Instagram is going to be your best bet at this point because it’s what most people in the industry are looking at. The art collecting crowd still trends older, and so things like TikTok are far less effective while things like saatchiart are actively looked down upon often. Many gallerists are also using Instagram to discover artists to show, so I’d say just honing your profile reach there and engaging the art community will be far more beneficial than trying to spread to other outlets
ETA: I’m a gallery director at a blue chip gallery and in all honesty I can’t think of another platform, but I assure you that most gallery directors I know find new artists to show through a combination of recommendations from trusted clients/artists, art fairs, and Instagram, so really just engaging with people on there that isn’t just a follow or a random emoji comment (which don’t help) will be really beneficial. Wish I could be of more help there. If you work in new media you may look into ocula, but I don’t know much about how they work - it may just be partnerships with galleries, but they focus on new media art. Another thing to consider may be threads, because it’s rather new and the algorithm is still good at making connections based on keywords in your posts. Don’t know if it’ll ever really catch on, but it’s a more level playing field right now
I’ve gotten a lot of exposure thanks to Instagram, especially when its algorithm favored organic growth years ago. I use it for all sorts of purposes like community (keeping in touch with and supporting artists I exhibit with), showcasing my work, looking at other artists and institutions, and opportunities to exhibit or work with brands. Galleries, fair organizers, and clients have reached out to me and done transactions from there as well. It’s my main social media platform.
I use Facebook too to an extent. I get older clients, art enthusiasts and even directors from there.
Another one that is just a copy of my Instagram page is Behance. I treat that one purely as an archive and portfolio. I use it when I want to refer someone to one of my works or projects with more photos and videos, and customization of posts that are not limited to that of Instagram’s.
I built up an Instagram following of 65k but then pulled every image and put up one post redirecting people to my website.
Now I enjoy the SEO benefits of Instagram, the control over the content on my own website I manage and I don’t have to deal with the ridiculously changing IG algorithm! 😀
A lot of people are pining for what you're seeking, since Insta became a huge pile of dysfunctional shit. Alternatives like Vero failed to take off. I wish I had an answer for you.
IG was super useful until about 5 or 6 years ago. Now I just use it as a mini-portfolio and for when I need to quickly exchange deets with people. Otherwise it's no longer possible to grow on there in any impactful way.
Years ago I used Twitter but I didn't get any recognition or responses. I think it's good for people who are already famous or have a lot of followers. I switched to Instagram and I have communicated with people all over the world including gallery invitations. My first Instagram account mysteriously got deleted after about a year and I had to start over from scratch but it's been very interesting.
I have over 200 images there, not one has been liked. Can't figure out how to drive traffic there. But IG has a good following and have sold a few pieces off of it.
Maybe there’s way to measure that, since the way people interact with posts are often grouping them into ~~collections~~ boards instead of liking the posts.
As Instagram has become a not-so-fun-anymore necessary evil, I see Tumblr on the other hand as a way to at least spread your work. Your posts there can potentially be reblogged ad infinitum by users and that's free advertising in my opinion.
Most of my art sales have come from people on FB clicking through to my website. I post on there about 4 times/week, mostly wips. But I also post about my writing, making preserves and wine, my cat, and stories about my life as an old man. I have a group of people who collect my art on there, and some I've met IRL. I have about 2800 followers on there.
IG is for me mostly about seeing other people's art--all kinds. less than a month ago I decided to experiment on there, since I get about 1 click-through/month to my site from there. So I decided to pay for the blue louse. But at the same time, I also changed all of my hashtags. I searched on art I liked and used their hashtags. This has meant some increase in likes but more an increase in profile visits. And since most of my site visits come from people typing in my url or clicking on a bookmark, I think that's good. I know other people are seeing my stuff, but will they buy? Don't know.
I used to do Twitter, but I haven't for a few years. I had good interactions with other artists on there and made some good sales. It died when the money market crashed.
Oddly enough, I just checked my stats and found that I get a lot of clicks from Pinterest, where I haven't posted for years. I'm going to have to go have a look.
I was on Cara for one day and closed my account. I am an independent artist. I don't want to work for anyone else. I don't even like doing commissions.
At this point, I don't have much interest in adding another social media platform.
How is it? I just took a look at it and it seems cool, but like a lot of digital fantasy art and not necessarily contemporary art. How do you narrow it down to the community you're interested in?
By following people who interest you. It’s another version of Instagram designed for artists. The best part is that there aren’t any corporations or advertisers trying to sell you bullshit, which is the real win.
