How to Market Yourself as a New Artist
Most artists dream of eventually making it big, becoming household names and selling their works for hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars. But long before that, you need to establish a reputation for yourself. No matter how good your work is, or how creatively talented and passionate you are, you’re going to need some marketing to help lift you as a new artist.
What are the best ways to market yourself? And how can you grow your sphere of influence?
The Value of Self Marketing
Understand that marketing yourself as an artist does require an investment, whether you spend time, money, or both to do it. These investments almost always pay off because of the following effects:
Exposure and recognition
Spending more time marketing yourself means getting more exposure and therefore, more recognition. More people are going to see the work you’ve created and get to know who you are as a creator.
Networking
Marketing yourself also means introducing yourself to new people, allowing you to expand your professional network and tap into new benefits and opportunities. You’ll meet and work with new artists of all kinds, interact with potential promoters and agents, and more fully integrate yourself in the art community.
New opportunities.
Another byproduct of marketing yourself is access to new opportunities. People may hire you for commissions, purchase your existing artwork, or introduce you to valuable new allies, partners, and collaborators.
How to Market Yourself as a New Artist
So what steps should you take to market yourself as an artist?
Create a brand for yourself
Everything starts with your core brand. Who are you as an artist? What are your strengths and weaknesses? To which audiences do you best appeal? How would you describe your style, your voice, and your personality? These are questions you’ll need to answer and variables you’ll need to manage consistently across all of your marketing efforts. Each of your marketing and advertising tactics will be more powerful if they play in to a consistent central brand.
Build a website and claim your domain
Next, build a website and claim a domain for yourself. Your website should serve as a central hub for all your digital marketing efforts; it’s convenient place where you can funnel traffic and show off your best work.
Show off your best work
Use your website as a portfolio to show off some of your best and most impressive creations. Depending on the nature of your work, this may include digital representations of your artwork or collection of photos. With the help of online video services, You can even put together an interactive demo reel that shows off your best artwork in a singular, easily digestible video display.
Get active on social media
When you have a solid website established, consider getting more active on social media. Almost every social media channel will provide you with free or inexpensive opportunities to show off your latest creations, network with other people, and build your influence. Try to post with a consistent and active schedule, and keep reaching out to new potential fans and followers.
Join groups and start conversations
While you’re at it, consider joining more groups related to the art world and start more conversations. Answering questions, stating opinions, and even offering advice can all be great paths to new connections.
Use content marketing and SEO
SEO stands for search engine optimization, which has the goal of increasing your rankings in search engine results pages (SERPs). With an active blog of sufficient quality, you can use SEO and content marketing together to improve your visibility in search engines, attract more organic traffic, and ultimately get more exposure for your brand.
Enter competitions
Consider entering more art competitions. This is usually free and could be exactly the gateway you need to get more eyes on your work.
Get involved locally
Most artists benefit from marketing and advertising locally, as there’s much less competition than you’ll face at the national level. Attend local art shows and local meetups – and try advertising specifically to people in your area.
Keep networking
Networking is valuable for almost any career, but it’s absolutely indispensable for artists. This is your chance to meet new collaborators, mentors, agents, and friendly peers. Keep attending new networking events, building your network of contacts, and tapping into that network of contacts when you need new opportunities or outlets for exposure.
If you’ve spent most of your life focusing on the quality and integrity of your artwork, marketing may feel foreign to you. But after a bit of practice and refinement, it should start coming more naturally – and you can even use your artistic, creative sensibilities to come up with better strategies to market yourself in the future.
