Art can be magical and powerful. You can make a statement with it or just use it to relieve stress and self-reflect. Every creator has their little secrets and tricks, but many stumble when it comes to promoting results.
Artist marketing can be as intricate as the process of creating, but there are some tricks and tips for it as well.
If you want to get noticed by a wider audience, start taking orders, participate in exciting projects, fulfill your artsy dreams, and make money doing what you love, digital marketing for artists is for you.
Besides, it's not too difficult with the right tools and knowledge. Your desire to promote and consistency with what you do are key.
So, what’s artist marketing, and why should you care about it? How does it help spread the brand awareness of an artist and increase income? What approaches work the best? You’ll find out all the answers below.
What Is Digital Marketing for Artists?
Digital marketing is the process of promoting your business, products, services, etc. online. You can do it through:
- Search engines
- Social Media
- Websites
- Mobile apps
- Web apps
- Paid ads, etc.
Artist marketing is a combination of digital marketing efforts tailored for artists. This means industry-specific platforms and keywords, etc.
Global online art sales saw a huge increase last year, from $7.9 billion in 2020 to $13.6 billion in 2021.
Most of this is the result of the work of a top-notch marketer.
For the best results, a specialist looks into both free and paid options. The former may make you wait for improvements for longer, but they are free and usually more consistent. For example, when you top the Google search results, chances are you’ll retain your position if you take care of your website.
Paid channels are also very good, but you need a considerable budget.
Using several channels is the best solution as they suit different purposes and cater to different audiences. Promoting your website is like giving your business card to potential buyers and admirers. Being active on social media is about keeping people engaged and making them get attached to you and your art.
How Does Digital Marketing Help Artists?
Given you have a smart artist marketing plan, the digital approach can help you in multiple ways:
Relatively easy.
You don’t need to finish online courses to promote your art, although it’s a great idea. Digital marketing is often beginner-friendly, especially with many teaching videos and posts. For example, there’s a Udemy course on social media marketing for artists and creatives. It’s simplified and involves only 4.5 hours of on-demand video lessons.
A broad audience to reach out to.
Your target audience is definitely on at least one social media platform. They surf Google looking for interesting art, helpful art-centric blog posts, and more. As of April 2022, there were 5 billion Internet users worldwide. Over 4.6 billion were social media users. A substantial portion of them really wants to explore your art.
Unique channels for everyone.
When it comes to marketing for an artist, it’s available through most channels. All social media platforms are suitable for it – a website will show your expertise and portfolio, email marketing will bring you even closer to potential buyers, etc.
You can even use Twitter, which is not known to focus on images, to promote your personal brand, as Shantell Martin does.
She has her own linktr.ee link where all there is to know about her is gathered through lots of tweets, retweets, featured interviews, and more. Not to mention her website is hard to take your eyes off.
Trust-building.
Nowadays, you don’t just ask people to buy your work. First, you have to build a relationship with them, increase trust, and establish authority. Promoting art online, communicating with the audience, researching their behavior, etc. will help you build that trust-infused relationship, getting more loyal customers than ever.
How Artists Use Digital Marketing to Sell Online
Let’s see some of the best approaches for digital marketing for artists. If you use them properly and consistently, art will become not only a passion but a source of income!
SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
First, you need to create a website. You can use a website builder to make it easier and less time-consuming. But prepare to spend some money and personal time on designing a site that will reflect your artistic personality and engage people. Builders like HostGator and Bluehost, etc. will help with the construction, but the design and content are all up to you.
Your goal is to not only make a high-quality website but also help it rank higher in the SERPs (search engine results pages).
For that, you need SEO practices, such as:
- Keyword research, including branded keywords that are associated with your brand, commercial ones that are associated with your services as an artist, and long-tail ones which are related to your type of art and often look more like questions.
- Competitive research, including competitors’ best-performing pages, keywords, backlinks, etc. You can find helpful ideas and fill gaps in your SEO strategy.
- Content creation and optimization. High-quality, unique content is valued both by your audience and search engines. Ensure your main page, portfolio, and other pages provide all the key information about yourself. Meanwhile, do a few educational blog posts about your art style.
- Link-building, including PR and guest articles on industry-related and general news websites and blogs. This approach is beneficial not only for your website’s authority but also helps with building future partnerships.
- Local marketing, including listings in local directories, setting up a Google Business Profile, etc.
Additionally, look after the technical aspect of website SEO, user experience, and mobile adaptation.
This could be pretty challenging for those who haven’t worked with SEO. For this purpose, it’s preferable to use special automated software. For example, SEO management software by SE Ranking will help you to do keyword research, check and monitor backlinks, spy on your competitors, and build an SEO strategy from scratch.
