Social Media Tips

Getting started on social media may be a daunting experience, but spending a few moments each day to update your profiles, promote your products and connect with your customers and followers will pay off in the long term. Social media is all about engaging in conversations, building relationships with your customers and sharing content that inspires you, and as a result, you’ll build trust in your brand.

Key tips

Choose content which is of value to your followers – think informative, inspiring and memorable. You want to post content that shows your expertise and talent. Don’t just post an endless stream of products but think about how you can surprise, entertain and inform your followers.
Post regularly, establish your tone of voice and stick to it. Setting goals for your social media pages can help you to reach (and start exceeding) your ideal number of followers, likes, comments and shares.
Social media isn’t a one-way conversation, so take time to reply to comments and share content you find inspiring from your network. Target key individuals or brands you admire and follow them. Reply to their posts, ask them questions and strike up a conversation. You’ll soon start to get new followers.

Common mistakes

Not updating – having no profile is better than having one that is unfinished or of out of date. Try to post at least every other day.
Posting content that doesn’t interest your followers – it’s great for your content to reflect your personality, but try to avoid suddenly tweeting about the Great British Bake-Off results if your account is purely professional.
Spreading yourself too thin – running your Artfinder shop and keeping your profiles updated takes time. You don’t have to be everywhere and you’re far more likely to grow your presence on a social network faster if you can dedicate sufficient time to it.

Help! I don’t know what kind of content to post!

Don’t worry – you won’t find the magic key immediately with social media. As a rule of thumb, post content you find interesting. Keep it real, light-hearted and informative, and where possible, accompany each post with an image.

To find out what makes your followers tick, you should test a variety of content. Keep it fresh to surprise and inspire, and don’t be afraid to try new things. Here’s a few examples for you:

A new work in progress
A technique you’re trying out
A piece you’ve just finished
Your studio or working space
Any artwork you sell
Updates you’ve made to your Artfinder shop
Any exhibitions you’re featured in
A landscape or place of inspiration you like to go to
Other artists, musicians, writers or works of art that inspire you (to increase your credibility and show where your style comes from)
Quotes that inspire you
Interesting articles or links you’ve read
Ask questions: about your products, your shop, or for tips and feedback.

What’s a #hashtag?

When used wisely, a hashtag can be a great way to immerse yourself in relevant conversations and get more exposure. When writing your post, identify keywords and place a “#” in front of them – do this sparingly though! They’ll appear in searches for users searching for those terms. The more specific you can be, the more likely your posts will be seen by people who are interested in your work.

You can check Twitter to see the daily trends – if you have content that relates, jump on the bandwagon and join the conversation!

What’s tagging?

Tagging is mentioning an account. So, when you mention (@) another account in your posts or comment, they’ll be notified. They may respond to you and join the conversation, which is a great way to engage and widen your sphere of influence!

For example, should you wish to tag Artfinder on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, simply type an “@” followed by “Artfinder”. A dropdown should appear which will allow you to select our official profile. Et voilà! Reach out to us and we’ll reach out right back.

More tips for specific platforms

Instagram

Approach Instagram as you would your art – find your style and learn how to edit to perfection. Use good lighting, crop to create a sense of balance and try to keep your compositions consistent. Eventually, when you update, your followers will be able to quickly recognise your posts.

Read our article Market Yourself: Make the most of Instagram for more helpful hints and tips.

Facebook

Facebook is a rich and engaging experience, which works best when visual materials (images or videos) are shared. Get creative with your profile design: choose a profile picture and cover picture that say something about you. And don’t forget to fill in your ‘About’ section with relevant information regarding your work, techniques and influences, as well as a link to your Artfinder shop.

Read our article Market Yourself: Make the most of Facebook for more helpful hints and tips.

Twitter

It’s important to tweet regularly (every day, if you’re going to commit), and keep on top of your mentions so that you can respond to them.

Follow relevant accounts, but don’t go overboard – it’s best not to follow more accounts than you have followers. Remember to @mention relevant Twitter accounts and include #hashtags which are of high relevance.

Don’t forget to add your Twitter account to your Artfinder shop.

Read our article Market Yourself: Make the most of Twitter for more helpful hints and tips.

Millions use Pinterest to explore their interests, searching for serendipity and looking to be inspired. This is a place to show off your awesome product photography and really tell a story behind your Artfinder shop!

Pinterest is great for creating themed boards to display your different projects or sources of inspiration. Remember to name each board, add a description and set a compelling cover image.

You can pin your artworks direct from their page on Artfinder, and you can also pin images from around the web. Don’t forget to also browse Pinterest for other content you like that you can ‘repin’ to your boards.

TikTok

TikTok is a fast-growing video-sharing platform which allows users to create high quality content through their in-app editing tools. Hugely popular with artists, you’ll often find time-lapse videos of artwork being created or orders being packaged and sent to customers. This is a great platform if you have a love for video and have lots to share.

Sign up via the app and start creating within seconds. Add trending audio to your video, utilise keywords and hashtags in your captions, and post frequently. You may find the same levels of success as many other businesses have on TikTok.

The bottom line

Building a social media presence doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time to build an engaged audience but when approached with the same regularity and passion you approach your art with, it can be a very rewarding endeavour. Nothing quite beats getting real feedback from your customers!

Don't forget to follow Artfinder and give us a @mention. See you there!

Facebook: @artfinderfb

Twitter: @artfinder

Instagram: @artfinder_com

Pinterest: @artfinder