Learning how to market your art online is more challenging for artists than creating art.
Let’s be honest.
Learning how to paint and draw is fun.
That is why we became artists in the first place.
We have a passion for creating art.
On the other hand, if we wanted to become marketing gurus, we would have majored in business.
Yet so many artists want to earn an income from their creations.
And it is possible for artists to build a thriving art business thanks to the internet.
Starting and growing an art business is not easy and will require you to devote a lot of your time.
However, if you want to earn money selling your art or even make art your career, then the work required will be worth every second.
The most important thing to remember about marketing art is that it takes time to build an online presence that attracts art collectors.
There is no such thing as an overnight success story.
The good news is that I have some best practices that will help you to achieve your art marketing goals quicker, and I am going to cover them today for you.
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Visual Artist Marketing Plan
By the end of this post, you will know….
- What is marketing art
- How To Market Art
- Art Marketing Ideas
- Art Marketing Tips
- How To sell Yourself As An Artist
- Online Marketing For Artists
What Is Marketing Art
Many artists cringe when they hear the words marketing or business.
I honestly know artists that would rather go to the dentist than to devote time to develop marketing strategies that will help them to sell their creations.
The first step you will have to take when starting a creative business is to learn and understand what art marketing is.
Art marketing is a systematized process of creating awareness and interest for an artist or artwork that leads to a desire to engage the artist, gallery, or company, to own its products, use its services, or all of the above. (Source: Art Marketing News)
If you think about it, art marketing is not all that bad, is it?
Your job is to make people aware that you are an artist who sells fine art.
The concept is simple.
Make people aware that you are an artist.
How To Market Art
There are two ways you can market your art, and your visual artist marketing plan should include both strategies.
You can market your art online and offline.
Marketing your art offline is quite simple.
All you have to do is tell everyone you know that you are selling art.
Start by telling your family and close friends.
These people will be a part of your tribe and help you to build brand awareness.
How To Sell More Art By Building Your Tribe
The next step is to start reaching out to local restaurants and businesses and ask them if they would like to display your art in their facility.
Just make sure that a business card is viewable with your artwork.
The next strategy is to market your art online.
An online business plan will require a great deal of time and effort.
What need for an online marketing strategy:
Artist website – A platform where people can view and purchase your art online.
Why Artist Websites Should Be Built On WordPress
Email List – Your email list will be your biggest asset. The only way you can guarantee your message will get to your target audience is with an email list.
How To Build An Email List From Scratch Fast
Best Art Newsletter Topics To Write About
Art Blog – Your art blog will be the tool that drives a tremendous amount of free traffic to your artist website.
How Long Does It Take To Rank In Google
7 Effective Steps For Writing Art Blog Posts That Generate Traffic
Pinterest Business Account – Pinterest will boost traffic to your art blog and artist website.
How To Create A Pinterest Business Account Step By Step
How To Pin On Pinterest With Tailwind’s Smart Schedule
Social Media Business Accounts – Social media platforms will allow you to stay in touch with your following in real-time.
7 Ways Artists Can Use Instagram To promote Their Art
How To Use Facebook To Build Relationships With Art Collectors
Increase Website Traffic With Twitter
Art Marketing Ideas
The more you start to learn about marketing online art and social media marketing, the more you will discover different strategies.
The one thing I want to make you aware of is that there are thousands of articles that promise their marketing strategy will increase your online sales immediately.
Don’t even waste your time with those articles.
If it were that easy, everyone would be doing it.
Instead of searching for a magic pill that does not exist, focus on what matters, and that is building brand awareness.
What Branding Is For Creative People
Create An ARtist Brand Workbook
Remember, a visual artist marketing plan is a plan that will make people aware that you are an artist who sells original artwork.
Build a foundation for your online art business with:
- An artist website
- An artist statement
- Email list
- Artist blog
- Pinterest business account
- Social media platforms
For more information on these topics visit:
Art Marketing Tips
The best advice I can give you is to learn everything you can about online marketing.
There are going to be strategies that work for you and procedures that do not work.
Every artist has a unique artistic style that attracts different art collectors.
A strategy that works for me might not work well for you.
Stick with these basics:
- An artist website
- An artist statement
- Email list
- Artist blog
- Pinterest business account
- Social media platforms
Another important tip is to learn everything you can about your target audience.
Your target audience is the people who have a passion for what you create.
You want to know who your target audience is and where you can reach them online.
How To Increase Art Sales By Learning More About Your Audience
How To Find Your Target Audience In 3 Easy Steps
The last tip I would like to share with you is to not waste your time on strategies that do not work for you.
Just because a visual artist marketing plan works for one artist does not mean that it will work for you.
Only spend your time on strategies that are producing positive results.
If a plan does not work for you, discard the plan and try something different.
It will not be long until you discover what works best for you.
Once you do, go full throttle and do not look back!
How To Sell Yourself As An Artist
The best way to sell yourself as an artist is to let your artwork do the talking for you.
You do not need to sell yourself if your artwork is good enough.
The only job you have is to continue to create beautiful art and make people aware that you are the artist who created the art they are admiring.
Build Brand Awareness With Your Signature
Online Marketing For Artists
Like I have mentioned earlier, it will take time to build brand awareness.
The one thing that you need to understand is that the internet runs on content.
The only way a new person will be able to discover you online is through the content you are publishing.
I have mentioned that your email list will be your biggest asset and it will one you can grow your email list.
Your artist blog will be the fuel that will drive a tremendous amount of traffic to your website where they will have the opportunity to sign up for your newsletters.
When I first started blogging I did it all wrong.
I thought that all I had to do was post a lot of blog posts and people would discover me.
This is partially true but what I did not realize was the importance of keywords.
Keywords are the words people use in the search bar to discover the content they are searching for.
If you do not learn who your target audience is and the keywords they use that describe your art and art business you will be wasting your time writing blog posts that nobody will discover just like like I did.
I have learned a lot about keywords and took a course on SEO which has helped me tremendously.
I strongly recommend learning everything you can about SEO and keywords and take advantage of the tools available for each.
There are many tools available to help you with keywords and SEO and they all run around $99 per month.
The tools are great but they provide a lot of information that you will never use.
It is like paying $260 a month for cable when you only watch a handful of channels.
Yes, you are paying for over 400 channels but you will never watch them.
Keysearch – Is one of my favorite SEO tools and is extremely affordable compared to other SEO tools.
Keysearch is under $20 per month, and it is straightforward to use.
They also send you emails on some best practices.
Keysearch Features:
- In-depth keyword research
- Keyword difficulty checker
- SEO Competition Analysis
- Rank tracking
- Brainstorm Niche ideas
I will be providing tutorials on Keysearch in the near future to help you write content that people will discover.
Conclusion:
These visual artist marketing plan tips will help you to build a solid foundation and are the only things you will need to focus on for your career.
Don’t be blinded by a visual artist marketing plan that promises immediate success, it does not exist.
Work hard and work smart.
Popular Art Marketing And Sales Tutorials
Below are some of the most famous 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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