Artist-Specific Platforms
Get featured on artist-specific platforms and popular blogs where people write about emerging talent. For example, if you look for “pop art artist” on Google, after ads and the Knowledge Graph, you will see articles like this:
Getting featured in a similar article will get you a lot of referral visits to your pages.
Besides, it’s a good idea to use already existing marketplaces with ready-to-buy audiences, like Etsy, UGallery, Artfinder, etc.
You can also take part in competitions, such as The Artist’s Magazine’s Annual Art Competition or ArtPrize, to get more attention. Even if you don’t win, you can write about your experience and get featured on social media and/or websites of the organizations responsible for the competitions.
Reaching out is an integral part of marketing art online.
Social Media Marketing
An artist marketing plan should involve social media activities. Billions of people spend lots of time on good-old Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and so on. The first two are the best for artists since you can not only showcase your masterpieces there but also cover important topics, including:
- The latest news in the industry
- “How to start painting?” and other beginner guides
- The perks and pitfalls of the industry
- Personal experience, etc.
You can also build a personal brand by posting information about yourself, how you paint, what you use, what your days are like, and so on.
When it comes to social media, you should find your tone. What do you want to know? Is it only art, or do you want to build a more personal relationship? Both are fine. For example, the Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama mainly focuses on art on her Instagram:
There are still pictures of her, but they are all only art-related.
On the other hand, the Chinese visual artist Ai Weiwei has a more personal page, but it is just as engaging and interesting:
Partnership
Marketing for an artist means partnering with other industry-related creators. Cooperation and spreading awareness will help you build authority, establish and grow your personal brand, and expand your artistic network.
Influencer marketing is also a thing. You can partner with influencers in your niche, create artwork for them, and get featured on their accounts. Thus, you’ll build traffic, grow your follower base, and boost your awareness and reputation.
Your art can even be featured in TV shows and movies.
For example, if you’re a Friends fan, you’ve noticed how Central Perk’s art changes pretty often. Burton Morris was responsible for that pop art, providing new designs throughout the ten seasons.
This is not only good for marketing but also valuable memories. Who wouldn’t want to write “I drew pictures for the new Star Trek movie” in their portfolio?
Email Marketing
When marketing art online, don’t forget about essential email marketing. Some people think this is too old-school, but it’s not the case. By 2025, there may be as many as 4.6 billion email users. If you build a list from one-millionth of that number, it’ll be 4,600 subscribers. Neat!
This type of marketing is the most result-oriented because you send news, announcements, etc., directly into people’s inboxes. Do it wisely, and they will open every letter.
To get the addresses of your potential loyal audience, offer them something for free, a discount, or a place in a competition to win something from your art collections.
Target Ads on Google and Social Media
The “Ad” positions go before the first positions on Google. And on social media, your ads are shown to the people most likely to be interested in your art.
An artist marketing plan can become much more fruitful if you use paid targeted ads on Google, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and/or even Snapchat. Find out your target audience and create compelling, engaging ads that encourage people to visit your page and appreciate what you do.
This approach is effective for finding active followers that will like, comment, and repost your art, helping you promote it further.
Summary
Not many artists are known for their marketing skills. But who said you couldn’t learn something new? Especially if it can help you spread awareness about your art, get featured in art galleries or movies, and sell your art.
Digital marketing for artists involves SEO, great content, targeted ads, email marketing, promoting on artist-specific platforms and social media, etc. There are digital tools that can help you set up great SEO and track the progress. You can create content yourself or hire a copywriter and stay active on social media, which is useful for marketing and fun.
So, we’re all set! You can get speedy results with the right combination of specialists and tools. If you want to accomplish it yourself, it may take a longer time, but it’s budget-friendly and a skill that is never underestimated.
FAQ
Here are some of the most interesting frequently asked questions on the topic of artist marketing.
I own an art gallery, will digital marketing help me?
Of course! Create social media accounts for your gallery, feature artists taking part in your exhibits, harness local SEO, use email marketing, and you’ll greatly increase the popularity of your gallery!
Why do I need a portfolio if my art is on my website and social media?
Every professional needs some kind of portfolio. Besides, this is the place where you can gather your most valuable, best-quality works to entice potential buyers. Write about your partnerships with brands and show off your skills if you want to increase your value in a customer's eyes.
Does an artist need written content on their websites?
Yes. First of all, there has to be an introduction and an artist statement. Otherwise, it’s just a bunch of beautiful pictures. Furthermore, having a blog on your website will help you optimize it for search engines, boosting your digital marketing efforts.
How can I sell more art?
Utilize the artist marketing recommendations we gave you, take part in local and online exhibitions, present your art properly, register on Etsy and other marketplaces, and talk about the value and beauty of your art online.
