Professional Practice 2

The word algorithm fills me with dread when trying to navigate the best way to use Instagram as a promotion tool so I thought I would research it a bit further in order to better understand what the platform is looking for when prioritising posts.

The algorithm is designed to present the viewer with the things that will most interest them on their feed.  So what does Instagram look at to determine this?  According to sproutsocial.com, the top signals are;

1. The content itself: How popular is it? How many likes and comments does it have? When was it posted? If it’s a video, how long is it? Is it tagged with a location and, if so, which one?
2. Who posted it: How many times has a user interacted with content from the person who posted the content in previous weeks? How interesting do they find the person who posted?
3. User activity: How many posts has a user liked, and what were they about?
4. Interaction history: How interested is a user in content posted from a particular account? How often do they comment on those posts?

Alongside this, posts can be put down the pecking order for being poor quality images, having no audio or too much writing, or violating any guidelines.  It also avoids showing too many consecutive posts from any one user to add variety to the feed of the viewer.

My take on this is that the following things can help with getting posts seen;

• Engage as much as possible with people on Instagram to show increased interaction on the platform. Networking seems to be very important across the site to increase your online presence.
• Avoid posting overly regularly, perhaps set up a social media plan with dates and times to evenly space out posts.
• Make sure images and reels are high resolution and have a good backing track.
• Avoid any political statements.

I have now changed my Instagram artist’s page to a professional profile as this allows me to see statistics from my posts.

Expanding on the potential use of Squarespace as a platform for my own website, I investigated further the different templates and designs available from them.

According to artbusiness.com “The mantra for a successful art or artist website has been and continues to be “Keep it fast, simple, easy and organized.” Navigation and content must be clear, concise, and straightforward in order to attract visitors in the first place and keep them on the site once they get there”

If we look at David Hockney’s website, we are immediately captivated by a bright engaging artwork on the front page.  The artists name is clear, and the menus at the top make it easy to navigate.

If you click on the Works section, it is easy to find the particular style of work you are interested in, and each section is again subdivided into projects.

The menu bar is easy to find, the content is arranged systematically and a simple plain background highlights the works really well.  The pictures are high resolution enabling the viewer to see details clearly.

Obviously, David Hockney being who he is does not require an option to shop on his website, but this is an addition I could have on my own page in order to list any works that are for sale to potential new fans 😊

As an artist who suffers from RSD as a symptom of Neurodiversity, Imposter syndrome can be a creative crippler.  This is even more prevalent with daily social media streams of thousands of artists creating amazing original work with significant numbers of reactions and followers in comparison to my own.    “Creative imposter syndrome is when artists worry that they don’t have “real” talent or feel they don’t belong in the creative community” www.skillshare.com

There is a vulnerability in sharing creative work that has come from a very personal place.  In my own practice I have been striving to practice counteracting intrusive negative thoughts as I scroll through social media online.

The oldest surviving human art is over 40000 years old, with such a history what is original about any work I produce is not likely to be the idea or the creative process, but that the work has never been produced by me before.

“Even the most successful creative and performing artists struggle with deep feelings of insecurity and inferiority, feeling that they are impostors amongst real artists. Understanding that inferiority is a universal human experience, and that we are under no obligation to react to this feeling is helpful in dealing with the experience. As Alfred Adler has taught us, this feeling of inferiority is often the kernel of gold that underlies the motivation to fulfil our potential in our art” www.psychologytoday.com

After clicking on an ad that caught my attention, my Insta feed became inundated with adverts for creative online courses.  This got me wondering if any artist can create such a course and benefit from it in terms of marketing and earnings.

Domestika is a high-ranking chosen provider of such courses, ranging from the simple to complex and, according to Domestika, ‘any professional in the creative field’ can apply.  They require you to present a well-crafted proposal to be considered.   Your course needs to be unique and include 2-4 hours of content, 60% of which should be video format.   Domestika do not charge any set up fees and pay you a percentage of course sales.   The issue for me would be the creation of video content – I am not a confident presenter and less skilled in using technology, however, it does inspire me to learn these skills.

Endeavouring to escape the dread of presenting by video, I then considered downloadable kindle books as sold on Amazon.  Like NFTs these are bought and sold on the interne.  They require no videos, just a good printable layout and they are very specific to the audience looking for that particular skill which also provides the opportunity to increase online followers.   You will need to create an unique ISBN for your eBook, there are different price ranges for different file sizes, and copyright protection insurance is an important consideration, but you can earn between 30-70% royalties depending on the package you choose.

I am particularly interested in writing / illustrating books for children and this could be an effective way to market an idea and gauge response.

Another digital idea artist Michelle Thompson introduced was that of using Instagram Influencers for art promotion online.  For me influencers induce an image of super fashionable 20 somethings posting reels of their latest trainers or their ‘favourite’ restaurant, however Michelle spoke of the big spike in online sales of art prints during lockdown and the great advertising provided by sending a print to a highly followed Instagram influencer who then shared a reel of themselves unwrapping the work and hanging it on their very trendy wall.

Influential Marketing is the term used for using an influencer to promote a business or brand. Influencers can be someone with even just a few thousand followers on Instagram or other social media networks “They are the antithesis of celebrity endorsers that cost more than an arm and a leg to close an endorsement deal with, and such a price tag doesn’t translate to sales” www.yourartempire.com

The important thing is to do your research and find an influencer that identifies with your aesthetic and vision.   Sites such as BuzzSteam and BuzzSomo can help with this process. The next step is to pitch your collaboration to your chosen influencer.  www.influencers.club has some good tips for pitching.

Other influencers

I have found benefits in promoting my work through other local artists and exhibition spaces.  A recent collaboration working as a model for Sandy Miles Photography mutually benefitted us both in widening our audience.  The Market Cross, in which I have exhibited over the last few months, work hard to promote their space online and in doing so have featured images of my drawings and links to my social media page, also putting a section for sale in their online gallery.