If you’re the type that reads a lot of mainstream blogs, you’ve probably heard a lot of buzz this past year about how folks can use Twitter (the immensely popular micro-blogging service) as a marketing tool.
Naturally, anything that other people can use for marketing purposes applies to artists as well, so a few weeks back I added my own two cents to the conversation with an article explaining how artists can directly market their art using Twitter Search instead of just trying to twitter their way to the top.
In today’s follow-up article, however, I’m going to share a few Twitter marketing tips that should help no matter how you use Twitter. I’ve also included a few links at the bottom if you want to explore the Twitter phenomenon in greater depth.
So in no particular order, here some additional tips for marketing your art on Twitter:
Promote your brand via name, profile page and icon
This one should be obvious because it’s basic marketing strategy: always put the same brand on everything you do. If you use your full name on your portfolio or art blog, use it on Twitter as well. If you already have a logo or image that people can identify you with, use that as your Twitter icon.
There’s even an option to change the background of your profile page on Twitter (click on "settings" then "design") and it wouldn’t hurt to do that too.
The more you can do to create a consistent brand across all your internet “properties” the more likely your brand will stick in potential buyers’ minds.
Leave a link to your art portfolio or blog in every tweet
Twitter only allows 140 characters for every tweet so it’s important to save space—but it’s also important to leave links behind so that people can quickly find out more about you and your art. Dropping a signature-style link in every tweet is a good way to go.
If you want to leave other art-related links, like links to individual blog posts, check out TinyURL.com as a method for shortening your long URLs to save space. TinyURL even allows you to create customized shortened URLs (like tinyurl.com/my-art) so you can make it clear what you’re linking to before your readers ever click.
Be a legitimate Twitterer—it’s not just about selling art
Try not to Twitter with the sole purpose of selling something. . . you’ll just come across either as desperate or kind of spammy. The more you can be a normal, everyday Twitter user, the better. That means following other Twitterers, joining in conversations, and keeping any especially blatant self-promotion down to a minimum.
If you plan on directly marketing your art as explained in my previous twitter article, this tip will be especially helpful, because the first thing most people will do after being contacted by you is check out your Twitter profile. A fake-looking, empty profile (or an overly self-promotional one) may turn them off to your art before they ever see it.
And to be completely honest, once you’ve branded your profile to reflect your art you shouldn’t have to do a lot of self-promotional tweeting anyway. Find conversations centered around art and design, and people will get the idea.
Help out even when there’s no money changing hands
Once you’re on Twitter for a while you’re going to find yourself in situations where people are either asking for help on their own art projects or just looking for free art advice. It never hurts (well, almost never) to help out if you can.
Start thinking about those opportunities as “goodwill advertising” and you’ll find yourself getting word-of-mouth referrals from those folks without even trying to promote yourself.
Mention (promote) other artists as well as yourself
One size doesn’t fit all when it comes to art, and I guarantee that if you’re active on Twitter, at some point you’ll have a chance to say to a potential buyer, “Hey, I can’t do this for you, but I know a great artist who could do just what you need!”
You could even make a list of artists you respect and wouldn’t mind recommending, and throw those names out every once in a while. That’s a situation where everybody wins—buyers find the art they’re looking for, artists get good referrals, and you get a reputation for being the go-to person in your Twitter circle for anything art-related.
Now I know these five tips just scratch the surface of what you can do with Twitter, but they’re just about as far as I can take you—my focus here at EE is still largely on traditional blogging and art marketing. :)
If you want to learn more about using Twitter effectively as an art marketing tool I’d highly suggest checking out TwiTip, a new blog about Twitter by Darren Rowse, or read through some of his other Twitter articles on Problogger.net.
For anyone who is completely new to Twitter and wants to learn more, there’s a really great video clip on YouTube that explains in plain English how to use it. (Special thanks to Tim ONeill at Art Marketing Buzz for the heads-up on that link).
And as always, if you find success using one of the methods mentioned above (or one of your own) feel free to let me know about it or go ahead and submit an article of your own and share your story with other EE readers. Good luck!
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