A Sneak Peek into What Awaits You in This Article
Discover the 6 Thrilling Secrets of Social Media Platforms for Artists! Delve into the art of strategic online presence, from outsourcing social media tasks to deciphering marketing jargon. Learn to cultivate a robust brand identity, define your audience, and create captivating content. Elevate your art, increase your income, and navigate the art world with expert advice.
Based on the poll in my LinkedIn group, it’s evident that most of you recognise the importance of maintaining social media accounts. Today, artists simply cannot thrive without a solid presence on social platforms.
Secret 1) Your Time vs Someone Else’s Time
There’s no shame in outsourcing social media posts. Prices range from 500 EUR for 2 posts per week over one month to 3000 EUR for 6 posts per week per month, with a minimum 3-month contract, because social media success doesn’t happen overnight.
Even if you schedule posts and stories, managing them is a full-time job. Therefore, you must carefully consider whether to delegate this task and focus on creating more artwork, or to handle it yourself and temporarily pause your creative output.
Social Media Platforms
Regardless of whether you choose to manage your social media presence yourself or not, having a strategy is essential. A good strategy hinges on understanding three fundamental aspects: who you are, what you offer, and who your audience is.
I’ll share a list of questions you need to answer to develop an effective strategy and yield results. As an example, I’ll use my own business to avoid any concerns about sharing proprietary information. After all, I highly doubt I would sue myself.
Secret 2) Basic Marketing Lingo
Brand Purpose
The first thing to grasp is your brand purpose. Every artist can be considered a brand, simplifying our approach. You should be able to articulate why your brand exists, focusing on both practical and philosophical aspects.
In my case, it’s about aiding artists and art galleries in enhancing their online presence efficiently.
Brand Mission
Next, your brand mission explains what you aim to accomplish and how your company contributes to the future.
By assisting artists in raising awareness about their work, they can attract a dedicated audience and secure a reliable income stream.
Brand Values
Another critical aspect is your brand values, where you outline the principles guiding your conduct in pursuit of your mission and purpose.
For me, these values are international, resourceful, and critical.
- International, as I aim to connect passionate art enthusiasts worldwide.
- Resourceful, because I focus on Berlin-based artists and local art organizations, organizing or participating in local events.
- Critical, as I maintain a curatorial approach focused on specific themes.
Brand Personality
Lastly, define your brand personality by selecting adjectives that describe it. Are you friendly and approachable, or professional and efficient? Are you big or small, fun and youthful?
In my case, I’ve chosen “friendly & approachable” to resonate with artists who may feel uncertain about communicating their art practice.
I keep my language simple and accessible, aligning with my international brand value.
Digging Deeper into Marketing Lingo
Let’s explore a few more questions to focus your attention.
What is your brand promise?
In my case, it’s to empower artists and art galleries to own their online presence.
If your brand were a celebrity, who would it be?
I’m a great admirer of Jerry Saltz for his emotionally driven discussions about art, using straightforward explanations rather than creating obscure myths.
Which other brands does your company admire, and why?
It’s also essential to identify brands your company dislikes, and why.
Secret 3) What is Your Product or Service?
Now that you know who you are, it’s time to clarify what you do.
Craft a positioning statement summarising what your business does and who it serves. Be as specific as possible. Here’s an example:
We specialize in raising awareness about art practice for Berlin-based artists and art galleries, setting ourselves apart from traditional marketing agencies by prioritising clarity and ease of use.
Consider the emotional and functional benefits people gain from engaging with your brand or product. Here’s how it looks for my art business:
Emotional benefits: gaining competence and control over their online presence.
Functional benefits: efficient management of their online presence.
Secret 4) Your Audience
Having discussed who you are and what you offer, it’s time to explore your audience.
Be specific and describe your target audience. I’ve gathered this information from Google Analytics, my Instagram accounts, and LinkedIn page analytics.
Demographics:
Primarily women, aged 28–55, based in Berlin.
Psychographics:
Interested in art, DIY, pigment making, freelancers, with harmonious beliefs.
Goals:
Seeking recognition for their artwork and a secure income from it.
Why they use your product or service:
To overcome marketing challenges and promote themselves effectively.
Why they would be attracted to what your brand offers:
Approachable guidance for self-promotion solutions.
Secret 5) Step Up – Content Framework
Once you have all answers to the questions above then you can create a content framework for your social media which will have 3 pillars Brand Story, Product or Service Story, and Audience.
The brand story is a short summary of the key things the company stands for and what makes the company’s or art practice personality unique. e.g:
Beliefs / values of the company – facilitate access to the art scene in Berlin and beyond
Mission / vision / unique philosophy – helping artists and art galleries to own their online presence by doing social media marketing for them
Lifestyle / culture – freestyle & inclusive culture, friendly & approachable
The product or service story outlines the functional and emotional benefits of what you offer to solve. e.g:
The pain / problem of the customer (lack of knowledge of social media platforms and the local art scene in Berlin) and the solution provided by the product / service (providing them with marketing strategy and execution incl. templates for regular posts as well as advertising posts for FB & IG, LinkedIn, regular reporting and tweaking existing text copies to establish relevant online presence)
What the customer gets from using the product (outcomes / results / benefit to life) Artists and galleries will increase their credibility and online presence to gain an audience willing to spend money on their artworks.
Features (characteristics of the product itself ) – could be anything from… what does it look like? How much does it cost? What’s the customer service like? Battery power? Subscriptions for blog posts, webinars, crash courses, job done well and 1:1 consultations.
The last pillar of the content framework is the audience where you can list 3-4 wider topics your audience is interested in and that your business also has the authority to talk about. These can sit out of what your business directly offers its customers.
- in networking in the art world & social media marketing
- my thoughts about current art events & artworks I came across
Each of the pillars has space for content ideas. For example, in the section of the brand story, you list all the content ideas you can think of related to your brand story.
- visits to Berlin-based artists’ studios or art spaces (galleries)
- post about marketing concerning the art world
And the social network where you can share them such as in my case IG @artspaceberlin & LinkedIn Page Art Space Berlin.
The second pillar is a space to list all the content ideas you can think of related to your product story such as in my case
- webinars
- blog posts
- 1:1 consultations
And these ideas are shared on my website and IG profile @artspaceberlin.
The third pillar is for listing all the content ideas you can think of related to your 3 to 4 wider topics
- blog posts about curating & my reviews of art shows that I attended
- art events organized by me eg. art tours, shows, dinners or live events
- posts from the artists’ studios, art tours & Peer2Peer sessions
These posts can be found on my FB & IG profile @hykovaveronika keeping this mind you should avoid reposting the same kind of posts across the social media channels. For example, whatever you post on FB should not go on Tik Tok because each of the platforms is used for different purposes.
I would highly recommend you spend the time on it, so you exactly know what are your goals and give clear instructions to freelancers on what you expect them to do.
Once you’ve identified what and where to post, create an annual editorial calendar around related events. Focus on prominent art events like Gallery Weekend Berlin and Berlin Biennale, as well as art fairs or Venice Biennial.
Conclusion
Creating a cohesive social media presence is no easy task, and there’s no shame in outsourcing it.
I share these tips not to boast but to offer you a blueprint for developing your online presence within your community.
Thanks to the accessible internet, geographical location is no longer a barrier. Whether you reside in a bustling capital like me or a remote village, as long as you have a decent internet connection, it’s achievable.