Ready to get more engagament likes, views, and followers on your artwork? Well, the internet is the place to be if you're an artist looking for recognition. Especially when you're passionate about your artwork and you’ve put so much time and effort into creating it, you want people to see it and there are a number of ways to get your artwork out there and increase your followers, views, likes, and comments without having to change what you do. It's easy too! So let me show you how to promote your art on social media so that more people can enjoy it!

“5am and Smooth Jazz” //Oil on board// by 4th Edition Submitter, Erika Sorby

USE HASHTAGS

Hashtags are labels or metadata tags that help social media users get easier and direct access to topics, themes, content, and information that interests them. They can be extremely useful when wanting to reach your target audience and increase engagement on your posts and guess what, they’re simple enough to use. All you have to do is use the pound sign ‘#’ followed by keywords or phrases that relate to your content. There are some guidelines you can follow when hashtagging so that it doesn’t become cumbersome and misleading for your audience.

Keep them relevant

Our first tip is to keep the hashtags that you use on the posts about your artwork relevant. Why you may ask? If you use hashtags that have nothing to do with your artwork and content, it can have the reverse effect that you’re looking to achieve. This is because the viewer may feel misguided and uninterested in your work as it does not relate to what they are looking for. On the other hand, by using relevant hashtags, users will be enthused to see your artwork because that relates to what they searched for and are interested in. Relevant hashtags for your artwork can highlight your location, for example, #australianartist, your materials such as #oiloncanvas, your medium like #photography, your styles such as #abstractartist, your subject (#landscapepainting) and, your industry such as #art and #artwork.

We’ve researched and made a list of all the top-performing art-related hashtags as an example that you can copy and paste onto your next post for Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Our list includes both popular hashtags but also niche hashtags because it is harder to rank higher with extremely popular hashtags than with niche hashtags but both provide great exposure.

Please note that hashtags on platforms such as LinkedIn are known for not being as searchable and effective as on the other platforms but LinkedIn did address in an article that they still promote its use once the hashtags are relevant and kept to a maximum of 5 or 6 per post.

Art-related Hashtags

If you take photos

#art #artoftheday #artinspiration #artist #artistsoninstagram #artwork #instaart #instaartist #photooftheday #photography #photographer #photoshoot #travelphotography #artphotography #artphoto #photo #portrait #blackandwhite #naturephotography #landscapephotographer #contemporaryart #fineart #picoftheday #portraitphotography #photographyislife #photographylovers #photographysouls #shotwithlove #throughthelens

If you paint

#art #artoftheday #artinspiration#artinspiration #artist #artistsoninstagram #artwork #instaart #instaartist #artgallery #painting #oiloncanvas #oilpainting #acrylicpainting #watercolourpainting #acrylicpaint #painter #modernart #watercolour #creative #artistic #illustration #artlovers #paintingsdaily #artoftheday

If you draw

#art #artoftheday #artinspiration #artist #artistsoninstagram #artwork #instaart #instaartist #artgallery #illustration #sketch #draw #drawing #graphite #paper #pen #ink #design #sketching #pencildrawing #digitaldrawing #artoftheday #illustrator #creative #drawingoftheday #sketchbook #artdrawing #draws #drawingsketch #artdraw

2. Try not to hashtag your life away!

Like with most things, moderation is best! The key to using hashtags effectively is not to overdo them. The number of hashtags you use is dependent on the social media platform because they have different maximum limits. For example, on Instagram, you can use up to 30 hashtags, whereas on LinkedIn, 5-6 are acceptable and Twitter has a limit of 280 characters so you can use as many hashtags as you can fit but remember to keep it concise and relevant. On Facebook, try sticking to 2-4 hashtags and for Pinterest, you can use a max of 20 hashtags per post.

3. Hashtag formatting

What we mean by this is how you present and attach your hashtags to your artwork. It’s all up to your preference and desired look and effect.

Option #1: If you don’t like seeing hashtags in your caption, you can opt to attach them in the comments instead so that the viewer is drawn to and focuses more on your captions.

Option #2: You can insert symbols such as bullet points, periods, or dashes (one on a new line) to create a distinct separation between your caption and hashtags.

Option #3: You can also simply stick to the traditional way of placing your hashtags right after your caption which is just as beneficial as the other options.

