Social media has artists in a constant chase for their tails, with each new algorithm change seemingly creating more destruction than helping creatives promote their work to the rest of the world.

As fellow photographers we understand the struggles and have to ride the same Merry Go Round towards something that looks more and more challenging as each day passes.

Instagram seems to nowadays be the Mother of all social media platforms primarily for visual artists/influencers but it has also seen a rise from other types of artists. As we’re anyway figuring out the ins and outs of this Roller-coaster, we decided to share some tips that have helped us tremendously in 2018!

1. Branding is king..or queen! 

Think about your favourite TV series: you’re able to recognise every episode by the characters that have appeared previously, the story they tell, which ties into the previous episodes, as well as the overall look and style of the visuals. Likewise, your Instagram feed should tell a visual story about who you are and what your art is all about.

To help you out, try to create a cohesive look for your content. Niching your style would also be preferable, but if you are an incredibly versatile artist, at least make it so that your posts share a similar style through and through. People should be able to have an idea of who you are and be able to recognise your content before even reading the name of the user posting it.

2. NETWORKING IS EVERYTHING

I’m sure you’ve heard this expression before and, for some artists reading this, it might be very daunting to want to do something like this. Luckily, I’m talking about networking on Instagram, in an online environment, and not in day-to-day life per say (although hey if you can master that, that would be of invaluable help!)

A lot of us like to ‘lurk’ over other artists’ work but we don’t often speak up through comments/reposts/DMs. A good place to start with this would be to leave comments over work you find amazing. It can continue on your stories, acknowledging creatives that you find inspiring, and you could even DM your favourites!

The sky is the limit, just remember to be polite and not overly spammy, as well as keeping in mind that no one likes receiving a compliment loaded with the intention of self-promotion (like ‘Hey I love your work! Wanna check out mine?’).

3. Be consistent but not spammy 

Speaking of keeping away from a spammy behaviour, a big mistake a lot of creatives make is lacking consistency on Instagram. One day you really feel like being active and post 5 times, and then for 2 weeks you don’t feel like being on Instagram at all.

Instead of giving in to the urge of posting more, why not save the additional posts for a rainy day? This way, even though you don’t post daily you can spread out those extra posts over a week or two and by the time you run out of them you’ll be in the mood to create something new.

4. The eternal search for the right hashtags 

I’m sure by now we all know that in order to make the most out of Instagram, we must use the ‘right’ hashtags. But what does right mean, what makes a hashtag better than others? On Instagram you can use about 30 hashtags on each post. Now, you don’t have to use all of them, but think of it like this: you are given 30 chances to play the lottery. Wouldn’t you use all of them?

Likewise, each hashtag has the potential of bringing you a new audience/clients and more followers. Now, going back to what right means, try to look for hashtags that have not been overused (over 1 million posts) or underused (just a couple thousand posts). Over-usage means that although the hashtag will have people use it, your post will very quickly get buried and by the time your potential audience checks it out it will be impossible to find.

On the other side of the spectrum, under-usage will of course mean that although your post will be visible for plenty of time not a lot of people will see it, and by the time the right audience looks at it, it might not be something representative of your art anymore.

5. POST DURING PEAK HOURS

Last but not least (well, there’s a ton more to be said really but lets leave it here for now), it’s important to post during peak hours when your audience is most likely to check out your creations. Most people are on Instagram before/after work so to begin with those are some good times to play around with your posting. Try variations of different times and see which one yields best results.

These are just some tips to get you started. We are always available to help you if this turns out to be too time consuming and you just want to focus on your art. You can reach us through the contact form on our landing page.

If you want to learn more about social media generally and what you can do as an artist to get the best out of it, subscribing to our newsletter could be very useful. We only send one e-mail per month to keep you in the loop and don’t spam you with useless information, we know your time is valuable.