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The following are notes taken from ‘Effective Social Media – How to capture your audience’ in Navigating the Art World: Professional Practice for the Early Career Artist (2nd Edition). Delphian Gallery: London. pp.34-41.
This reading was in preparation for the session planned for 17 Februrary 2021 and will contribute in completing my tasks for the AGM59 Professional Development for Photographic Independent Practice.
The following covers advice on the effective use of social media, websites and blogs in relation to this.
Instagram
At the time of this project, the most useful platform for emerging artists is Instagram. I already use this platform
Types of Feed
Two types of Instagram feed:
Visual Diary Approach
Gallery Approach
Visual Diary Approach
Treats my feed like a journal or online sketchbook
Personal – appeals to collectors and patrons who want to know more about my personality before they decide to invest
Good feed to utilise if I am hoping to attract galleries and curators (these contacts want to look both at my work AND a little more information about me as a person:
Interests
Inspirations
Methods of working
Works in progress
Visual Diary approach is conducive to:
Garnering more genuine engagement
Promoting actual discussion within comments
May not generate as much overall engagement as the Gallery Approach, but is much more likely to create genuine connections with my fanbase, both between me and my fans and between fans and other fans
People are more likely to comment encouragement and critique on posts using a Visual Diary Approach
Good for displaying more of my personality
Share insecurities and failures as well as my triumphs
Humanises me
Helps my supporters feel they know the ‘real’ me
Makes fans and collectors invest in the artist, not just the artwork
Captions and responses to comments can be a lot more informal and conversational
These are nicer to write and nicer to read
Gallery Approach
In contrast to the Visual Diary Approach, a Gallery one:
Shows very little personality in favour of expertly taken images of works on pristine white gallery-like walls.
Captions are often formal and written in the third person
Artist’s voice largely absent
Gallery account is successful when the artist is already established and doesn’t want/need direct connection with supporters
Good for practitioners, such as:
Commercial photographers
Commercial illustrators
Commercial designers
Learning about the personality of the artist is less important for commissioning editors or art directors
Getting the job done to spec is more essential to these roles than knowing the artist’s personality (in my personal experience)
Conclusion?
Both approaches can be useful for different reasons
Good to spend some time deciding which one suits me and what I want
Can run both in parallel, especially when more established (my thought)
Driving Engagement
Engagement must be genuine.
What I want is (ideally in this order):
Comments
Reposts
Direct messages
Likes
Notes on Comments
I want comments on my posts that go beyond the ubiquitous ‘great work’ and give something more ‘human’
Any comments will help drive overall engagement
Actual conversation within the comments is more useful
‘Like’ comments my photos receive
Respond to the comments
Has taken commenter valuable time to make a comment
Nice for the commenter to see that their act has been noticed
Helps drive engagement to their account
Social media is SOCIAL
The more I engage with people (both on their accounts and on my own one/s) the more they will engage with me in turn
By encouraging engagement on my own account, I should be giving what I hope to receive across other people’s accounts, too
I should comment upon works I love and say why I love them
Don’t stick to the ubiquitous single word affirmations or banal ‘thumbs up’ emojis
Don’t offer critique, unless requested, or appear to be derisory
Notes on Sharing
Some of the most successful accounts that the writers of this book know of post their own work as often as sharing the work of others
May seem counterintuitive, but it pays dividends
Account that share other’s work are more varied, therefore more widely appealing
Important to share images that won’t look out of place on my feed
When done well, these additions can benefit the whole
Becomes greater than the sum of its parts
Can be done in either posts or stories
Both are good for different reasons:
Stories: temporary and immediate and free of the negative effects of the selective algorithm that can affect how my feed is seen by others
When sharing a work to a story, tag the artist always so they know I’ve posted it
By promoting dialogue between me and other artists, it creates the potential for them to further share my profile through reposts
Personally, I would share other’s work in stories as the images of other’s would dilute my feed
Capturing My Audience
What can I do with my audience once I have them? Bring them from my social media to ‘something closer to home’
In an ideal world, that would be to visit my shows and buy my work, but this happens in the physical world
Often needs to one or two more steps in between this and discovering me online
Website & Blog
These platforms and methods of communicating are essential in bridging the gap between being visible and discovered on social media and the desired outcome of people visiting my shows and/or buying my work
Incredibly useful tool in giving potentially interested parties more information about myself and my practice and bringing them in closer
A website serves many functions that are absent from my social media
A well-ordered website is essential, and the most efficient use of the site would be to include a blog
This blog, when used effectively, can help drive traffic towards social media and vice-versa
Keywords and an effective SEO (search engine optimisation) approach is useful to optimise how the blog performs online
Ideal blog would be updated as often as is possible and contain more text than images
The blog can be used to provide further insight into my practice and/or inspirations
Optimum use of a website/blog can work for my online presence (in terms of SEO and being ‘searchable’
This optimum use can also supplement my social media
Content that I present should be specific to each medium (main website, blog and social media)
Each has different strengths and weaknesses:
Website:
Main website should contain all details:
Personal statement
CV
List of other engagements (shows I been in and other relevant information)
Images on website should be the high-resolution photos of finished works, shown either cropped to only include the work or in an interesting setting – think of it as a retrospective show and only include my absolute best work
Blog:
A bit more informal
Contain a lot more text
Talk about things as they are in progress
Can link to my social media
Where appropriate, build upon or give more details to things I have posted there
Social Media:
Use as outlined above
Website, blog, and social media should be used in synch direct traffic between them
Mailing List
Can bring my social media following into my mailing list
Can ‘future proof’ if Instagram or alternative social media platforms become defunct or change
When done correctly, can be the lifeblood of my business
Encourage my followers to be on my mailing list
Whenever anyone buys or expresses an interest in my work, put all my details in a spreadsheet to keep a record
Gives me a bank of people who I can be certain have a tangible interest in my work
Whenever I release a new print or start planning a new show, these are the most likely people to be interested
Ways to get people to sign up to my mailing list include using:
Swipe-up functionality within stories
Adding my signup address in my bio
Mentioning my mailing list in my captions
Mailing list sign up box can appear as a pop up on my website
Can also remain permanently in a side bar on my website
Make sure I am GDR compliant!
All those on my mailing list have in some way consented to be contacted by me
When people unsubscribe, don’t be disheartened – think of it as part of honing a tight, dedicated list that has a genuine interest in what I am doing
Optimise the open rates of my mailing list using techniques such as personalising the ‘To’ field of my message, verifying my email and authenticating my domain
Is fiddly, but they will really help me ensure my messages do not get redirected to junk by spam filters
Conclusion
My social media shouldn’t be treated as a business tool
When used appropriately, can be of great benefit to me
Treat it with the respect it deserves
Get the best out of Instagram while it is around
Social media may change, but don’t fear this aspect
Adopt, adapt to, and utilise whatever new media is available in the most efficient way possible
Using social media in the most efficient way is to bring any followers I attain closer into that fold and create a like-minded community
Once I have this community, I should strive to extend that community BEYOND the confines of whatever platform I found them on and towards other more stable platforms, like email
In addition to this very useful advice, the following observations and advice supplied by Artquest should be taken into consideration:
2020. ‘Effective Social Media – How to Capture Your Audience‘ in Navigating the Art World: Professional Practice for the Early Career Artist (2nd Edition). Delphian Gallery: London. pp.34-41.
Jennie Meadows MA Photography 