5 Marketing Strategies to Promote Your Art Business
You’re making incredible work as a hand letterer, illustrator, designer or fine artist, but now you have to tell people about it!
Sometimes people think marketing is salesy and sleazy, but it doesn’t have to be. When you truly understand the value your work has, you know that your work would be helpful to someone, and you want to tell them about it!
There’s no “right way” to do marketing. The marketing tactics that work for you won’t be the ones that work for someone else. It’s really all about finding the right way to share your work and communicate with your people. Understanding the ins and outs of your audience is the best way to really connect with them and make sure your marketing hits the target.
Understand Your Audience: Who Wants to Buy or Commission Your Artwork?
Marketing can feel intimidating, but it's all about authentic storytelling rather than manipulative tactics. Good marketing helps people, whether that’s through adding beauty to their space or enhancing their brand.
Here’s how to identify your ideal audience:
1. Choose Your Business Model & Decide How You’re Selling Your Artwork
Marketing strategies may differ based on the kind of products you’re creating. If you’re designing greeting cards or focusing on other types of art licensing, you might require an agent and also lean on social media. For something like custom murals or paintings, you’ll need to lean on your local community for freelancing gigs.
2. Define Your Audience
Consider who needs your work, resonates with your style, and fits your price point.
You might find multiple audiences for your different services. For example, a lettering artist might cater to both greeting card companies and branding clients. Don’t stress about having multiple marketing plans. Focus on showcasing a consistent “vibe” across all your work.
To reach your audience effectively, identify where they hang out—be it Instagram, LinkedIn, or browsing design annuals. Explore the overlap in these spaces and tailor your marketing strategies accordingly.
Finally, research your audience's needs and preferences. Engage with them online to understand their pain points. This will allow you to tailor your offerings and marketing efforts.
Now, use these insights to fine-tune your marketing approach and connect with your audience more effectively.
Build Your Brand & Website for Your Artist Business
Your “brand” is how you tell your story through words, images, and videos. For an artist, your brand presence might include your logo, packaging for products that you sell, stickers or swag, fonts, and colors that you use throughout your website and other materials, and more. Basically, your brand is a consistent look and feel that is distinctively yours.
Your artwork sets the tone, but branding also includes how you interact with your audience, present your work online, and explain your creative process all contribute to the bigger picture.
Having a standout niche, artists statement, and exceptional talent is only part of the equation for success. The other crucial aspect is effectively communicating your brand to your audience.
Try not to get bogged down with creating the most perfect logo or the most unique website. Focus on the overall messaging and presentation, and feel free to hire a designer if it’ll help you set a deadline and move on.
1. Creating a standout artist website for your business
A crucial element for showcasing your work is your website. We don’t care what anyone else says, your social feed is NOT a replacement for your website!
Choosing a website platform
The platform you choose—be it Shopify, WordPress, or Squarespace—matters less than actually getting your site up and running. Each platform has its strengths, and you can always switch later depending on your needs. Here are a few things to consider:
Shopify is great if you plan to sell digital downloads or physical products, but has a high overhead cost and might be overkill for businesses that mostly rely on licensing and freelancing.
WordPress is lower cost and very customizable through custom coding and plug-ins, but that customization means it has a much bigger learning curve! If you love web design, you might like WordPress—try a simple theme with a website builder like Elementor or Beaver Builder so you don’t have to custom code everything.
Squarespace is a nice middle ground, offering user-friendly options and customizable themes that work well for most artists. We use Squarespace for this website!
Remember, the design of your site is secondary to the content. The site should serve as a showcase for your art, with a clear and compelling message about what you do. Use your artist statement and niche insights to craft a home or about page that quickly communicates your unique value.
Your website portfolio: Let your work shine!
Curate your portfolio to highlight the type of work you want to attract. You can be proud of a project but still not want to book another one like it, so don’t use those projects as a way to show off your skills and attract clients. Also, ensure your website has a clear call to action. Whether it's booking services or purchasing art, you want clients to have a clear path if they want to connect with you or hire you.
Again, don’t overthink the design. Consistent colors and fonts across your marketing will really help reinforce your branding and let your work be the main attraction.
2. Optimizing your artist website with SEO for Google traffic
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) helps improve your website’s visibility on search engines like Google. Here’s how to get started:
Keyword Research: Use tools like Google’s Keyword Planner to identify high-traffic, low-competition keywords relevant to your work.
On-Page SEO: Incorporate these keywords naturally into your website’s content, including page descriptions, headlines, and image file names.
Backlinks: Increase your website’s authority by getting other reputable sites to link to yours.
