Social Media for Artists

• Social media is about what you are doing right now, this week!
• Social media is always changing, it’s tough to stay up to date!
• A large following on social media takes years to build.
• Social media requires a major investment on your part.
• Social media is like a house plant; don’t water it too much, or too little.
• If you’re too aggressive on social media, people will unfollow you.
• Being aware of each platform’s algorithm is helpful.
• On average, aim to post once a week on social media at a minimum.
• Your website does not have to be updated very often.
• Make your captions specific to you and your experience.
• Posting more than once a day has the potential to bother people.
• Facebook is either a personal profile, or a Facebook page.
• Facebook pages aren’t necessary for artists at this point.
• Interaction with your audience is very important on all platforms.
• On Instagram, you can make a private account, or a public account.
• Instagram allows you to be more focused with each account you have.
• Instagram allows you to have 5 accounts.
• The artists on Twitter tend to be in illustration and animation.
• Twitter can be really helpful to research journalists.
• LinkedIn isn’t necessary for artists, it’s okay to have it though.
• Ask yourself who your target audience is on social media.
• There’s a huge generational divide in terms of social media platforms.
• Older adults tend to be on Facebook and Twitter, younger people tend to be on Instagram and Tik Tok.
• Many platforms are associated with specific fields: Twitter tends to be journalists and writers, Pinterest tends to be teachers and crafts.
• Decide in advance where you will draw the line between personal and professional content.
• Consider what is the platform’s greatest “strength,” Instagram is more about photos, Twitter is much more about text.
• Discord is great for discussion, it’s a less competitive environment.
• Platforms have different reaction times; Instagram reactions happen within 24 hours, YouTube it could be anything from 24 hours to years.

• Keep all text captions on social media extremely short.
• People scroll extremely fast when lookin at social media.
• Photographs of your artwork will truly make or break your social media presence.
• 3D artwork is very challenging to shoot.
• Showing scale is very important, especially when selling artwork.
• Showing an artwork with a hand communicates scale quickly.
• Social media is not just about your artwork, you as a person matters.
• Make sure you show your face on your social media, it allows your audience to engage with you more.
• Showing your hands allows for a closer, more intimate photo.
• Show your tools and materials, people love seeing the process!
• If you exhibit your artwork, make sure to shoot photos to share.
• Queue up your images in advance, so you don’t have to start every post from scratch.
• Determine which days you will post, this creates more consistency.
• How to organize carousel posts in Instagram.
• Showing works in progress builds anticipation and provides insight into your artistic process.
• When Instagram introduces a new feature, use it! Instagram will promote posts that use new features.
• Surprise your audience, so your posts don’t all look the same.
• Seasonal posts can resonate well.
• Etiquette for when to tag artists and to provide credit for images, always ask for permission!
• When traveling, include the location of the post, but for safety reasons, don’t post until you have left that location.
• Hashtags can be confusing, try to pick ones that aren’t too generic, but also not too obscure.
• When you don’t have anything new to post, use #throwbackthursday; post an old artwork.
• Captions can be very short, the important thing is that they are personal and not generic.
• The true secret to social media is engagement and interaction.
• People always notice comments!
• Reply to every comment you get.
• Follow artists, galleries, professionals you are interested in.
• Ask your audience very easy questions to engage with them.
• Make sure your Instagram handle is short and easy to remember.

Artists Mentioned

• Song Kang
• Eloise Sherrid
• Kathleen Speranza
• Tamara Miller
• Leyla Faye