How to Market Your Art Business With Strategic Content Marketing
Sad but true: building a strong digital presence as an art business isn’t easy.
You may not know how to navigate through the endless marketing opportunities on the web; you may struggle to get noticed by collectors, feel intimidated by selling art online, and find it challenging to nurture loyal customers.
Worst of all, you splurge on ads, hoping to increase your visibility and make quick sales, but you get ZERO impact on your revenue and don’t generate any high-quality leads.
Stats confirm an average of 14% of clicks are from non-genuine sources (i.e. click fraud) and ad effectiveness is overestimated by up to 4,100%.
Meaning: hard selling DOESN’T work!
That’s why you should hone in on valuable, customer-centric content instead.
Content marketing is the most sustainable way to grow a business - it costs 62% less, generates around 3x the leads, and has the highest ROI (Return On Investment)!
By taking full advantage of it, you’ll attract the right audience, form lasting relationships, and promote your brand strategically - all with consistent, organic content!
If you’re still wondering “How can artists market themselves and gain popularity?,” consider the following nine content tips as the jumping-off point to develop a results-driven marketing plan for your art career.
Let’s begin!
How to Market Your Art Business - Table of Contents
Why Use Content Marketing to Market Your Art Business?
9 Creative Content Ideas to Market Your Art Business and Boost Sales
Why Use Content Marketing to Market Your Art Business?
“How can I promote my art business,” you ask.
According to Statista, global online art sales skyrocketed in 2021 with a value of roughly 65.1 billion dollars, confirming that consumers are preferring to buy their art online these days.
Hence, investing in content marketing could be your best move to:
Scale your online presence.
Reach wide audiences.
Get your art noticed.
Build a following.
Establish a solid base of potential customers.
As an artist, you have a unique story to tell and the ability to create an emotional connection with people through your work.
With strategic content, you get to share this great asset of yours worldwide and profitably market your art business!
This means focusing less on traditional advertisements of your art, and more on content formats (blogs, videos, emails, etc.) that educate, inspire, and entertain your ideal audience.
Countless benefits come from this!
Content marketing lets you:
Drive traffic to your website through organic search.
Create word of mouth about your brand through shareable content.
Build up your credibility and authority.
Make your brand sustainable.
Generate quality leads interested in your art and ready to convert into buyers.
Sadly, nothing comes easy: positioning yourself in the art industry takes time and effort, but a consistent content marketing activity will pay off in the long term!
Make sure your content is relevant and useful to your audience (Does it cater to their needs/desires?); ensure you’re regularly interacting with them and delivering content types that meet both their interests and your brand goals.
Also, test what works best for you, measure your performance and results, and optimize your content strategy accordingly.
You don’t need to do it all. But focusing on what you can do well and being persistent in the process will help you move the needle faster!
9 Creative Content Ideas to Market Your Art Business and Boost Sales
It’s time to get down to the nitty-gritty of how to market your art business!
The next nine content marketing ideas highlight the best strategies to:
Make your brand identity memorable.
Build a strong bond with the audience.
Use impactful content to scale online.
Bridge the gap between your art and collectors.
You ready?
Let’s do it!
1. Have an Art Website
If you’re wondering how to sell art online or how to grow your art business, the best tactic is to build a quality crafted website that:
Reflects your brand personality, mission, and values (What do you want to be known for?).
Gives your audience all the information and resources they need to connect with you and become customers (How do you want them to feel when they see your work and offers?).
Generates awareness, trust, and authority (What makes you different from the competition?).
Your ultimate goal is to get discovered, stick into people’s minds, and increase revenue through resonating content; so what better way to do it than doubling down on your art website (aka “content house”)?
To establish authority in your niche, make your website a priority. (The Content Hacker)
Think about it:
Inbound marketing (i.e. the method of attracting customers with worthwhile content) is 10x more effective for conversions than outbound. (Invesp)
92.96% of global traffic comes from Google. (Sparktoro)
SEO drives 1000% more traffic than organic social media. (BrightEdge)
Mindblowing, right?
A purposeful website validates your presence and overall marketing endeavors!
Don’t make the mistake of making social media channels the main asset of your business - you don’t own those platforms and your accounts could unexpectedly disappear, including your content and the community you've grown there.
Instead, use them as additional roads leading to your long-lasting content estate.
A website is beneficial to:
Attract leads organically by ranking high on Google for related, on-brand keywords.
Present your offers to a loyal, targeted following.
Establish yourself as a reference point in your industry.
Increase visitor engagement through optimized user experience and mobile responsiveness.
Remember: an amazing user-friendly web design combined with a thoughtful content strategy will be the springboard to your art business success!
