Best practice tips to help artists market themselves

Building a great profile is vital for attracting buyers to your shop, but it is also important to promote your portfolio beyond Artfinder to help increase awareness of your work.

This guide and the below infographic will identify the best practices to help artists market themselves on Artfinder, social media, search engines and beyond.

Optimise your Artfinder profile and listings

As the hub of your online presence, the first step to marketing yourself is to make sure your Artfinder profile and art listings are working for you and for search engines – both Artfinder’s and external.

Tagging

Tagging is a great way to increase your visibility as this will allow potential buyers to find your art through their Artfinder search results. However, there are some important dos and don’ts to make sure your tagging will be effective.

Key tips

  • Limit your tags to the most relevant keywords e.g. the subject, the style and the medium.
  • Keep your keywords meaningful but not too descriptive. For example, 'cat' is fine, but 'blue cat' is too detailed.
  • Avoid obvious or broad tags such as 'art' or 'painting'.
  • Don’t add tags to your artwork title – it won’t help you in search results and it may put off potential buyers.

Listings

A key part of attracting customers is to provide listings that are detailed as well as key information about the artwork, its size, and the medium used, along with insight into the artist’s process. A detailed listing will help your artwork appear in the customer’s Artfinder search results and guide decision-making.

Key tips

  • Include keywords or phrases that people would be likely to use when searching for similar artworks e.g. portrait, abstract – these should be naturally incorporated into your copy.
  • Avoid ‘keyword stuffing’ (example: "great new abstract landscape painting canvas large watercolour") as this is discouraged by search engines and will make your descriptions impractical for potential buyers.
  • Keep the title of your artwork as just that, the title. You don’t need to add keywords or further details here – a simple, memorable title works best to attract buyers.   
  • Add multiple photos to show as much detail as possible. As well as a clear shot of the front, include images of the back, sides and close-up detail.
  • Engage buyers by discussing your creative process and the inspiration behind the piece.

More information about improving listings and artwork descriptions can be found here:

Seller best practice

As part of improving the user experience, it is important to maintain your shop so that customers can get to know you, find out about your process, and view your artwork in the best possible light. 

To ensure that customers have a great shopping experience, sellers should carefully follow the best practice guidelines regarding shop maintenance, order fulfilment, and community participation.

Key tips

  • Great content is key. Use strong headings and clear descriptions to make sure buyers can find all the information they need.
  • Respond as quickly as possible to any communications around orders or shipping.
  • Make sure your stock levels are updated.

Tips for giving your shop a spring clean can be found here:

Optimise your online presence

Websites and portfolios

If you have a website, make sure it is optimised to rank well in search results. SEO can be a complicated topic, but the key aspects are about making it a good experience for visitors.

  • Make sure that content is well-written with clear headings and sub-headings.
    • If you want someone to review your website, why not ask your fellow Artfinder artists via our Forum?
  • Make information easy to find with an organised menu.
  • Optimise images so they don’t cause the page/site to load slowly – save photos in the smallest file size possible without affecting the quality. 
  • If you also sell locally or have a studio or shop, include the address on your website.

It is also important to include backlinks to relevant pages and resources, such as your Artfinder profile and social media channels, so that potential buyers can easily find the artworks you have on sale.

Social media

Social media is an invaluable tool for building an audience. By using platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tik Tok and Pinterest, you can promote new projects, give progress updates and announce events such as entering competitions or revealing the inclusion of pieces in art shows.

In addition, by linking back to your Artfinder profile in your bio and on relevant messages, it can function as both a storefront and as a portfolio for your visitors which will encourage sales.

Effectively managing social media is much more than just posting the occasional image of a piece you are trying to sell. Planning and developing a strategy is key to build engagement. Some simple starting points include:

  • Post regularly – Make sure you provide regular content for your users. This can be done in batches by scheduling posts so that it doesn’t become difficult to maintain.
  • Identify your audience – Focus your content to engage and entertain your specific audience. By understanding their interests, you can provide content that has genuine value. 
  • Be open – Make sure you give a human voice to your platforms. Ask questions. Share things that make you laugh or inspire you. If you provide the type of content you would want to see, people will engage with you and your projects.
  • Share content – People love videos and photos! Create time-lapses, share photos of your progress or initial sketches. Discuss your creative process.
  • Cross-promote – Integrate your channels by making followers aware of your other accounts (including your Artfinder page).

Find out how to make the most of your social media presence here:

Get yourself out there

Building your reputation and awareness of your work can be significantly boosted by getting involved in projects with other people. Volunteer to take part in community projects and create pieces that can be donated to charities for sale or auction. Why not offer classes or sessions for children? You could even collaborate with other artists on a series or put together shows with local artists based on a common theme.

By combining all of the above, you can boost your profile and reputation. For example, any events that you take part in can be promoted via your social media accounts, with followers directed to your Artfinder profile to find out more about you and the works you have for sale. Collaborating with organisations and other artists will expose you to their existing audiences, potentially leading to further projects and enquiries.

Keep updated on the latest news and opportunities by following Artfinder on:

Still need help? Contact Us Contact Us

Related Articles