Creating art is one thing artists just feel compelled to do. It’s “in their blood,” as they say. We explored the spiritual nature of creating art in our recent blog post, “Who are you ART-ing for?” Whether it’s writing a song or poem, painting, sculpting, or film making, creating may not always be easy, but for Creatives, it is usually intuitive. The challenge becomes what to do with the piece once it’s complete!

That’s where marketing comes in. The point of marketing is simply to bring awareness to yourself and your product. Sometimes we create purely for our own enjoyment. But usually, the hope is that other people will see our work, engage with it, and ideally, even pay for it! Then you have the resources to create again! 

“Marketing” your art can feel anywhere from exciting to daunting, so here are 5 easy tips to promote your art and gain exposure for yourself as an artist. 

1) Make a website.

Ooooh… this can feel like a daunting task. Does the idea of making a website conjure up images of screens swirling with indecipherable green code? Don't worry—it doesn’t have to be intimidating! Website hosting has come a long way in the last few years. 

There are many easy-to-use website builders available.

Hosts like wix.com and squarespace.com offer templates and step-by-step instructions. Shopify.com is another great option for a custom online store. Website builders like these will help you find a layout and look that you like. These websites will easily embed videos from Vimeo, YouTube, SoundCloud, etc., or upload from your computer—no HTML needed. They will even give you some data (“analytics”) about how often your site is visited, how people found it (google search? clicked a link on your facebook page?) and how long people spent browsing your site. They might provide a way for people to sign up for updates from you, so you can gather all your contacts in one place when you have a new album or project to announce. These website builders are all reasonably priced—usually less than $20/month, and some are even free to use, so no excuses there! 

Showcase your art on your website!

Use your website to share examples of your art. (By the way, I hope you are taking lots of great pictures/videos of your work.) Be sure to select your best work(s) to feature on your webpages, and don’t forget to create a page about yourself, too. You can find helpful tips for writing about yourself and your artwork in Module 5 of the Engage Art eCourse. You could even start writing a blog! Your blog posts don’t have to be extensive (unless you want them to be) and, as an added bonus, it gives you new content to share on a regular basis!

2) Create Social Media Profiles.

You may or may  not be interested in social media for catching up with old friends, but in terms of marketing, social media is the best way to bring your art to other people. The largest social media platform in the world is Facebook, so be sure you have a public facing page. You’ll want to make this separate from a private profile for your personal use.

Don’t stop there! LinkedIn is a wonderful place to share art with over 1 million artists, as is Instagram. Instagram is especially important if you want to reach a younger audience as subscribers trend younger on Instagram than Facebook. Pinterest is a surprisingly large platform perfect for sharing art of all kinds. If you are an artist that creates video content, vimeo and youtube are a must for you to share your creations.  Just be sure to keep your personal opinions and content to your personal page, and your art content to your public facing pages.

3) Share, Share, and Share again. 

One of the things we hear over and over again is “I’ve already shared that!” It may feel repetitive to share the same news more than once, but it’s important to remember that not everyone sees what you share at any one time, on any given social media platform. Algorithms for social media are constantly changing, and any item you post on a particular day may not do what you think it will. In fact, it probably will not go to everyone connected to you. Share it again! Try posting at a different time of day. Change the message or image. Post, post again. While it is important to share fresh content, there is nothing wrong with posting content more than once.

If you set up a business page for your social profiles (see item 2), you can even pre-schedule content ahead of time to ensure you are continually having a presence online. This way, you can think up a whole list of things you want to share and make sure they go out on a regular schedule, even when you’re in the studio or on vacation.

Another tip is to watch what other successful artists are sharing on social media. Pick a few people whose careers inspire you and follow them for inspiration. As Oscar Wilde once said, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery . . . .”

4) Participate!

It is so important to get out there, virtually and in the real world. Join artist’s groups on social media. Enter contests with your art—Engage Art has a great contest, by the way. Go to the places your people will be gathered, like art exhibitions or open mic nights. Join artist organizations and get involved in your local artist’s community. The connections you make in these spaces will be invaluable. 

If you are meeting people in person, come prepared! Bring business cards featuring your website and social media details that you can hand out. MOO.com and Vistaprint both have some beautiful design options. The main goal is to bring something that makes it easy to exchange information with people so that when they get home, they can look you up instead of saying, “now what was their name again?”

5) Email!

Let’s face it: we all get tons of email. Your friends, family and connections are a valuable resource to you as an artist! Don’t be shy about sharing a completed piece or an event where you will be exhibiting. Let your contacts aid you in gaining exposure for you as an artist, and your finished pieces. 

This can be as simple as a list of email addresses that you keep in a file somewhere, but if you build a website (see #2), it may allow people to sign up for your updates. Your website might even allow you to add some design to the messages, track your emails, see how many people are opening your emails, and all kinds of helpful insights. If your contact list is getting too big for a “bcc” email, or you don’t want to go through your website, you can also explore an email manager like MailChimp.

The Bottom Line

Don’t be afraid of marketing yourself as an artist. Consider this encouragement from 1 Peter 4:10-11:

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

Your talent and skills are a gift from God. It’s not ego; you have a gift to share that will inspire others. Exposure of yourself and your art is a key component to your success. Whatever your next steps in marketing may be, we hope you take some time today to Engage Culture, Engage Scripture, and Engage Art.

Kirsten Kreiling is the Marketing Director for Engage Art. Kirsten graduated from Regis University with a degree in Marketing, and a minor in Business Management. She has worked in marketing across a variety of industries and is also a self-taught graphic artist and content creator. Her love of spreadsheets and organization is well known to the Engage Art team. An avid reader, writer, cook and gardener, she is also the mother of three children and “Mama K” to dozens more. Her love of combining creativity with best business practices keeps her on her toes and always striving for more.