2. Start a Blog
Once you have a website, starting a blog should be your next move to market your art business and grow your digital presence.
Stats make it clear:
Businesses that blog get 55% more website visitors than businesses that don't. (HubSpot)
Companies with blogs produce +67% more leads monthly than companies that don't blog. (DemandMetric)
80% of bloggers report medium to strong results from blogging. (OrbitMedia)
Having a comprehensive, SEO-friendly art blog is a straightforward way for people to discover your brand - with it, you’ll spread your artist story better than regular ads and set the basis for lasting relationships with prospective customers!
By sharing personal experiences, tutorials, art advice, and anything else related to your work, you build empathy between yourself, your art, and your audience.
Stories make art relatable. And if readers find your content engaging and helpful, they’ll be more prone to buy from you!
Ask yourself:
What do they need from an artist?
What are their pain points?
What do they search for on the internet?
What main topics do they discuss (on social media, forums, etc.)?
This thorough research lets you create a customer-centered blog that hooks your ideal audience, promotes your personal brand, and facilitates art sales.
3. Learn SEO
When learning how to market your art business, you must focus on SEO (Search Engine Optimization) too.
Just the thought might make your hair stand on end, but SEO-driven content writing ensures your web pages rank on search engines!
This means your brand is likely to go from unseen to the top of the SERP.
The consequence?
You drive more organic traffic and higher engagement - which leads to more visibility, quality leads, and sales - and target the audiences you aim to convert!
By creating content, like art blogs or sales pages, around long-tail focus keywords related to your audience’s queries and with low competition (i.e. easier to rank for), you provide users with specific answers and solutions that fulfill their pain points.
People will see your content as highly informative and will start coming back for more!
When generating sales, 70% of marketers say SEO gives them better results than PPC (pay-per-click). Plus, Google highlights in their SEO starter guide that creating good content influences your website more than any other factor.
So, if your goal is to expand your reach and income, optimize your copy for SEO (thorough keyword research is key!) and mind including the following:
Website accessibility and security.
Page speed.
Mobile-friendliness.
Domain name, URL, authority.
User experience.
Link building.
Social shares.
This way, you’ll dominate search results and deliver awesome content that people love!
One more thing…
SEO is essential to help Google, or any other search engine, understand your content value and boost your business exposure. But if you don’t want your efforts to go down the drain, ideating content for your audience must be your priority.
4. Share Creative Content on Social Media
Social media is a fun, interactive tool to market your art business effectively, without being too pushy or salesy.
This doesn’t mean promoting your work outright is wrong, but the main purpose of social channels is to interact with your audience on an intimate level through your posts.
It’s about getting known and gaining trust while “edutaining” people with attractive content formats.
“The more we educate them or entertain them, the more they don’t mind being sold to.”
By sharing behind-the-scenes videos/photos of your artistic process, teaching your techniques, mentioning your blog posts, showcasing a completed piece, or launching a giveaway, you:
Reinforce credibility.
Make your brand authentic and personable.
Reach a broad audience of potential fans.
Persuade buyers to network with you.
Nurture ongoing support through compelling content.
Generate buzz around your website and business.
Most importantly, you foster a sense of community and connection that is hard to achieve with traditional marketing.
Experiment with different social media content types to see what thrills your audience, and use your creativity to draw interest in your work - it won’t take long to ramp up your sales and acquire new artwork enthusiasts this way!
5. Build a Newsletter
Building your newsletter is a winning choice to market your art business and make your brand memorable.
With weekly, exclusive content about new blog posts, special promotions, upcoming gallery shows and more, you keep subscribers constantly informed and engaged, providing a unique look into your life as an artist.
Not only does email marketing offer lead nurturing, relationship building, and customer loyalty, but it also has the highest ROI of all marketing channels, with $42 back for every dollar you spend.
That’s worth the investment - and a powerful way to grow your brand presence!
With a compelling newsletter, you:
Build credibility by sharing your values and expertise.
Have total control of your activity, unlike social media where you’re at the mercy of algorithms and constant changes.
Have access to subscriber data that helps you customize your content.
Personalize the experience with more direct and intimate interactions.
Increase your income streams by reminding people who you are and how you serve them with your offers.
Personalization is key to a great email marketing strategy. (Optinmonster)
The more heartfelt and valuable your emails are, the more trust and support you’ll gain from your audience!
6. Create Lead Magnets
Whether it’s through your newsletter, a popup on your website, or a Call to Action (CTA) embedded in your blog, lead magnets are highly beneficial to expand your audience, drive more sales, and leverage your brand.
Why?
