10 February 2017
 Categories: , Blog

As a creative professional, such as a graphic designer, fine artist, writer, or photographer, having a marketing strategy is essential for gaining an audience and becoming a profitable business. Knowing basic marketing strategies can serve as a foundation for creating a marketing plan that works for your business.

Start With Your Website

Your website should be considered your "home base," and all roads from social media should lead back to your website. Since your website should focus on sales and providing your audience with information and updates, make sure you do not neglect this aspect of your business. Keep a clean, responsive interface that is easy for visitors to navigate. If you are a visual artist, you should provide your audience with samples of your work on the home page. Writers and musicians can take a similar approach by providing links to samples of their work on the home page. Regardless of your type of art, you should have a dedicated page where visitors can view, read, or listen to samples of your work to gain a sense of your style and whether they want to buy your current work or commission projects.

Increase Engagement

Social media is one of the best ways to grow your audience and increase engagement. Share your recent blog posts across your social media platforms, and add to the engagement factor by sharing other newsworthy topics, such as trending topics or new products. If you choose to share trending topics, use relevant topics that are not divisive. It is easier for your audience to share this information with others when it is displayed on social media.

Use your posts as a way to increase engagement by asking questions related to the post or encouraging your audience to share their options. Part of increasing engagement is being interactive with your audience. You should plan to spend time each day responding to comments on social media posts or answering private messages. At minimum, you should acknowledge people who comment by liking appropriate comments.

Develop A Schedule

Building a solid reputation for yourself online starts with developing a schedule. It is difficult to treat your creative profession like a business when you have the freedom to work at any time of day. Start by challenging yourself to post new content to your website once per week, and share that post across various platforms. As you become more organized, slowly add another day to your schedule. Although you will be working on other projects most days throughout the week, sticking to a posting schedule will create a sense of consistency and reliability for your audience. It is easier for your audience to remember you and your work when they can expect new content on a specific day of the week.

Build A Community

Having a sense of community can be important to your audience. Not only are you attracting people who want to buy your work, but you are also attracting people who admire what you do or your style, and who appreciate you for sharing information. Creating a community around your brand helps like minds come together and can give them a venue for sharing their passion for the same type of media.

Many creative professionals avoid developing a community around their brand because they feel like it is extra work that is unprofitable. However, as your community grows, it will be much easier to find your brand through search engines and social media. Word-of-mouth remains an important part of advertising, and your community members are likely to refer you to others who are interested in your type of services. Having a community also sets the foundation for other lucrative opportunities, such as teaching courses, one-on-one instruction, collaborations, or using online services like Patreon.

There is no easy method of marketing yourself as a creative professional because it requires trial and error. Solid marketing skills can start you on the path to finding the marketing tactics that work for your business. For professional assistance with marketing yourself, consider using the services of a digital marketing services company.