Surviving the Pandemic: Writing an Artist Marketing Plan That Works

For artists, making a living is not always easy. You can be a brave person in everything related to creativity, but still, any thought of selling and promoting your works of art can make you shrink with fear. Of course, you want to devote all your time to creating something great. You may be recognized as an expert in your field, but you would sometimes prefer to hire someone to advertise and promote your masterpieces.

You might be thinking that you should not annoy people by trying to sell them something. But you are convinced that real art should have nothing to do with commerce since gifted and talented artists often disregard material needs. When you are popular enough, you may well hire a producer who could help you with your promotion. But until then, you either forget about creativity and find a more mundane job or learn to sell your artistic works.

Choosing the second option will allow you to overcome a lot of difficulties and get rid of a firestorm of fear facing the commercial side of your activity. For that, an artist should have an effective marketing plan to stand out among competitors and get an opportunity to sell personal pieces of art to as many customers as possible. To create an artist’s marketing plan, you first need to identify your problems, describe your goals, and take your time.

Start Talking About What You Do

Thanks to digital technology, you can tell the world about your readiness to fight for your place under the sun. You can act as a creator who rebels against the common prejudice that an artist should always be poor, live in his small apartment, and starve every day. You really have an opportunity to make good money using your talent and experience. Make a decision to use your abilities for the greater good.

The words “marketing” and “sales” scare many artists. If you are one of them, start communicating with people. Just talk to them about what you are doing. Once you realize that you are making your creativity accessible to people and feeling that they are interested in it, your tension and fear will disappear. People want new impressions, strong emotions, and inspiration. After all, you have a social obligation to share your works of art with people.

Believe in Yourself and Be Patient

Prepare yourself for a long haul. Your way will not be easy, and you will have to learn a lot. You will build your castle of success brick by brick. But before that, you need to master the basics of marketing, attract fans, and, most importantly, be ready for hard work. Ask yourself what your audience likes and dislikes, and what it worries about. Ask your friends, fans, and clients about what they think about your creativity. You can also use online resources like Survey Monkey.

Operational marketing strategies for artists imply the creation of a website or a blog. All your posts on social media should have links to this online resource. Your task is to attract the attention of interested people to yourself and your creativity. You can ask your followers or the most loyal fans to tell other people about what you do. You might take your abilities for granted, but how many people can say they can do something as good as you? List a few key characteristics that distinguish you from your competitors and tell that to your audience.

Create Compelling Stories

Tell people how you came to the present day and your story. Daredevils do not jump off the Eiffel Tower right away — they usually start by jumping from the refrigerator in their own apartment. Telling stories is a great way to create an interaction with your audience. How did you become who you are now? What were your turning points? What difficulties did you overcome? What have you learned? Start a blog about your creativity and accomplishments. Be yourself, do not be exceedingly modest, and use humor.

Try to answer the following questions: What is your mission? Why do you do this? How do you want to help people? Using a blog, website, and social media is a mandatory part of business planning for artists today. In this way, you can share what motivates you to take action, as well as how you stay creative and entrepreneurial. People who share your values will automatically become your devotees. Collect feedback from other people about you and your creative activity. What other people say about you often matters more than what you say about yourself.

Become Necessary to People

It is not enough only to remind people of you. Your next steps should break their stereotypes. Start by thinking about how you can give people what they need. Feeling and knowing what your audience wants is your job. People do not just buy pieces of art. They do not care about a book, music CD, or painting. They want to purchase feelings, impressions, memories, and emotional experiences. Determine for yourself what you are really offering.

Dive into the thoughts of your audience and focus on one generic person in your marketing actions. You can do this by creating a profile of your typical fan and imagining that you are talking to this person. Next, identify the key needs, problems, and desires of your customers. Consider whether your creativity can help reduce pain or cope with a loss. Perhaps you can inspire people and allow them to enjoy life with a vengeance. In this way, you can adjust your activities and give your fans what they really need.

Unite Like-Minded People

No one can achieve outstanding results alone. Usually, a whole team works behind the scenes of any show to make sure everything is top-notch. It does not matter how famous you are, you should have your own support team. Gather all the people who are ready to follow you to the earth’s ends and let them become part of your team. Start with family and friends, then expand from there. They can spread your words, distribute special offers, and bring new people to special events.

Find people who influence public opinion in your niche and make friends with them. Do not ask them for anything — just stay sincere and helpful to them. You can involve your fans in the workflow, show what inspires you, and tell them how you collect ideas. Also, do not forget to maintain good relationships with other artists. You have to make friends and help other artists promote and share their works of art.

In Conclusion

To be a sought-after artist, you need to constantly improve yourself and your skills. Create new masterpieces, fascinate people, but do not forget to devote some time to your marketing activity every day. Consider marketing artwork as a way to become even more proficient in your creativity. In this way, you will be able to claim your rights to a happy and secure life of a true professional in your field.

Author Bio

James Baxter is professional essay writer, ghostwriter, and editor at write my essay online and blogger, who loves sharing his experience and knowledge with readers. He is especially interested in marketing, blogging, and IT. James is always happy to visit different places and meet new people there.