We recommend working with an SEO expert if you’re interested in tapping into this field more. They can help you refine your strategy and improve your search rankings.
Mastering Social Media as an Artist: Get Found on Instagram & TikTok Without Wasting Time
Your website and social media aren’t interchangeable, but having a social presence can be a really impactful tool for artists. Remember, it’s highly curated, but you’re the curator! You have full control over your own page, so the key is to create a meaningful online presence without spreading yourself too thin.
1. Quality Over Quantity: Why Follower Count Doesn’t Matter
A large following isn’t necessary for success. It’s definitely a vanity metric, and engagement is far more valuable! A dedicated fan base of 200 people who are commenting on your posts and clicking your links regularly can be more impactful than 20,000 passive followers. We suggest you focus on fostering interaction and building relationships.
2. Choose Your Platforms: No, you don’t have to create Reels!
Instead of trying to be everywhere, select 1-2 platforms where your target audience is most active and that you enjoy using. Instagram is popular for many artists, but choose what works best for you. We’ve seen artists that tap into LinkedIn and Pinterest too!
3. Creating Content: Do you need a hashtag strategy?
Craft Your Story: Use your chosen platforms to share your story and connect with your audience. Create content that showcases your work, shares behind-the-scenes glimpses, offers inspiration, and addresses your audience’s needs. Think of these as “content buckets.”
For example, a children’s book illustrator might use:
Portfolio Showcase: Displaying their art.
Roundups: Sharing resources or recommending other artists.
Process: Showing how you create your work.
Inspiration: Highlight design inspiration.
We’re big fans of repurposing content over here. Don’t stress about constantly creating new content. Repurpose existing work by showing different aspects—static images, process videos, and color variations can all be different posts. Use the same piece to create tutorials or updates, as repetition helps with recognition.
When you start to look at numbers, you can focus on metrics like saves, shares, and comments rather than just views. Engaging posts encourage interaction, and even a small percentage of engagement is positive. If you find that a specific type of post is performing well for you, think about how you can recreate it in new ways.
We streamline our process by using tools like Adobe Express or Notion to create and schedule posts in advance. Templates can save time, and scheduling helps maintain consistency. If you can, consider hiring a social media manager to ease the workload, we seriously don’t know how we’d function without ours!
Make sure to include CTA’s (calls to action) on some of your posts to help guide your audience on what to do next—whether it’s visiting a link, signing up for your newsletter, or commenting on your post. Clear CTAs drive engagement and conversions.
When it comes to hashtags, Instagram has changed how they prioritize them over the years. As we write this post, hashtags for artists and other creators are no longer as important as they once were. Searches on social media are now focusing more on phrases or keywords that are included in your captions, so consider investing more time in that arena instead.
Of course, we couldn’t talk about social media without mentioning mental health. Social media can be overwhelming. It’s okay (read: encouraged) to take breaks and focus on other marketing strategies if needed. Your mental health should always come first. If social media isn’t for you, don’t worry there are tons of other tools that can help boost your visibility and success.
What about Paid Advertising LIKE Facebook & Instagram Ads?
Paid advertising can amplify your successful products or services, but they can also be a big expense that doesn't result in sales. Because of the expense, we recommend that beginners start with organic (unpaid) social media instead of paying, especially if you don’t yet have a clear product with a track record of organic sales that you want to promote to a larger audience.
If & when you do want to dip your toe into paid social ads, we recommend hiring a specialist here, because it can be a bit confusing.
4. Pinterest for artist visibility
Pinterest is often seen as a search engine rather than a traditional social media platform. By using relevant keywords, you can significantly increase your visibility to the right audience. For instance, if you’re an artist specializing in greeting cards, you might use keywords like “hand-lettering,” “greeting card design,” and “art licensing illustration.” You can even get more specific with phrases like “vintage mid-century style birthday card.” One of the great things about Pinterest is that pins have a much longer lifespan compared to typical social media platforms which means they drive traffic long after it’s posted.
Email Marketing: Crucial for Your Art Business
Yes, every marketing guru is telling you to build an email list, but they’re not wrong! It’s a reliable way to connect directly with your audience, and it’s our biggest converter (aka it offers the best views-to-sales ratio out of any of our marketing platforms)!
Social media algorithms are always changing beyond our control, but an email list provides a direct line to your audience that you know they’ll actually see. When someone shares their email address with you, they’re giving you direct permission to stay in touch—this is a privilege that shouldn’t be taken lightly. Since they’re opting into this, the conversion rates are going to be much higher on an email list than on social media. This is your most engaged group of followers. Treat this list with respect by offering value and avoiding overloading their inbox with too many promotions.
Depending on what you’re selling and what type of business model you have, you may approach your email list differently. For example, if you’re a brand designer, your email marketing may be mostly 1:1, but you may want to do a roundup email occasionally to stay in touch with past clients. An e-commerce shop might use its email list as a way to share new releases, coupons, and so on.
1. Effective Strategies for Growing Your Email List
Here are some of our favorite ways to tap into email marketing:
Offer Incentives:
Entice people to join your list with something valuable. This could be a discount, a free resource, or exclusive content. This is often called a “lead magnet” or “opt-in,” and you can set up your email marketing software to deliver it automatically. For instance, we offer a free training with an exclusive discount on our programs as our main opt-in. If you’re a fine artist, you might offer a coupon code or a free welcome gift with purchase when people sign up for your list.
Think beyond generic “newsletter” sign-ups. Offer something specific that will excite your audience and keep them engaged. Brainstorm ideas that align with what your audience finds valuable.
Segment and Automate:
Use platforms like Kit or Mailchimp to set up automated sequences that nurture your subscribers over time. Send welcome emails, follow-up messages, and periodic offers based on their interests and behaviors. This keeps your audience engaged without constant manual effort.
Send Regular Newsletters:
Create engaging and entertaining content that your subscribers will enjoy. Your audience’s inboxes are full of spam, so stand out by providing value and plan carefully how often you will reach out. A constant stream of emails will likely overwhelm your list, but a newsletter every 6 months will cause them to forget who you are and why they signed up. Look for a middle ground and pay attention to the open rate and click rates—those numbers will help you decide which of your email strategies resonate best with your customers.
2. How often should you send an email newsletter & what should it say?
Don’t be discouraged if your subscribers don’t make a purchase right away. Continue to provide value through educational content, insights, and occasional offers. Use your email platform’s features to maintain contact and keep your audience engaged over the long term.
Building and maintaining an email list is a cornerstone of a successful art business. By offering value, using effective strategies, and nurturing your subscribers, you can create a reliable channel that supports your business goals and keeps you connected to your most dedicated followers.
Does an email list feel right for your business? Don’t worry, we’ve got tons of other marketing tactics too.
Networking & Human Connection: Get more clients for your art business without digital marketing!
We’ve covered various online marketing tactics, but the power of human connection and word-of-mouth referrals are really important! Leverage networking opportunities, mentorship, and referrals to grow your art business. This is one of our favorite ways to scale and market our business. Outreach might seem daunting, but it’s a highly effective way to connect with potential clients.
1. Email & DM outreach to prospective leads
Did you know that Katie and Ilana (your fearless leaders here at Goodtype) met via DM?!!
When reaching out to potential clients via email or direct message, make sure you lead with human connection and try to relate to the person you want to connect with before jumping in with a sales pitch. Keep your pitch warm, short, and to the point, and don’t go into unnecessary details in the first message. The first point of contact should focus on the top-level points and the benefits of a potential partnership, and then you can follow up with more information when they say yes! We have a great workshop on how to get more clients with outreach if you want to dive deeper into the topic.
It’s also important not to get discouraged—some people let their inbox stay unread for ages or file things away without responding. Give it time, and don’t be afraid to send 1-2 follow-up emails—sometimes that’s the kicker!
2. Leveraging Human Connection Through Networking
Embrace opportunities to network and meet new people - it can open so many doors!
Find and Cultivate Mentorship
Mentorship can be incredibly valuable, especially when you’re new to your craft or business. If you want to build a relationship with a potential mentor you could simply ask them to coffee, or create something special for them. You could even ask to assist or collaborate with them.
Tip: Many mentors offer 1:1 coaching. Investing in this can be a powerful way to accelerate your growth.
3. Utilize Referrals and Testimonials from Previous Clients & Partners
Referrals are one of the most powerful marketing tools available. We are much more likely to book a service provider after a close friend has recommended them. Here are a few tips on getting referrals:
Ask for Referrals: After completing a project, ask satisfied clients if they know anyone who could benefit from your services.
Offer Incentives: Consider offering discounts or rewards for referrals.
Request Testimonials: Collect and use testimonials from happy clients on your website or pitch decks.
The best way to ensure clients are motivated to refer you is to focus on providing exceptional service and exceeding expectations. Simple gestures, like personalized client gifts, can create lasting impressions.
Remember, you can’t possibly tackle all of these marketing tactics, and you don’t need to do any of it alone! Pick a few that work for you and focus on creating a sustainable, well-rounded marketing approach to support your business growth.
