How do you get your artwork noticed online? The answer is online marketing for artists! Nowadays, it’s easy to promote your art on social media and other platforms. You can use email marketing and other forms of digital marketing. But the best art marketing plan won’t work, if you don’t know about the Rule of Seven. Here’s how you can take advantage of this marketing strategy!
As artists, we are creative people. We want to create art, and that’s it. I used to think the same.
But if you want to get your artwork noticed online, you need to do more. You need to market yourself as an artist and actively promote your art on social media and other channels.
Related: 12 Sure-Fire Ways To Get Your Artwork Seen [Exposure For Your Art]
Back in the day, the only way to do art marketing was to contact local galleries. However, to get your foot into a reputed gallery, you already had to be an established artist. So that used to be kind of a catch-22…
Nowadays, online marketing for artists is much easier. The internet allows all artists to market their art – regardless of whether they are newcomers or already have a name in the art world.
Professional marketers know about the Rule of Seven.
The Rule of Seven is one of the oldest marketing concepts. Despite being old, it is still incredibly effective and you can also benefit from it in your art marketing!
So let’s see what exactly the Rule of Seven is and how you can use to your advantage!
What is the Rule of Seven in art marketing?
Let me give you an example.
Your chances of selling an art print to someone who hasn’t heard about your art before are extremely low.
The Rule of Seven simply states that a customer needs to hear or see your art at least seven times before they purchase something from you.
The Rule of Seven was originally developed by marketers in the movie industry in the 1930s. They found out that people needed to be exposed to a certain amount of advertising before they decided to watch one of their movies.
So why does it need to be exactly seven times? Can it not be six or eight?
Actually, the number seven was only chosen because it is has significance in many cultures and contexts. Just think of the seven seas, the seven sages, the seven wonders of the world, or even the seven deadly sins…
But even though it’s called the Rule of Seven, the important thing is not the number, but the message.
In fact, in today’s age of information overload, prospect customers need to interact with your message more than seven times before they buy from you.
So what are some examples of such interactions in online marketing for artists?
An interaction literally means any occasion where a person gets to see or hear about your art. For example:
- Seeing your art in their social media feed
- Seeing your work on art sharing sites
- Seeing your art mentioned in an online article
- Seeing your artist website come up in a Google search
- Seeing your art in an email they receive
- Reading a review about your art prints or other products
- Seeing an ad on social media or another platform
- Seeing an advert in an art magazine
- Hearing a friend mention your artwork
- Seeing your art in an online gallery, art competition, etc.
What matters most in online marketing for artists
Apart from creating exposure for what you want to sell, two things matter the most in online marketing for artists: stories and memories.
Once people got interested in an artwork, they want to know more about it. More about the artwork and more about the artist.
Telling stories creates emotional connections between you and your customers. Hardly anyone takes an interest in artworks when you just post them along with their title. Or even worse, with more advertising for other products.
The world is shaped by two things – stories told and the memories they leave behind. ~Vera Nazarian
This quote by Vera Nazarian is true for digital marketing as well. Because the same two things influence a customer’s decision to buy: the stories they hear and the memories they retain.
If you can tell stories, you are more likely to create meaningful connections and establish those magical seven interactions with your prospect customers.
The stories that you post along with your art can be anything: how you create your works, what was difficult, what inspired you, and so on. If you can’t think of anything at the moment, at least caption your posts with a creative quote on art!
How to market your art using the Rule of Seven
That said, here are some art marketing ideas for you that you can use to get potential customers to see your art the magical ‘seven times’!
5 Art Marketing Ideas
1. Promote your art on social media
Social media can be a great tool to promote your art. Depending on your audience, you should focus on the visual-driven platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest.
Instagram is an image-only network for mobile devices. People can easily scroll through artworks when they are on their phone. That’s perfect for artists to grab the attention of art lovers, buyers, and agents.
In fact, there are lots of art collectors and magazines on Instagram looking different types of art. You can also use Instagram to directly sell your art to customers.
Learn more about how to use Instagram as an artist:
Facebook has lost much of its original appeal, but it can still be helpful to market your art. The best way to get exposure on Facebook is by joining groups related to your art.
For example, if you are into digital art, then join groups that focus on digital works, Photoshop, and so on. You can also create a Like page for your art, but usually it’s better to just make a personal page and then invite people to it.
Learn more about how to use Facebook as an artist:
→ 7 DOs To Post Your Art On Facebook & Grow Your Artist FB Page
Groups are a great way to get your artwork noticed on Facebook. This is M43 from my Lip Service Collection that got over 100+ in one of the Facebook groups.
Pinterest is often underestimated by artists, but it holds great potential. It’s a social media network and a visual search engine. Thanks to its long upright Pin sizes, you can share large images of your art that capture people’s attention.
