On Instagram but your art isn’t selling?
I hear you. Let’s talk about what Instagram is great for, and what it isn’t. Instagram is the #1 platform for artists to share their work with their audience. It is a fabulous visual social platform and can help you communicate with the people who are going to love buying your art. What is it not designed for? Selling your art.
Does this feel familiar?
You have been sharing your art on Instagram. You have a dedicated art profile. Your following is growing, albeit slowly. You show pictures of your art. You’ve created some reels. You are using hashtags. Perhaps you are researching trending music and trying that out. People have seen and liked your work. But what you REALLY need are people to buy your art.
You feel like you are spinning the wheels, trying to ‘go viral’, maybe even boosting your posts to get in front of a bigger audience.
But your art isn't selling. You know your work is amazing. And you see other artists making sales.
Instagram is first and foremost a social platform.
Ask yourself, are you using Instagram as a social platform?
Instagram is programmed to be a social media platform, serving as a space for people to connect and engage over things they enjoy. Your activities on Instagram are rewarded if you drive engagement for everyone on the platform. Instagram want its users to stay on the platform (not to go elsewhere, i.e. to your online store).
What was Instagram not designed for? To be an online marketplace or a sales site. Instead, think of it as a virtual space where people can browse through a stream of photos and videos, find out new things, be entertained, have opinions, and foster connections.
Typically, users don't approach Instagram with a ‘shopping’ mindset. That’s not normally the reason they are scrolling. This places the responsibility on us, as artists, to introduce the idea that our art is desirable and available, and there is a clear way to purchase it. You need to be direct about what action you want people to take.
PRO TIP: If you use the word ‘sale’ in your posts right now, there is a low likelihood your audience will see that post, because you are telling Insta that you are selling something, and they know you might boost that post and pay for an ad if you don’t get enough traction on it.
When it comes to purchasing art, there is a ‘get to know you’ stage, where your potential art buyers are learning about you and your story. This is the best platform to help you to develop that ‘know, like and trust’ that leads to people wanting to include your art into their world. Art buyers tend to be driven by an emotional connection to you and your art. Visual exposure doesn't suffice; it's only part of the equation. People want to know about us and our stories. They want to know the ‘why’ and ‘how’ behind what we are doing. They want to connect their world with ours. This helps people to gain deeper insights into you and your art, creating an opportunity for them to develop a genuine affinity with your work.
If you're showcasing your art without engaging your audience in meaningful dialogue, failing to establish an emotional connection between viewers and your creations, and neglecting to extend an invitation for them to explore your shop, you lessen your chances of securing a sale.
Quick check in
Look at your last 5-10 Instagram posts.
Did you engage or ask questions of your audience?
Did you establish an emotional connection with your audience?
Did you invite them to explore your online store, physical gallery or exhibition?
Did you invite them to join your email list (and tell them why they should!)?
Link your website art shop with Instagram to enable a better sales experience for your art buyers
Even though Instagram isn’t designed to be a sales platform, you can link your Instagram profile to your website and make it easier for people who love your art to purchase it. Connect your e-commerce enabled website to your Insta profile and tag products on your pages so people can head directly to your website to purchase.
If you use Squarespace, here is the guide.
If you use Shopify, here is the guide.
Empowering artists: research backed arts business education
Here are some of the things we know from our research help you get more sales as an artist:
Be a Business Owner: Successful artists are more likely to see themselves as business owners and set up the systems and structure to support their arts practice.
Know Your Unique Offer: Successful artists are more likely to understood why their art was unique and valuable in the market and could easily articulate it.
Know Your Ideal Art Buyer: Successful artists are more likely to know the specific audience that are most likely to buy their art, and know how to attract them.
Invest in Your Email List: Successful artists are more likely to curate an email contact list of potential art buyers and communicate with buyers on a regular basis.
Price For Your Niche : Successful artists are more likely to benchmark and price their art correctly to appeal to their market.
Market for Art Sales: Successful artists are more likely to perform marketing activities with a direct connection to sales.
Develop Business Relationships: Successful artists are more likely to use commercial relationships to grow their audience and art sales.
Create Your Career Vision and Plan: Successful artists are more likely to have a clear vision and plan for their art business, and are confident in implementing it.
If you want to know how to apply this knowledge into your art career, check out our online course specific to visual artists. Over 150 students from locations including Australia, the US, Europe and the United Kingdom are already applying knowledge from the course.
Find out about the Full Time Artist Formula online course.
Learn how to Discover Your Ideal Art Buyer
Understanding who will love and want to purchase your art is fundamental for designing your art career. If you are an artist and want to start investing in your career, here is a FREE WEBINAR that you can access to learn more, including:
Learn how to discover who other artists you respect are already selling to
Visualise and articulate who your Ideal Art Buyer is
Be able to describe your Ideal Art Buyer and target them in your art marketing.
Be confident in your next steps towards success as a Professional Artist.
The Discover Your Ideal Art Buyer webinar is under 60 mins, is action based, delivers real outcomes, and includes a worksheet that will help you focus on what counts.