I have been posting my artwork on instagram since 2020. During the pandemic, I found a reconnection to my artwork. In this post, I will highlight my best tips for promoting art on instagram, and how to gain traffic.

Figure out your goal

it’s important to understand your objectives for using Instagram. Do you want to increase brand awareness, drive sales, or build a community? Knowing your goals will help you tailor your content to your audience and achieve your desired results.

After this, you can clearly understand your audience and what they might be looking for. Understand your target audience’s interests and preferences, and tailor your content to their needs. Look at your Instagram analytics to gain insights on your audience’s demographics, behavior, and engagement rates.

Create a routine for yourself

What many people think when they create an art instagram or social media page is that they have to keep a consistent style with their content. You never know what people will like! It’s important to focus on the load of work, not that you have one “specific” style.

On my instagram, I tend to stick to a few different themes that I enjoy. I post a lot of cloud paintings, and painted portraits into my feed. Other than that, I like to post daily sketchbook drawings on my instagram story.

Throughout the week, I like to post my “inspiration” that I find on my Pinterest and post it on my story at the beginning of the week. I follow up the rest of the week with the sketchbook drawings based on it.

When I first started out, I would just freely post. I think that this took away from some of the significance that I wanted to have in my feed and stories. In order to create more cohesion, a formula is a must.

Tell stories

An important aspect to acknowledge about the internet is that people enjoy personality. When you write about your artwork, it can help people to understand your creative process.

For example, on a painting I made of clouds, I would write where I had found the inspiration. I would also possibly mention what it means to me, and the process it took to create it. This will make your audience feel that they understand your work better.

Take good photos

When youre promoting art on instagram, making good photos of your artwork is so important. A big problem that can conflict on the spread of your instagram feed is often the lighting. If you are sketching with a white background, and take the photos in the same natural lighting for each photo. That way, everything on your instagram matches and your eyes do not feel too busy.

I also have a post about taking photos for social media and prints if you are interested in learning more.

Use Hashtags

On instagram, hashtags can really help to reach a wider audience. They are a small piece of keyword search processes and algorithms that will keep providing you with content that you like to see.

In my notes app on my phone, I have a tab dedicated to hashtags. I recommend making a few different paragraphs of hashtags to use on different kinds of posts:

If you have these ready to go, when you post on instagram, you can just copy and paste these under the caption! That way, you don’t have to write out new hashtags every time and at least have a framework for if you do want to make new hashtags for a post.

Make a content calendar

A content calendar is a scheduling (usually monthly) of what you will be posting on instagram. Not only does this make sure that you are posting consistently, but it also

Be Consistent!

One of the most important things about posting on instagram for your art account, if you want to grow your following, is to post consistently. The more you post, the more exposure you will get.

The more posts you have with hashtags, good photos, and personal information, the higher chance of it getting noticed. Even if you only gain one follower for each post, that is growth! Not only is it growth, but its another person seeing your work that knows people, who know people, etc.

Analyze your results and pay attention!

Regularly review your Instagram analytics to track your progress towards your goals. Make sure to adjust your content strategy, and optimize your content calendar accordingly.

If youre promoting art on instagram and following these steps, you will find success!