Art Promotion and Marketing Tips For Artists

A key part of being an artist is having a substantial knowledge of art promotion i.e. knowing how to promote your art, specifically what audiences to target. Selling your art is a lot more difficult than creating it, so getting your art out there might be challenging, especially for someone with limited knowledge of digital marketing. This is why we have created this article on Art Promotion and Marketing Tips For Artists.

While there are several articles on art promotion and marketing, only a small percentage of them actually come from artists, who have tested, and still trust these tips and have been successful. 

Marketing is an art that not many artists are known to be particularly good at, but not to worry, we have all the tips and tricks to help you learn how to promote yourself as an artist. Here are some of them: 

• Expand your market and audience by networking

Whether online or offline, one of the main skills to master for art promotion is networking. As an artist, it is important to build a network or community in and out of the art scene. This may include artists who make similar work, those who create a different kind of art, art lovers, collectors and appreciators, gallery owners, agents, etc. Attending art exhibitions and events is a great way to network!

There are several ways to build those art-world relationships, some of which include joining different community groups and organizations. The members of these groups may help provide opportunities for workshops, artist promotion and advocacy, resources, and more.

Some other community-based art marketing ideas include providing artwork for charity auctions, or volunteering to teach art in lower income community schools. 

• Advertising on social media

Social media not only helps to showcase and publicize your work, but you also get to interact with a lot of people all over the world. Social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter are the fastest ways to build brand recognition for you and your art business. A strong brand is invaluable and serves to communicate credibility to your prospective customers, peers and business associates.

Social platforms have become very important to art and artist promotion, because most art collectors are constantly browsing these platforms. While you don’t have to use every single social channel, try a few to find out which ones get you the most traction for your work. 

Combining the ability to network and a strong social media presence will do wonders for your art business.

•  Create and share a newsletter

Knowledge of art is always valuable and sharing this knowledge is even more valuable. Publishing free newsletters on topics of interest to artists and aspiring artists is a great marketing opportunity. After successfully building a community and a social media presence, you can create a mailing list of friends and fellow artists (young and old), where these newsletters are shared. 

By making subscribing to your newsletter free, you exponentially increase the number of people that will subscribe to and read them. This newsletter may be weekly or monthly, depending on your strategy and can showcase your art, share tips and many more. 

It is also a very effective way to stay in contact with my collectors, friends, colleagues and fans.

• Blogging

A blog is a great way to interact with other working artists as well as supporters. Adding a blog to your online portfolio will help a lot in marketing your art, since creating unique content for your site regularly will help improve its search rankings.

Blog posts can allow you to show off your artistry, as it is an easy way to show off your art and create engaging content around it at the same time. Sharing tips in information-packed blog posts will also demonstrate your expertise and position you as an industry leader. 

Blogs are a great way to promote your personal brand, to sell your art and to offer customer service. There are many benefits to blogging especially for artists, as there is no better place to connect with a potential customer than on your blog.

• Organize and/or participate in art forums and events

From Twitter Spaces, Facebook Pages and Clubhouse Rooms, to in person art forums and conferences, join your favorite art-related forums and become an active member of their online community. There are tons of forums and art events for different kinds of artists and art. 

While promoting your art online can be very effective, we shouldn’t forget the power of art promotion in real life. People who interact with your work in the real world are more likely to remember it than something they scrolled by online. Organizing your own art forums or events is a wonderful way to advertise your art and learn the art marketing ropes.