If you are nervous about using social media to market your art business, let us reassure you: you’re not alone.
For starters, each platform is so different—from how you use it, to when you are expected to post, it can feel like you need to master every single site. After all, you want to reach as many fans as possible.
But the thing is, you don’t have to do it all! Depending on your art business, your personality, and who you are trying to reach, some social media channels are going to be better suited for you than others. It’s actually better to start with one or two that you can focus on doing really well than have a bunch of neglected accounts.
To help you navigate this crazy online world, we’ve gone over the pros and cons of each social media platform, so you can choose the ones that work best for your art business. Check it out:
Expected Use: Post once a day on average and interact daily
Pros:
- Share all kinds of posts for your art marketing (including photos, videos, links to websites, Artwork Archive updates, podcasts, blogs, etc.)
- Easily link to other social media channels and share posts from Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest
- Schedule posts directly on Facebook with a free business account to save time
- Receive free insights on your fans and follow how well your posts are doing
- Enjoy a wide audience of users
- Join Facebook groups that share everything from art business tips to pieces up for sale
- Share a wealth of information about yourself in the About section, including your artist statement, links to your artist website, and links to other social media channels
- Make selling art easier by making a call-to-action button leading to your website
- Create photo albums of your art
- Caption photos of your pieces with important details
- Use your cover photo and pinned posts for art marketing
Cons:
- Social interaction is a must
- It takes time to reply to comments and like other people’s posts, which is expected
- If your posts and pictures are not done well, it could turn away fans and damage your online art brand
- Algorithms are becoming more focused on paying for your posts to be seen in the news feed
Learn More: 4 Big Questions Artists Have About Facebook (And the Answers) and 5 Key Components That Every Artist Facebook Page Needs
Expected Use: Post multiple times a day and interact daily
Pros:
- Schedule tweets ahead of time with scheduling sites
- Form relationships with this channel geared towards communication
- Posts can include links, photos, and videos
- Hashtags (or keywords) can help people discover your tweets
- Organize who you follow into different categories (art business tips, galleries, etc.) for easy reading
- Use cover photo and pinned tweets for art marketing
Cons:
- Tweet often or else you can get lost in someone’s busy feed
- There’s a character limit on tweets, so you must keep your bio and tweets short
- Highly interactive which can overwhelm introverted artists
Learn More: How to Create and Promote Brilliant Art Business Tweets and Does Your Artist Twitter Account Have What It Needs?
Expected Use: Post daily or multiple times a week and interact daily
Pros:
- Channel known to be used by art collectors to find artwork
- Suits artwork sales since it’s a visual-oriented platform
- Use hashtags to help people easily discover your artwork
- Save drafts of your posts to publish later or use scheduling tools
- Post directly from your phone without needing to use a computer
- Show all facets of running an art business, including behind the scenes studio pictures and works-in-progress
- Advertise and receive insights with a free business account
- Easily share Instagram posts on Facebook and Twitter
- Direct links to a website only work in your bio, not in a post’s caption
- Only works on mobile, not on a computer
Expected Use: Pin a few posts per day at different times
Pros:
- Suits artwork sales since it’s a visual-oriented platform
- Easily save and organize images and website links into different boards for artwork, inspiration, art business tips, etc.
- Add your own descriptions to pinned images
- Advertise and receive insights with a free business account
- Build an emotional connection by sharing your art & inspiration with followers
- Linked images drive traffic to your website where fans can buy art
- Enjoy the community of artists and collectors
- Less social interaction required than other social media channels
- Sell art directly with “buyable” pins
- Schedule pins ahead of time with scheduling sites
Cons:
- Bad pictures and descriptions can turn away potential buyers
- Reach on Pinterest is not as broad as social media sites like Facebook
Learn More: How to Promote and Sell Your Art on Pinterest and 7 Fine Artists You Should Follow on Pinterest
Expected Use: Keep profile and posts up-to-date
Pros:
- Join groups that promote artist opportunities and art business advice
- Connect with artist associations
- Build a professional profile of your art career
- Highlight your achievements, skills, and projects
- Share blog posts, links, photos, videos, etc.
Cons:
- Not where buyers look for art
- Users aren’t as active as other social media sites
- Socializing is on more of a professional level than a personal one
Now it’s time to decide.
What site do your potential buyers use the most? Do you need a place to share your art blog? Are you worried about having to socialize? How much time do you have for posting?
Now that you’ve seen the pros and cons of each social media platform, you need to choose the ones that work best for your art business. Asking yourself questions like these will help you align the right social media channels with your schedule, personality, and art business needs. With a few well-done profiles, you’ll boost your art brand online and actually have more time to focus on your art.
Want more social media tips? Check out “5 Reasons Why Artists Fail with Social Media and How to Succeed.”
