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H4ow to Advertise and Market Your Art Business to Achieve Financial Success and Increase Brand Awareness
From small art businesses to the long lived thriving ones, every art business needs good marketing. Why is marketing so important? Marketing your business effectively widens your target audience (those who are interested in your artwork) which in turn increases your social media presence, growing a community surrounding your art and successfully promote your products to more art buyers.
As a start up fine arts business owner myself who recently graduated with Marketing Communications BA Honours degree, I have had first hand experience aided by a wide range of knowledge with how to market an art business and allow it to flourish.
Therefore, I want to extend my knowledge to you and give your business the opportunity to prosper!
Tip #1 - Identify Your Target Audience
As I mentioned previously, a target audience are those who are likely to be interested in your products/services. Understanding who your target audience consists of is vital to increasing sales as it allows you to communicate and build relationships with customers - in turn, increasing the likelihood of customers returning!
A target audience can be narrowed down to these specifics:
Age/Gender
Likes & Interests
Income
Location
How can you identify your target audience? The first step is look into who is interested in your style of artwork. For example if you sell pet portraits in a realistic style and work primarily in London, you can narrow your target audience down to the following:
Those who are new pet owners (aged 16-34)
Those who are interested in a realistic art style
Those who have disposable income to spend on art
Those who live in London
Now that you have identified you target audience, let's move onto the next step.
Tip #2 - Choose Your Platform
As you may have already noticed, everyone has a preference in terms of which social media they use and it is impossible to guess everyone's preferred platform, however some demographics can be predictable. For example, research has found that Instagram is preferred by the younger generation (18-24 year olds) and Facebook has a slightly older demographic of 18-34 year olds, whilst TikTok's demographic is dominated by children (10-19 year olds). This certainly narrows down which platforms we can use to run a successful marketing campaign.
We will continue to use my example of a realistic pet portrait company to explain how to run a marketing campaign. As we previously identified, our target audience for realistic pet portraits consists of 16-34 year olds, therefore we should run our campaign on Instagram and Facebook.
Tip #3 - Use Ads
Us small business owners are fortunate that most, if not all, social media platforms have built in ad systems and you most certainly do not need to be a marketing expert to use these to your advantage.
Continuing on with our example of realistic pet portraits, say this business was to post a picture of a finished portrait. This post would be perfect for displaying your skill and capabilities, showing pet portrait buyers that your business has what they want and need. Now if only we could get this post to reach these buyers … luckily for us this is where Instagram and Facebook ad tools take over.
Tools such as Instagram and Facebook ads are perfect for gaining attraction from your target audience straight to your posts and profile. When you create a post that displays what your business provides, you can boost this post to reach a specific audience. Here's how:
Select 'Boost post' on the post you wish to advertise.
Select a goal. Whether you want to gain more followers to grow your brand or more sales, Instagram and Facebook have given you a choice of where your audience will be directed through this ad. In our example, our pet portrait business sells their products through their website, therefore our goal is to direct followers straight to our website.
To target a specific audience select 'Create Your Own' audience. This option allows you to select the specific location, interests, age and gender, narrowing down the audience for this ad and increasing the chance of someone who is interested in your work seeing your ad.
Lastly set your budget. The amount of money you spend directly impacts the amount of people that will see and interact with your ad, however this does not guarantee sales so spend wisely and do not go over your personal budget.
Tip #4 - Use The Platform to Your Advantage
Of course as ads require funding and budgeting, this may not appeal to you as a small business owner. Before I started making sales, I had no income from my business and certainly did not want to spend money that I was not making back. Therefore, I only encourage social media ads, if you have the income and are making sales. If you do not have the income at the moment - don't fear! Marketing doesn't always require spending.
There are various methods of free online marketing you can do straight from your mobile and I can safely say these methods have worked for me. I have summed up these methods as quick and easy steps as below:
Hashtags are important! Use 4-5 hashtags under every post that link to your business. Following our example, the hashtags we would use for a realistic pet portrait business are #petportrait #smallbusinessowner #realisticpetportrait #artbusiness #petportraitartist
Great quality = professionalism. Ensure every post you make is of high quality. To do so, ensure that you get great angles of your artwork, clarity in your photos and any text you place on pictures does not cover the subject of the picture and is easy to read. This makes your business appear more professional as customers can get a closer look at your products.
Use trending audios in reels. Reels are a unique and creative way of showcasing your artwork. Using a trending audio is the best way to hop on a trend that is pushed by Instagram and Facebook to a wide audience. Whether the trending audio is a cute song or a funny monologue, create a reel that matches the audio whilst showcasing your skill and talent and you are sure to see results.
If you have not created a website, what are you waiting for? Websites are ideal for increasing your professionalism and trustworthiness as a brand as it gives you the space to talk more about what your brand has to offer and create an online portfolio showcasing your skill. Ensure that your website, company email and any other important links are put in your Instagram and Facebook bio. I will talk more about how to make a successful website for an art company in future blog posts.
Finally create a community. No one wants to be reminded that they are buying from a business, they want to feel as though they are becoming part of a community, entering a space built just for them and likeminded individuals. When you post, don't just make posts advertising your services and products (of course these posts are important), however make posts that those interested in art would love. For example, post inspiring quotes from famous artists that other artists would love to see or better yet, create community posts that help other art businesses in the form of an 'artists supporting artists' post, here is an example. This can help you make more connections in the art business - perfect for your growing your online presence.
Thank you for reading!
I wish you great success in your art adventure and hope that these tips assist you in growing your business! If you have any other queries regarding how to run a successful art business, message me on Instagram or email me at thelilliancollection@gmail.com or simply comment down below!
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