As well as being one of the most popular social sites, Instagram is quickly becoming a front-runner in a number of different industries thanks to its accessibility and affordability, for example it is now used in a lot of marketing campaigns and as a dating app. Most recently, Instagram is now being linked to the art world, with experts claiming that it can be one of the best way for artists to sell their work. If you’re an artist just starting out, take a look at these tips on how to use Instagram to your advantage.
Content
One of the most important things when it comes to selling on Instagram, particularly if you’re selling art, is making sure you have a top-notch profile. Firstly, choose a theme for your profile so that it forms an aesthetically pleasing picture when viewed as a whole. Instagram supplies lots of tools to help with this, you can even choose the border widths between each photo. You need to showcase your best pieces of art and make sure you put them in their best light by taking excellent photos. Your photo captions are also important so take your time creating these, and your bio which appears at the top of your profile is an opportunity to give your followers some background information on your goals, inspirations and personal attributes. As well as having great content, you need to make sure you post regularly so that you have a consistent, relevant presence.
Followers
The key to using Instagram to boost awareness of your art and therefore potential buyers, is to have as many followers as possible. Luckily, Instagram has lots of tools that you can use in order to attract people to your page. For example, if you include hashtags in your caption, your post will come up when people search for those hashtags. Try to include at least 5 and no more than 10 hashtags per post, which need to centre around the nature or the post as well as what people are most likely to search for. For example, #modernart, #oilpainting, #sunset are all strong hashtags. Another great way to get your name out there is by mentioning other artists or influential people in the art world in your captions, using a tag. They will then be notified and may take a look at your page. If they like what they see they could return the favour and the more this happens the more your name will appear in places that influential people could see. Try to build up a presence in other places too, for example art forums to entice people in your target market to look at your work.
Engagement
Instagram is a busy place so in order to get your posts noticed, make sure you time them just right; posting during hours where lots of people are likely to be online can help to make sure your posts reach people. The more engagement they receive the more likely they are to feature in feeds and search results, therefore it is important to create content that people will want to interact with. You could this by triggering discussions on popular topics or by holding competitions and flash sales. You could also try an instagram bot to get more likes.
Instagram is one of the best places to sell art as it allows you to showcase your pieces in their best light and use a multitude of tools to attract people to your page. For more business and technology tips, take a look at marketme.com.