Around 50% of marketers use lead magnets to capture emails, and video content, like webinars, tutorials, demos, or video clips, is considered the preferred lead magnet type among solopreneurs - especially in the Arts and Entertainment industry.
Simply put, lead magnets are high-quality, free resources you offer website visitors in exchange for their name and email address. These downloadable assets (guides, templates, videos, audios, etc.) work as a lead-generating machine delivering insightful content that turns your audience into email subscribers.
See the potential?
By sharing content that matters to your following, you:
Grow your email list.
Connect with potential clients.
Increase engagement and conversions.
Market your art business sustainably.
A few recommendations:
Pinpoint what people need and what entices them (Do they ask questions on a particular topic? What solutions can you give? How can you improve your offers based on what they want?).
Create catchy lead magnets highlighting your content benefits (What do people get from your freebie?).
Outline a clear conversion path (with a dedicated landing page for your offering, clear CTA, reviews and testimonials, email sequence, etc.).
What matters here is to develop quality content pieces relevant to your marketing goals and audience's desires - with regular updates (every quarter to a year, depending on the lead magnet type you create) and a consistent promotion of your offering, you’ll exponentially grow your email list!
7. Host a Podcast
Another excellent content idea on how to market your art business is podcasting.
If you’ve never considered this, here’s why you should:
80 million Americans listen to podcasts weekly. (Edison Research)
38% of marketers working for retail companies say podcast advertising is the media channel with the biggest ROI. (HubSpot)
Podcasting revenue is expected to grow by 27.2% yearly. (eMarketer)
Plus, hosting a podcast is a topline way to reach wider and more diverse audiences!
By telling stories about your artworks, sharing your art experiences, or interviewing fellow artists, you encourage listeners to bond with you and eventually convert into clients.
The best part?
Enticing, informative audios are a good alternative to regular social media posts or blogs for:
Extending brand awareness.
Providing easy-to-access content.
Growing your popularity and authority in your niche.
Generating new streams of income (through sponsorships or affiliate links).
Promoting your art and products.
Create a personal connection with ideal buyers.
Screenshot from: The Jealous Curator
The benefits coming from your creative audio content and unique communication style will impress your audience - to the point of becoming your faithful fans and long-lasting supporters!
8. Go Live
There’s no better way to make your brand memorable than showing up live on social media.
Live streams are an entertaining tactic to market your art business online and increase audience engagement.
They help you:
Build credibility.
Highlight your personality and worth.
Reach potential buyers.
Create deep connections.
Motivate people to support your work and buy from you.
The opportunities are endless: from doing an artwork reveal and promoting a limited discount code to hosting Q&A sessions and giving viewers a sneak peek at your creative process, you get your art seen by the right audience.
The outcome?
Sales rise up and more art enthusiasts come to you - all thanks to your helpful, interactive videos!
Lives offer unique interactions with your online community - so, sprinkle them into your content mix to ramp up your visibility, increase website traffic, and tune into your audience’s desires.
9. Encourage UGC
User-Generated Content (UGC) is a cost-effective marketing tool to nurture quality relationships and draw in prospective clients.
This content type invites existing customers to promote your art through pictures, testimonials, video clips, tags, hashtags, and more. By asking your fans and followers to post about your work, you get fresh, engaging content to spread on your website and social media channels.
You could offer promotions, run a contest, or give other incentives to those who recommend your art in their networks, with the ultimate goal of:
Fostering reliability and mutual support.
Giving your audience a sense of belonging.
Boosting genuine interactions.
Building a dynamic brand presence online.
92% of customers worldwide say they trust word of mouth more than advertising - in fact, people are more likely to buy something if they get advice from someone they trust.
This involves the art industry, too.
Purchasing art is a process of emotional value, and relying on others’ experiences dramatically impacts the final decision.
That’s why UGC is a viable option to market your art business and get the attention you deserve - all with your following’s support!
Strategic Content Marketing Is the Answer to How to Market Your Art Business Successfully
Creating content that touches the mind and soul of your audience is EVERYTHING.
And the nine creative ideas listed above are a surefire way to:
Stand out from the crowd.
Grow your brand organically and sustainably.
Kindle your audience’s curiosity in your art.
Keep existing clients engaged.
Achieve your sales goals.
Remember: a tight-knit community of avid content consumers outweighs loads of money spent on ads, ensuring brand longevity, customer retention, and lasting success!
Listen to people’s questions/thoughts/wants to deliver inspiring, educational content tailored to them; monitor the performance of your content strategy and make adjustments when needed.
This approach will have a positive outcome for your potential buyers and, with time, you’ll rise above the online marketplace - guaranteed! 😉
