Marketing is not selling. Marketing is building a brand in the mind of the prospect.
— Al Ries
As the publisher of Art Marketing News, a blog I have maintained since 2005, and the author of eight business and marketing books for artists, I have developed a deep understanding of the complex relationship between artists and marketing.
My sincere desire to see artists succeed in their careers motivates me to pursue this topic. Artists’ relationships with marketing are often challenging, a practical reality that shapes my work daily. Despite the challenges, my commitment has remained strong because I genuinely want artists to succeed in creating remarkable art and building sustainable careers.
Guides for Artists
In dedication to advancing visual artists, I have compiled an extensive series of In-Depth Guides for Visual Artists. This growing collection of comprehensive guides encompasses marketing strategies, sales techniques, legal aspects, and business growth tactics. Their purpose is to assist visual artists in mastering the art market and expanding their professional endeavors.
Let’s explore the vital topic of artists’ relationship with marketing, a connection often filled with complexity, resistance, and misunderstanding.
The Artist’s Dilemma: How Marketing Impacts Creativity
An artist’s journey often begins with creativity, self-expression, or a passion for a specific medium. While initially focused on creating, today’s interconnected world requires artists to master self-marketing, fundamentally shaping their relationship with marketing.
This reality creates a fundamental tension in the artist’s world:
- The Creative Side: This is the core of an artist’s identity. It’s where inspiration strikes, hours fly unnoticed in the studio, and the magic of creation unfolds. This is why most artists choose their path—to bring beauty, provoke thought, or express emotions through their chosen medium.
- The Business Side: This encompasses everything beyond the act of creation—pricing artwork, networking, building an online presence, and, yes, marketing. For many artists, this side feels foreign, even antithetical to their creative spirit.
The conflict between an artist’s creative and business life can lead to stress and resentment towards marketing. However, effective marketing can counteract those emotions and boost visibility, sales, and collaboration opportunities. Artists can overcome challenges and enhance their careers by shifting their mindsets and embracing a positive marketing approach.Â
- Intimidation: Marketing often requires an entirely different skill set from artistic creation. The language of target audiences, conversion rates, and brand positioning can feel like an alien dialect to those more comfortable with the vocabulary of their artistic medium.
- Time Consumption: Every moment spent on marketing efforts is outside the studio. For artists who cherish their creative time, marketing can feel like a thief, stealing precious hours they could devote to their craft.
- Fear of Inauthenticity: Artists are concerned that marketing engagement might somehow compromise their artistic integrity. The fear is that by “selling” their art, they might be selling out their principles or diluting their creative vision.
- Overwhelm: The marketing landscape is vast and ever-changing. The number of potential marketing channels can be dizzying, from social media platforms to email marketing, from art fairs to gallery relationships. Many artists need help figuring out where to start.
- Discomfort with Self-Promotion: Many artists struggle with the idea of putting themselves in the spotlight. There’s often a desire for the work to speak for itself without needing what might feel like boastful self-promotion.
Reframing Artists’ Relationship with Marketing: A Positive Approach
Despite these challenges, a shift in perspective can transform how artists approach marketing. Instead of viewing it as a necessary evil, artists can reframe their relationship with marketing as:
- An Extension of Creativity: Marketing doesn’t have to be a departure from creativity—it can be a canvas for it. Crafting a compelling artist statement, designing a visually appealing website, or creating behind-the-scenes content for social media all draw on an artist’s creative skills.
- A Way to Connect: At its core, marketing is about communication. It’s an opportunity for artists to share their passion, tell their stories, and connect with individuals who resonate with their work. In this light, marketing becomes less about selling and building meaningful relationships.
- A Learning Journey: Just as artists continually refine their craft, they can approach marketing as a skill to develop over time. Each marketing effort becomes an experiment, an opportunity to learn and grow.
- A Tool for Artistic Growth: Engaging in marketing often requires artists to articulate their process, inspiration, and the meaning behind their work. This reflection can lead to deeper insights into their artistic practice.
Aligning Marketing Strategies with Artistic Values
The key to reconciling the often-conflicting worlds of art and marketing lies in finding an authentic approach that aligns with an artist’s values. This reconciliation can significantly improve artists’ relationships with marketing.
Strategies might involve:
- Storytelling: Instead of focusing on sales pitches, artists can use marketing channels to tell the stories behind their work. Doing this might include sharing the inspiration for a piece, detailing the creative process, or explaining the symbolism within the art.
- Educational Content: Many artists find success in sharing their knowledge. This sharing could involve creating tutorials, hosting workshops, or writing blog posts about techniques. This approach positions the artist as an expert and provides value to their audience beyond just their artwork.
- Behind-the-scenes Glimpses: Sharing the creative process can be fascinating for art enthusiasts. Time-lapse videos of a painting in progress, photos of a sculptor’s studio, or notes from a writer’s brainstorming session can all engage an audience while feeling natural to the artist.
- Collaboration and Community Building: By partnering with other artists, galleries, or even businesses in complementary fields, artists can expand their reach while creating marketing content that feels more like community engagement than self-promotion.
- Cause-related Marketing: For artists whose work ties into social or environmental issues, aligning marketing efforts with these causes can feel more purposeful and less commercial.
Embracing the Business of Art: Improving Artists’ Relationship with Marketing
While some artists naturally excel at the business side of their careers, most find it challenging. However, with the right mindset and approach, artists can develop these skills and improve their relationship with marketing.
- Start Small: Rather than trying to master every marketing channel at once, artists can begin with one or two that they feel most comfortable with. This might mean focusing on Instagram if they enjoy photography or starting a blog if they’re skilled with words.
- Set Realistic Goals: Artists can set small, achievable marketing goals instead of aiming for overnight success. These activities might be posting on social media three times a week or sending a monthly newsletter.
- Seek Support: Artists don’t have to go it alone. Joining artist groups, attending marketing workshops, or even hiring a part-time assistant for marketing tasks can make the process more manageable.
- Analyze and Adjust: Artists can refine their marketing approach over time by highlighting what resonates with their audience. This attitude turns marketing into an evolving practice, much like their art.
Conclusion: Harmonizing Art and Marketing
Artists can see marketing as an extension of their creative practice. Successful artists harmonize their creative and business sides, recognizing that effective marketing creates opportunities for connection and sharing beauty and ideas. Viewing marketing as a creative challenge rather than a burden can transform it into an opportunity for growth and artistic expression.
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