How to confidently market your artwork online

As creatives, we naturally shy away from anything that makes us feel that we are following the crowd or putting ourselves in a box. And, friend, online marketing can be very claustrophobic.

It’s noisy. It’s busy. And there’s a lot of conformity.

When I started learning how to sell my art online I started to lose the joy in creating my art because I felt that I had to be someone else, my work had to be something else in order for me to sell it. 

I started to doubt myself and my work.

I found my ‘voice’ changing when I tried to sell my work, I felt as soon as my paintings were finished my creative process ended and then came waves of anxiety because marketing my work felt so unnatural and to be honest I just didn’t understand how to sell my work online, so it became something that I feared.

When it comes to marketing your work online, yes, certain ducks have to be all in a row (technology requires it) to bridge the gap between you and your ideal art collector, but...

YOU get to choose what those ducks look like and how they sound. You get to infuse your own unique voice, vibe and message at every step.

So, how do we inject a little colour into conformity?

Visually

Online and email marketing requires a strong visual presence. You get to represent your art in a visual way that will speak to your ideal art collector. 

Starting from your website through to your Instagram feed posts, stories, newsletters, blog posts and pins. You get to create a visual brand of your work. 

The best way to choose a visual brand/look for your online marketing is to ask yourself, “How do I want people to feel when they see my work online?”.

Your Voice

Yes, websites, email marketing, social media posts, require you to do a certain amount of writing, but you get to choose what you say and how you say it. 

This is where I used to get so stuck, when I switched from writing about my work to then writing to sell my work, it felt icky and unnatural. 

Now I ENJOY writing to sell my work because I now understand the purpose of my work and who I make it for. 

Writing to connect with someone you care about is much more fun than writing to a complete stranger.

Process

Much like your creative process, how you create your marketing should be just as individual and unique.

In fact, I believe that marketing your art should be part of your creative process and NOT something that you do once it is finished. 

When we add a new step or habit to our creative process, at first it feels a little forced, unnatural and we question it, we play with it and we make mistakes. 

The same is true for our marketing. 

It will take time, organisation and discipline, BUT once you find out what works for you and the habits become part of your routine, your art will become richer and marketing your work will become a natural extension of your creative process.

When you make art with an intention, you want the buyer to buy with an intention too.

You make that process easier for them, by helping them to hear your unique voice and find your unique work online. This is how content marketing can work for artists rather than against us.