Nowhere is the metaphor of the online art salon more appropriate than in social media. Social media is like an always-on cocktail party. You can find different groups of people to interact with, except you can leave and come back whenever you want.
Yes, Iâm going to beat this metaphor to death. And yes, youâll need to learn to be more social if you want to be a financially successful artist. Even if youâre going to hire someone to do it all for you, you still need to learn to interact with others effectively, in real life and on social media.
Before we jump into the specifics of how to make social media an effective marketing tool, letâs go over a few things.
If thereâs one sector that typifies the ever-shifting, ever-changing nature of technology, itâs social media. When I was in college, MySpace was absolutely hugeâfor about two years. Then Facebook came along. But there are a plethora of also-rans. Friendster. FriendFeed. Ping. Orkut. Diaspora. Thereâs dozens more. Never heard of them? Thatâs because they failed to gain traction and ended up being sold or shut down.
Because of the constant state of flux in online social networks, they are probably the easiest way for a new artist to get any attention at all. New communities form online and if youâre one of the early participants, you can get a lot of free attention. If you are a little later to the game, you can still get a lot out of it. The individual strategies for each social network will constantly evolve. Because of that, in this chapter we will attempt to cover the principles of a good social strategy without getting deep into particular tactics, because those tactics will change as social media platforms evolve. If you want the latest updates on how to use the latest social tools, I would recommend subscribing to my blog at theabundantartist.com/blog.
In chapter 6 we introduced the concept of digital sharecropping. Thatâs when you are creating content on someone elseâs platform in exchange for publicity or exposure. The platform gets to show you ads in whatever context they see fit. They use your presence, your art, and your other content as a context from which to show the ads. The platform gets rich and you get an audience. Itâs a win-win until the platform gets so big that they have to start changing the rules. At that point, free exposure for your art starts to go away. As youâre reading this, you might be thinking Facebook, but the same thing happened on MySpace, and will continue to happen on any free platform.
Social media is social. While this chapter is all about selling your work via social media, keep in mind that the foundation of social media is the social part. Itâs not a transactional platform. People are on Facebook to communicate with their friends and share cute cat videos. You have to put something into it to get something out of it. Since so many artists tell me that they struggle with being socialâtheyâd rather be in the studioâI feel itâs important to remind you that social media requires a social element to be successful.
HOW NATASHA WESCOAT BUILT HER BUSINESS ON FACEBOOK
The following is a blog post that Natasha Wescoat wrote for theabundant artist.com about how she sells her art with social media. It has been updated with some current numbers for 2015:
For the last ten-plus years, Iâve offered my work online through various venues, with the support of my own website and organic marketing (social media, word of mouth, etc.). But it was in 2010 that I recognized a potentially sustainable source of income in one particular social network.
I have made over $50,000 selling my art on Facebook, and I will show you how you can too.
Facebook, despite its constant scrutiny, is a growing giant and itâs not going anywhere anytime soon. According to allfacebook.com:
Facebook currently has 1 billion+ active users.
Facebook accounts for 1 out of every 5 page views on the Internet worldwide.
Facebook users share over 100 billion connections collectively.
Over 50 percent of the population in North America uses Facebook.
Since Facebook went public, along with itâs growing integration into every website and social network in the world, itâs becoming a force we cannot ignore. Everyoneâs mom, grandfather, cousin, dog is on Facebook. Itâs becoming a rich resource for finding current and new audiences. Everyone is on getting on board.
HOW I BEGAN
A year after I created my own page, I began to actively post and correspond with fans. People loved to share pictures of their favorite art or ask me questions about my work. I wasnât really into it too much, and didnât see the potential of the site so I rarely logged on or answered questions. I had no idea how effective or useful it would be. Within a year, I had stopped selling work on sites like eBay or Etsy and took time off to work on other endeavors. When I wanted to sell an artwork or offer prints, Iâd just post them on there to see if anyone was interested.
To my surprise, they were.
By 2010 (a year in), my fan base grew from three hundred to a thousand as old followers and new found me on Facebook. I began to share the link to my page on Twitter (where I had 9,000+ followers) and on my blog, which Iâd been writing since 2006. I realized the potential and began to experiment on what worked and didnât work for me and my personal following. By 2011, I was selling art on Facebook exclusively, making over $50,000 in sales from my original paintings and fine art prints.
So, how exactly did I make this work in two to three years? Here are some practices/methods Iâve used that helped not only build my fan base, but increase engagement, develop interest, and increase sales.
EIGHT KEYS TO CREATING YOUR FAN BASE AND SELLING ART ON FACEBOOK
The first thing to understand is, itâs most important to develop a reputation with your collectors/fan base before you can really start selling your art. Itâs important to engage with your collectors and build relationships. This is particularly wonderful for us as artists, because you really donât have this opportunity in a gallery setting unless you have the time to be out and about all the time!
ENGAGE
1. Start conversations/use engaging tools.
Post a photo of work you are developing (progress pictures).
Post an artwork from your past, childhood, present. Show where youâve come from, what youâre working on (series), or an artwork you want to offer.
Ask a question. Create posts that ask them questions about their interests and personal lives, ask about their work, ask about current topics. Use topics that relate to their work or your personal audience. Everyone is different.
Start a topic. Talk about your process, what youâre working on, what you did today, etc.
People respond most to things that are visual or involve them. People love to talk about themselves, and theyâll be interested in sharing their own stories, thoughts, interests! Get them going!
2. Make it fun.
Create contests (photo contests, commenting contests, liking contests). You want to create things that inspire them to share or participate. Offer an incentive: winner gets your print of the month (or choice), someone gets a discount in your shop, one of ten commenters will get a free print, etc.
Encourage fans to share pictures of their collections, favorite artwork, or their dogâwhatever it is that could be related to your artwork, your brand, or your web presence.
3. Donât ignore the stats.
Research your audience. Use Facebook Insights to understand the type of people that are âlikingâ and engaging on your page, and from there you can learn and develop your audience.
Study how to use Insights so you can better read the data that is offered to you. Find other tools that might help you engage with your audience.
BE CONSISTENT
4. Create a schedule/system.
Decide what time of day, how many times a day, how many times per week you will post, and what type of content you will post.
Create a day/time for what content is shared: New art on Fridays? Studio Sales on Sundays? Illustration of the day Tuesdays? Fan Chat Thursdays?
5. Sell your art with a plan.
Create sales goals and develop a system that will help you reach those goals.
Determine what you are willing to sell your artwork for. Will you offer prints? Will you offer just small artwork or everyth...