
- Sell More Art By Learning Who Your Audience Is
- How To Find Your Target Audience
- What Is Your Target Audience Searching For
Best Facebook Art Pages
As I have mentioned earlier of the best way to learn what is working for other artists is to study what other artists are doing on Facebook.
Discovering what strategies didn’t work for them is also powerful information to gather.
It is essential to know that learning from other artists is not copping them or a bad thing.
You are only learning strategies that are performing well for them.
Your art page will be unique because your artwork is unique.
The way you interact and communicate with your following will be unique.
When you study different artist Facebook pages, you are just observing different marketing strategies.
Just like when local businesses do weekly price checks on their competition or observe how they are merchandising their products.
You will want to keep an eye on your competition. They are watching you.
Below are some of my favorite artists on Facebook:
- Kathryn Hansen-pencil artist
- Heather Rooney Art
- Adonna Khare Artist
- Gerardo – Airbrush Artist
Keep in mind that what works for one artist might not work for another artist, but it is still good to watch how they interact with their following.
You can easily find artists pages by typing in “artist” on Facebook’s search bar then clicking on PAGES.
What to look for:
- How many times they post
- What type of content do they post
- Do they post images
- Do they post videos
- Do they ask questions
- Do they promote their art
- How often do they engage with comments
How To Sell Art On Facebook – Stick With The Basics
I must be honest; I enjoy the business aspect of owning an art business just as much as I enjoy creating art.
I enjoy every part of owning an art business.
I love to create art. I enjoy trying different marketing strategies to see the outcome, I enjoy meeting new people, and I have a passion for sharing what I have learned along the way.
Like I have mentioned earlier, Facebook is continually changing.
What worked for me in the past, like posting 15 times a day, does not work today.
But there are a few things that have worked in the past and continue to work today.
Below are the strategies that continue to increase my ROI (Return On Investment), and I am sure they will work the same for you.
Stay Social – Social media was built for people to stay in touch with their friends and a way for them to meet new people.
Social media was not built for businesses to promote their products.
It is ok to showcase your artwork, but it is more important to let your audience get to know who you are.
Stay Professional – Your artist’s business page is a page that should represent your artist’s mission, not your personal beliefs.
Keep personal stuff like religion and politics on your personal page.
Engage – Always respond to comments on your posts. If you want more people to engage with your posts, you will have to put in the time. A simple “thank you” goes a long way.
Find Groups That Fit Your Art – This is relatively new, but Facebook groups are essential for building brand awareness on Facebook and a great way to network with other artists. Search for Facebook groups for selling art.
Try new strategies like marketing your art with Facebook stories and see if they produce positive results.
How To Sell On Facebook For Free
There are ways to reach potential buyers on Facebook for free without investing in Facebook ads or Facebook page boosts.
One of the reasons Facebook decided to lower the reach of business posts is because they realized they could monetize on business pages.
Many businesses invest in Facebook ads because it is still cheaper to pay for advertising on Facebook than other advertising options.
However, investing in ads or page boosts does not always produce sales.
Here are some ways you can reach a broader audience on Facebook for free:
- Use the 80/29 rule. The 80/20 rule is when you publish content relating to your art business that is educational and entertaining 80% off the time, and you promote your art the other 20% of the time.
- Create a Facebook marketing calendar so you can be consistent with your marketing strategy
- Analyze the results of the previous month and adjust the next month’s marketing calendar accordingly.
- Only post your best content
- Engage with your fans
- Thinks about different ways to promote your online art gallery
- Create call-to-actions for collecting email addresses, driving traffic to your art blog and website
Hire A Freelancer For Your Facebook Marketing
Growing a business of any size involves a great deal of work.
The jobs of an artist who sells art online are:
- Creating art
- Photographing art
- Maintaining a website
- Uploading the artwork to the site and writing art descriptions
- Writing blog posts
- Keyword research
- SEO
- Sending newsletters
- Answering emails
- Packaging and shipping sold products
- Marketing on several social media accounts
There will be a time when it will be more profitable outsourcing jobs so you can focus more on other parts of the job that will make you more money.
If you are interested in outsourcing some jobs, I recommend starting with Fiverr.
Fiverr has so many talented people who will help you with specific tasks that will not break your bank account.
Fiverr Outsourcing Ideas:
Facebook Image Sizes
If you’re an artist, it’s important to be aware of the different image sizes that Facebook uses. This is because the images you use on your Facebook page can impact your business. The right images can help you attract new fans and followers, and they can also help promote your work and increase sales.
On the other hand, if you use the wrong image sizes, your work may not be seen by as many people, and you may miss out on potential customers.
Final Thoughts On How To Sell Art On Facebook
It is possible to sell art online with the help of Facebook.
As long as you remember that Facebook is a social platform, not an advertisement page in the back of a magazine, you will do fine.
Remember to learn from other artists and start building relationships with them.
Here are some more posts to help you with your Facebook marketing: