HOW TO | Social Media & Self-Promotion for Artists

A look back to our virtual conversation: [SELF] Representation, Promotion and Evaluation - Part 2 with guests, artist Nathalie Frenière, Geneviève Duval (TPRT) and Karine Noyes (CAPRAC Gallery). As part of the round-table discussion, they generously offered advice on how best to use social media as an artist wishing to promote their artwork and their work. Here are some of the highlights we got from the discussion!

  • In 2021, social media is the most impactful communication tool. It is important to take the time to create your presence on these platforms to ensure that your work is visible to the public. This presence will allow you to reach a larger and more diverse audience.
  • Although several platforms are available, it is not necessary to have a presence on all of them - Geneviève and Nathalie recommend that you do some research to choose which platform is best suited for the content you want to share. Once you have chosen your preferred platform, it is best to master it before you start using another one.
  • Quality before quality! It is better to publish attractive and interesting content than to publish too much content. One good post a day can go a long way.
  • Nathalie shared her main advice: consistency and patience are the best virtues to ensure a good presence on social media.
  • Geneviève reminds us that people don't just get attached to the work, but to the artist behind the work. Allow yourself to share your personality, your creative process, and what makes you unique! By doing so, you will create links with your followers and you will even be able to find an online community.
  • Give your posts a chance to be seen by more people in addition to the people who follow your pages by sharing on the appropriate group pages, tagging other pages in your posts, and/or adding hashtags.
  • For artists who feel that they are using time on social media that they could use to create, Nathalie assures that it is time well invested! You simply have to manage your time well and set aside time for your social media (content creation and posting, networking, responding to comments).
Don't forget that social media platforms are tools for self-promotion.
It's up to you to find out how you want to use these platforms to
represent your artistic work. Remain brave and creative!
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