Dear reader,
I hope you are doing well as you read this.
Today I want to talk about social media and by that, Instagram in particular. If you are an artist, you probably already have a portfolio there, if not, I am pretty sure that you engage with content that creator community produces in terms of photography, art, and so much more.
This post today caters particularly to the artists, but still, you can read on further to improve your understanding of social media and marketing in general.
The Guardian's article
On 8th August 2021, The Guardian published an article - Why Instagram’s creatives are angry about its move to video which gives insights into the reach-drop that many creators have experienced. We are just not reaching or growing, irrespective of creating reels, posting multiple times, or experimenting with hashtags.
Creation and promotion on social media are taxing, and since the platforms are designed to reward in terms of reach and engagement, the lack of it is disappointing.
But before you go on doubting your own efforts, here is an exerpt from the article:
Photos of women in underwear or bikinis were 54% more likely to appear on the Instagram news feed than other photos.
Well, we cannot and should not compete against that, so here's what we do:
Create once, distribute everywhere
Instead of just posting on Instagram or its parent company - Facebook, look for other options. The mentioned article lists 3 - Artfol, ArtStation and Bubblehouse, but you are FREE to explore more, and POST there too. This platform - Buy me a Coffee is one, think creatively on how you can explore the feature-set of this platform and align it with your artistic goals. Use the same strategy for the feature-set of other platforms.
Learn the nuances of other social media platforms
Hashtags play a big role in the reach of your content. Explore what kinds of hashtags work well on other platforms. For example, on Twitter - #ArtistOnTwitter is extremely popular.
Tip: Check other combinations of hashtags used by popular posts along with #ArtistOnTwitter and experiment.
Secret: #creatoreconomy on Twitter is extremely rewarding. Keep an eye on that.
Time management
Creating is time consuming. Creating and managing social media as well is a full-time job, and since most artists work alone, they either burn themselves out, or miss out on social media.
This is where time management comes handy. Here are a few tips:
Fix dates on when you want to upload your work on social media and stick to that. This will vary from creator to creator.
Post often. Most people wait on completing the work and then upload on social media. It's absolutely fine and encouraged to post WIPs as well, particularly if your work takes 10+ hours to complete.
Do more simultaneously. For example, if you also create videos, record each work, process and distribute that too. That way, you are creating two different formats of content in a given time.
Conclusion
The rules and algorithms of social media are not in the hands of the creator but internet is not limited to social media alone, though it may look like it. Hence, do not put all your eggs in one basket.
I hope this was helpful to you. Do let me know if you liked it or if you have queries. I'll see you next time.
Love,
Sangita