As opposed to Instagram and Facebook, posts on Pinterest have a much longer lifespan. In fact, all your pins remain searchable as long as you have an account on the platform!
Learn more about how to use Pinterest as an artist:
50 High-Conversion Pinterest Pin Templates
2. Join art sharing sites
Another way to market your art online is by joining art sharing sites. While on social media anyone may share anything, art sharing sites are specifically geared towards artists and art lovers.
There are a number of sharing sites where you can post different types of art. The probably most popular being DeviantArt, Behance, ArtStation, and WetCanvas.
→ Best Sites to Upload Art [Ultimate Artist Guide To Posting Art Online]
But you can also upload your art to print-on-demand (PoD) platforms. That way, you create exposure for your art and can make sales at the same time.
You can offer your art on the most different products. Anything from art prints, mugs, notebooks, and mousepads is possible. But you can also sell digital items like printables and digital downloads, or offer art commissions.
Some sites where you can create, sell, and ship art prints are:
Learn more about selling your art online:
- Grab Your FREE Best Selling Printables eGuide
Subscribe to get access to the Freebie Library and download your FREE eGuide to find out about the 60+ Best Selling Printables and where to sell them!
3. Build a website for your art
Nowadays, every artist should have a website. Your artist website is your own little place on the web where you can showcase your portfolio and present yourself as an artist.
If you are not convinced yet, then check out 10 reasons why you should make a website for your art.
Every time someone wants to know more about your art, they will run a search on the web. Your website is what will come up first and gives you the opportunity to present yourself and your art just the way you want.
You don’t need to be a techy person to build your artist website. There are lots of low-cost and even free website builders that make it possible for everyone to create a website. Website builders are easy to use and don’t require any coding skills.
One of the best website builders for artists is Squarespace. Squarespace is specifically designed for photographers and other visual creators. It comes with heaps of attractive templates you can choose from that make your website look good out of the box.
→ Is Squarespace Good For Artists? – A Squarespace Review For Visual Creatives
Another great option for artists is Pixpa, a budget-friendly website builder to create a portfolio gallery and web store. You can also have a look at Wix and Weebly.
For more information about all those website builders, jump over to:
→ How To Make A Website For Digital Art – Best Website Builder For Artists
WordPress is another way to build your artist website. It comes with a steeper learning curve than the above website builders, but it’s completely free and very versatile.
So if you are willing to invest some time into learning the ins and outs, WordPress is definitely something to consider.
To help you get your WordPress site up and running quickly, I have a couple of tutorials for you to check out:
4. Use email marketing
Sending out emails is another huge part in online marketing for artists. It’s a great way to get the word out about your art and create another important one of the ‘seven’ interactions with prospect customers.
Why do you need an email list of subscribers, if you have followers on Facebook and Instagram? Well, think about it that way: social media networks can always change their algorithms. That means your posts may only reach a small percentage of your total following. And when people delete their social media account, the contact is lost forever.
This cannot happen with your own email list. If you have an email opt-in on your website, fans and collectors have the option to subscribe to your newsletter. You can then contact your subscribers whenever you like.
That’s why email marketing is such an effective tool to promote your art!
Here is a selection of email marketing providers that allow you to easily embed an opt-in on your website:
To find out what else shouldn’t be missing on your website, check out:
- The Best Lead Magnet Ideas To Grow Your Email List
5. Submit your work to art magazines & competitions
My last tip for you to get your artwork noticed online is to submit it to art magazines and competitions. In both cases, art lovers and professionals in the industry will get to see your art.
Run a quick search on the web and look for magazines and competitions that match your art style. Chances are you will quickly find a number of suitable art magazines and competitions that are currently taking place.
Find out which art magazines accept submissions. Many that do accept submissions have a special form on their website that allows you to submit your work. If an art magazine doesn’t accept submissions, it’s better to not bother them and rather look for another one where artists may submit work.
If you win an art competition, you will be able to raise your profile and reputation as an artist. But even if you don’t win, you can still benefit from the exposure. Competition entries are often viewed by a large number of people and shared across social media!
In conclusion, is digital marketing good for artists?
Every artist wants to get their artwork noticed online. However, for that to happen you need to actively promote your art. Whether you use social media, art sharing sites, email marketing or other forms of digital marketing – anything that gets the word out about your art is OK!
This post has shown you some effective strategies that will hopefully help you in marketing your art.
One thing you shouldn’t do is despair if your art doesn’t get noticed immediately. It doesn’t mean that your work is bad or not good enough. It just means that you haven’t established enough meaningful interactions with prospect customers yet.
The more people get to see your art, the more they are likely to buy it. Persistence is key.
In the end, digital marketing is good for artists because it’s the only way to create exposure and follow your dream of living your creative passion!
I hope you enjoyed this post and I wish you lots of success in marketing your art online!
