If your IG strategy is to "post and leave" you're in for a wake-up call: Instagram takes work. Building your Instagram followers organically requires strategy and effort to hit your goals--especially if you want to make sales and not just followers. 

The Simple Stuff:

Username: Use your art business name. Your art IG should be treated as a business. It only makes sense that your username is the same title as your art business so your potential customers do not become confused. If the name is available, make it consistent with the rest of your usernames (on Twitter, Tik-Tok, Facebook, etc). Typically art usernames are the user's full name with a keyword such as “art” attached. Remember, you want it to be as easy as possible for people to find your account.

Bio: Keep it short, sweet, and enticing. Use keywords such as "Artist"or "Animator" so that your audience will find you while searching on IG.

Privacy Settings: If you are using your IG account to promote your art business, it should be seen by as many people as possible. This means you have to make your account public. Otherwise, there’s no point wasting time on social media.

When people come to your page, having these basics will help them turn into followers.

To make IG hashtags work, you're going to have to do a liiiiiiiitle bit of research into you art niche. If you are a graphic designer, find out what other graphic designers are using for hashtags. The same would go for abstract acrylic pouring painters, cartoon artists and more.

We suggest using hashtags with less than 15k posts. About 1k-5k is the sweet spot because then you are more discoverable! Hashtags with millions of posts are usually saturated with accounts who have well over 100k followers. One day those hashtags will work for you, but for now get comfortable in the smaller communities.

 

If your goal is to convert your followers into art buyers, then this is key. Think of the people who want to purchase your art. They will want to view your gallery as if they are experiencing it in person. (Keep in mind it typically takes 6 months to 1 year for a customer to purchase a product from initially encountering the product). You have to warm your customers up to who you are!  Keep posting quality photographs attached with meaningful captions rather than a surplus of photos without an attached value. In other words, don't post just to post.

Key: If you do not have any access to a nice enough camera to take photos, do your best to take photos during the bright hours of the day when there is a lot of natural sunlight.

Your art Instagram is essentially an art gallery! Treat it as such.

 

Stay grateful for the followers who have been along with you throughout your artist journey. These are the people who truly want to see you blossom. 

Key: The 1st hour of an Instagram Post is THE most important. After you make your post, be sure to like and comment back to anyone who engages with it. This will boost your post in the algorithm. 

And YES! You should hit a "like" on your own post. It only helps you further.

Remember: Each post should be a conversation starter. The longer your followers stay on your post, the better your algorithm is set. That being said, creating videos, asking questions and telling stories are great ways for your followers to remain on your post for longer (and fall in love with you)!

 

While it’s easier to just post your latest work along with a title and its price, your followers want to know the mystery behind the art. No one likes being blatantly sold to, it’s basically being bombarded with ads all over their feed! Seduce them with a story. Share with them a part of you that was reflected into your art. It is art anyways. They want to know who you are, what you felt while creating, your inspiration, and how the masterpiece came to be.

Don’t worry, you’re creative enough to tell a raw & inspiring story. *wink*

Remember hitting your goals on social media IS possible. Just keep believing and you'll make it there.  Maybe not over night, maybe not in 1 month because that's not how the world works. But as long as you stay consistent and grateful you will grow beyond measure.