How to Manage Art In Social Media - My Experience (3 Key Tips)

Hey everyone!

Lately, I've been sharing technical tips about art execution and portfolio building but not too much about social media management, which I consider important as visibility plays a fundamental role in the current crowded market.

In today's post, I want to share some basic information I take into consideration when I create art for social media. Hopefully, some of these tips will help you managing your online presence. Let's dive in.

1. Define your goal.

What is it that you want and why? Followers? Comments? Likes? Nailing a job? Selling a product? All the previous mentioned? This is essential because by understanding what's the main goal you can set some milestones in terms of numbers and choose the medium that fits the best for this specific goal, also by having a clear target this will bring some motivation. Whatever your goal is, it's up to you, but make it clear.

Here is how I list platforms based on the performance lately:

• Instagram: So far it's the one that works the best for me but perhaps it's because most of my following is there, this might be because Instagram is more a visual platform than videos (TikTok) or text (X). The fact that I can share stories keeps me connected with the people constantly even if I don't share new art, this is important as maintaining an account is like building a channel in which it's good to stay around from time to time, especially if it's a business or you plan to grow slowly. Stories on other platforms are not a thing.
• TikTok: Fast growth, a lot of young people, very random comments. People follow but I'm not sure if following is a thing as often content is what matters and people tend to use more the "for you" page than the "following" but hey, it works fast if the content resonates with people.
• X (Twitter): With my last illustrations I managed to hit the sweet spot of visibility on this platform, I don't get more numbers than Instagram but it's still very active, instead of stories I often post below my art to bring the art again to the front page of my followers and many new ones. This game is not about sharing your stuff once, as you might get new followers that do not check your old stuff. It's about sharing new stuff and in the meantime, highlight the stuff you have shared. This rule applies not to X only but any other socials. Imagine you are running a television channel, where repetition is key as people often are not paying attention to you only.
• Portfolio Apps: DeviantArt, Artstation, Behance and other platforms I share projects every two weeks, with 3 or more pieces as those do not have high traffic but still have a great community of artists and potential clients, keep an eye on those.
• YouTube: I don't use YouTube but if the audience sees your face and listens to you they develop a deeper connection, as you can see with Podcast, where everyone had one, the reason is because the audience tends to be more strongly solid in those formats. Listen to one person 2h per week and in two months you will feel that person like part of your friends group. So if you consider you are a good entertainer or at least you have something to say this is a solid way to build up that audience.

There are others I often hear about like Reddit for instance but I guess I'll take my time to check in the future.

2. Study the competition

Go straight to the artist that already accomplished this goal you have and ask questions like, for how long has this person been doing this? What is it that I like about this artist? What often do people say they enjoy about his or her art in the comments?. Although the real nature of what people enjoy in this art is subjective, by analyzing what is it that you and others find fascinating about them gives you some clues of what you can do as well. Remember it's not about straight copying but understanding.

Here are some questions to ask while collecting data:

• How many artists your list will have and why these? Put into words what you find interesting and useful.
• What percentage of impression does X account have based on the number of followers and why? Some artists have 4 million followers and get 1000 likes and some have like 100,000 and get like 50% of that in likes and comments, it is good to understand what is it that causes this.
• What is the motif this artist currently repeats in its art? Technical or conceptual? Making a clear distinction on the repetitive subject of the artist will help you speculate about what people tend to react to. Remember these are not fundamental truths but more like theories you can build based on the artist you are currently studying.

3. Rely on consistency not on one hit

It's true, building an audience does depend on you making a few hits, by hits I mean creating a piece that gets more engagement than the ones you frequently share, but these "ideal pieces" or what I call "viral pieces", are very rare. Often you make a consistent number of reactions based on different limitations, like the number of followers your account has, time making art, the topic of the art, etc. But these "viral pieces" are the ones that go above the average, making numbers you did not think you could possibly reach and are those who make you grow faster, but this does not mean you cannot grow with the average posts. 

I see the viral ones as a consequence of trying things I believe worked in the past to whatever I want to do in the present, as I cannot predict how they would be received by the audience. In a way it makes sense to aim for a great reach but the act of trying is what actually makes that possible, trying by being consistent. 

My point with this tip is that it's not smart to get obsessed with outcomes you can't control entirely, instead develop a rhythm of production that allows you to grow by trial and error which has more value than achieving "success" once and not really understanding what the cause was, thus not being able to maintain whatever it is you consider to be successful.

You will find a bunch of social media gurus telling you how to make numbers, but the truth is there are no universal rules. Judge the influencer based on the evidence and stay critical as they themselves can't predict with accuracy if the "content" they make will be a hit or not. Many of the numbers (likes, comments, views) are a consequence of the topic, consistency, and the number of followers this person had, so don't compare if you still don't know what to say, if you are new around or your follower count is small, many of the answers to these questions come a long way by subjective experience, focus on your goal, analyze the competition and be consistent.

We can delve more about this subject talking about what specific content I can recommend you to try as many ideas I often share in the post are universal and relate to people but the execution of these ideas can be more powerful than others.

If you find this subject fascinating, have a look at this article about "How to Build an Audience".

Tomorrow, I'll be sharing the process video of this piece along with the files and insights. They will be available for Mastering Maestro tier and above. Feel free to upgrade if you want more insights about my work.

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