Marketing Art in a New Era

 We are now almost completely digitized in our communication forms, both verbally and visually.  Artists must adapt to this new way of showing and sharing our work if we want to be seen.

We are beyond blogging and newsletters, the new age wants their information fast and visual.

Recently I have been watching artists in the fields of photography, paint, sculpture, jewelry and crafts.  It appears the most successful ones are not only prolific creators, but know how to share quickly and efficiently over social media formats.  Messages are brief (if any), short, to the point presentations of stills or video, or both.  

Another quality I'm seeing is probably the only one where old school marketing still applies - don't overload your audience.  One or two posts a day will hold their attention and keep them coming back to see what you're up to. 

I've been watching a photographer I met last month on the coast, who seems to have the best formula yet.  He uses Stories in Instagram, posting almost daily with brief videos of how he's setting up a shot with a few of the finished stills.  This is brilliant as it doesn't clog up his profile or the main feed. 
Stories go away in a day, so if you teach or give workshops you're advertising your abilities but you're not giving away all your trade secrets in the feed.

To summarize, nowadays less is more.  The new attention span is short, so keep your message minimal and don't over post. 
To save time, set up your Instagram account to automatically post to your Facebook page or profile.  Minimum work, maximum exposure. 

I'm reserving my opinion of the plethora of Facebook groups there are available to share art.  I'd suggest if you also follow artists, you'll see their work there, and leave the groups for buyers.

I'll be working on a follow up post about what I think is coming for artists in 2023.  Until then, please feel free to share your marketing tips in the comments.