“Mask-Off” //Oil on gessoed wooden panel// by 4th Edition Submitter, Gianluca Fascetto

2. USE HIGH-QUALITY IMAGES OF YOUR WORK

Using high-quality images to showcase your art is a great way to properly represent your work. We live in a world in which presentation and aesthetics matter so use that to your advantage so you can boost your engagement and here’s how to do that. Firstly, place your art on a neutral-toned wall such as black, cream, white, or grey or flat on the ground. Your camera should be parallel to the centre of your piece. Avoid shooting your piece when it is leaning against your wall as the image may come out distorted and at an angle. Next, ensure that you’re in a well light area either by using natural or artificial light because you don’t want to have glare, shadows, or a dark photo. If you’re taking photos outside, overcast days and indirect sunlight will make the shadows softer and will produce the most flattering photo. Meanwhile, if you’re inside, you can utilize a two-light setup in which you have one light on either side of you, both at a 45-degree angle facing your artwork. You will be in the middle slightly behind the lights. Continually, don’t use flash as it can produce an unwanted reflective spot and remove your work from any glass casing to avoid this similar reflective quality. Your ISO (the camera setting that dictates light sensitivity) should be on the lowest value like 100 so that it isn’t as sensitive to all the light and produces a higher quality image. The f-spot (the camera setting that determines how much light passes through the lens) can range from f-8 to f-11 because you don’t want the opening to be too wide so that too much light passes through; nor do you want too little light to be able to pass through as a result of the opening being too narrow and your f-spot number being too high.

Editing your photos can also be an option but we suggest that you do it ever so slightly as to still capture the authenticity of the image. There are numerous programs that you can use such as Photoshop, Affinity Designer, Pixlr, and Lightroom.

“Progressions_1” //Oil on canvas// by 4th Edition Submitter, Priya Green

3. Optimize your search ranking

Typically, potential viewers can come across your page through the search bar on different platforms. So, you want to make it as easy as possible for them to find your art and gain more traffic. There are different ways in which you can make your art discoverable through search ranking. For example, by including key terms such as “art” or your medium in your username, bio, and/or name field which is the slot above your bio.

Another pro tip is to utilize the Explore page or For You page algorithms, particularly on Instagram, TikTok, and even Pinterest. Have you noticed that your explore page suggestions are different from your sister’s, your friend’s, and countless other people’s own? That’s because it’s created and curated specifically for you based on posts that you’ve liked, shared, saved, and interacted with in some way or form. Now as an artist, with this information you can subtly tailor your posts about your artwork to appear on these pages. How? Just like this. You want to start by embedding certain keywords for the art industry and your niche as an artist into your captions because social media platforms can identify accounts that are topically similar and group them together on the Explore page or For You page so that you can reach more art-enthusiasts in this case.

“Pretty Boy” //Metallic on Aluminum// by 4th Edition Submitter, Ashley Cheatham

4. POST OFTEN

Sound simple enough, right? It is! Aim to post at least 1-2 times a day on your social media accounts because not only will it increase your brand awareness, but also keep the interest of your followers and increase your reach. According to Hootsuite, their study showed that the best times to post on Facebook are 8:00 am to 12:00 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11:00 am on Wednesdays for Instagram, 8:00 am on Mondays and Thursdays for Twitter and 9:00 am on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for LinkedIn. Remember this is flexible and dependent on your social media and followers, so the times and days can be different. You should also take into consideration the global distribution of your followers so that you’re posting at optimal times for them because they are the ones who will engage with your art.

If you don’t have time to be on your device constantly posting, that’s not a problem! You can use a social media scheduling program such as Later, Hootsuite, and so many more because with these tools, you can schedule your posts for weeks to months without having to manually post so often yourself and that means you’ll have a lot more time for creating!

“Reflections of you” //Multimedia collage, paper and wax// by 4th Edition Submitter, Ashly Sypherd

5. ESTABLISH YOUR CONTENT PILLARS

In order to be successful on social media, you need more than just content. What you need are strong pillars that will support you in the long run and allow your marketing strategy to grow simultaneously with your art skills. Your content pillars are the topics that give definition and structure to your brand and are constantly discussed and showcased in your content on your social media. Equally, the content pillars of social media are the foundation that all businesses need to start from in order to effectively reach their audience. All successful marketing strategies depend on a solid understanding and implementation of these three fundamental concepts: giving value, relevance, and consistency.

Typically, it’s best to create 3-5 of these topics and select the topics based on your art’s desired look, feel, mission and values while also framing your content to execute the three aforementioned fundamental concepts. For an artist, some good content pillars ideas can be:

your artwork (including images and information about them and even behind the scenes shots, studio tours, news announcements, sneak peeks at projects in progress)
tips pertaining to tools and techniques that you use

3. motivational posts (such as advice to fellow artists and art-enthusiasts)

4. interactive posts (like giveaways, questions for the community)

These topics or content pillars will frame your posts and help you to be more consistent. So, definitely take advantage of it! Plus, it’s also a must when aiming to form a genuine connection with your audience so that you can know what interests them and tailor your posts specifically towards them while staying true to yourself, your art, and your mission because the goal is to create and post content that resonates most deeply with those viewing it!

There are lots of ways for you to connect with your audience and optimize engagements with your artwork on social media. You are the creator of your art, and it is up to you what story you want to tell. Keep this in mind as you decide how best to market yourself with these five digital marketing strategies for artists that we have provided here today. The power of creativity and strong branding will help bring more attention to your work while providing a way for viewers to genuinely connect with you as an artist.

We would love to hear from our readers on what other ideas do you have about ways artists can successfully brand themselves on social media? Let us know by leaving a comment below!

5 Social Media Marketing Strategies That Every Artist Needs