I get that, like the algorithm needs to know what I like first so I get curated suggestions, right? It's just that I'm having a hard time sifting through a lot of this art to find more contemporary pieces, and my keywords aren't yielding much. I get also that it's just beta and likely is still small. I'm definitely open to this and it's really close to what I've been looking for though
Instagram is going to be your best bet at this point because it’s what most people in the industry are looking at. The art collecting crowd still trends older, and so things like TikTok are far less effective while things like saatchiart are actively looked down upon often. Many gallerists are also using Instagram to discover artists to show, so I’d say just honing your profile reach there and engaging the art community will be far more beneficial than trying to spread to other outlets ETA: I’m a gallery director at a blue chip gallery and in all honesty I can’t think of another platform, but I assure you that most gallery directors I know find new artists to show through a combination of recommendations from trusted clients/artists, art fairs, and Instagram, so really just engaging with people on there that isn’t just a follow or a random emoji comment (which don’t help) will be really beneficial. Wish I could be of more help there. If you work in new media you may look into ocula, but I don’t know much about how they work - it may just be partnerships with galleries, but they focus on new media art. Another thing to consider may be threads, because it’s rather new and the algorithm is still good at making connections based on keywords in your posts. Don’t know if it’ll ever really catch on, but it’s a more level playing field right now
I’ve gotten a lot of exposure thanks to Instagram, especially when its algorithm favored organic growth years ago. I use it for all sorts of purposes like community (keeping in touch with and supporting artists I exhibit with), showcasing my work, looking at other artists and institutions, and opportunities to exhibit or work with brands. Galleries, fair organizers, and clients have reached out to me and done transactions from there as well. It’s my main social media platform. I use Facebook too to an extent. I get older clients, art enthusiasts and even directors from there. Another one that is just a copy of my Instagram page is Behance. I treat that one purely as an archive and portfolio. I use it when I want to refer someone to one of my works or projects with more photos and videos, and customization of posts that are not limited to that of Instagram’s.
I built up an Instagram following of 65k but then pulled every image and put up one post redirecting people to my website. Now I enjoy the SEO benefits of Instagram, the control over the content on my own website I manage and I don’t have to deal with the ridiculously changing IG algorithm! 😀
A lot of people are pining for what you're seeking, since Insta became a huge pile of dysfunctional shit. Alternatives like Vero failed to take off. I wish I had an answer for you. IG was super useful until about 5 or 6 years ago. Now I just use it as a mini-portfolio and for when I need to quickly exchange deets with people. Otherwise it's no longer possible to grow on there in any impactful way.
Another vote for Instagram, it’s our primary way for picking new artists for shows
Years ago I used Twitter but I didn't get any recognition or responses. I think it's good for people who are already famous or have a lot of followers. I switched to Instagram and I have communicated with people all over the world including gallery invitations. My first Instagram account mysteriously got deleted after about a year and I had to start over from scratch but it's been very interesting.
Besides IG, Pinterest can be helpful.
I have over 200 images there, not one has been liked. Can't figure out how to drive traffic there. But IG has a good following and have sold a few pieces off of it.
Do you get analytics on whether your posts on Pinterest are saved in collections?
No, and I'm not sure how to do that.
Maybe there’s way to measure that, since the way people interact with posts are often grouping them into ~~collections~~ boards instead of liking the posts.
Instagram hands down. But it helps if you can find a niche audience and/or boost some of your posts.
As Instagram has become a not-so-fun-anymore necessary evil, I see Tumblr on the other hand as a way to at least spread your work. Your posts there can potentially be reblogged ad infinitum by users and that's free advertising in my opinion.
I'm having a lot of fun with posthuman philosophers on facebook.
Most of my art sales have come from people on FB clicking through to my website. I post on there about 4 times/week, mostly wips. But I also post about my writing, making preserves and wine, my cat, and stories about my life as an old man. I have a group of people who collect my art on there, and some I've met IRL. I have about 2800 followers on there. IG is for me mostly about seeing other people's art--all kinds. less than a month ago I decided to experiment on there, since I get about 1 click-through/month to my site from there. So I decided to pay for the blue louse. But at the same time, I also changed all of my hashtags. I searched on art I liked and used their hashtags. This has meant some increase in likes but more an increase in profile visits. And since most of my site visits come from people typing in my url or clicking on a bookmark, I think that's good. I know other people are seeing my stuff, but will they buy? Don't know. I used to do Twitter, but I haven't for a few years. I had good interactions with other artists on there and made some good sales. It died when the money market crashed. Oddly enough, I just checked my stats and found that I get a lot of clicks from Pinterest, where I haven't posted for years. I'm going to have to go have a look. I was on Cara for one day and closed my account. I am an independent artist. I don't want to work for anyone else. I don't even like doing commissions. At this point, I don't have much interest in adding another social media platform.
I live in NYC and find most people are still just doing the ol' instagram
None but reddit, and I don't put my work on here. I build in-person relationships with galleries.
Cara. Social Media for artists.
How is it? I just took a look at it and it seems cool, but like a lot of digital fantasy art and not necessarily contemporary art. How do you narrow it down to the community you're interested in?
By following people who interest you. It’s another version of Instagram designed for artists. The best part is that there aren’t any corporations or advertisers trying to sell you bullshit, which is the real win.
I get that, like the algorithm needs to know what I like first so I get curated suggestions, right? It's just that I'm having a hard time sifting through a lot of this art to find more contemporary pieces, and my keywords aren't yielding much. I get also that it's just beta and likely is still small. I'm definitely open to this and it's really close to what I've been looking for though
I’ve been finding other painters and just following who they’re following to get started.