Four Reasons You're Not Gaining Visibility for Your Art

In my previous post I talked about how the hollowing out of the media industry has shifted a larger share of promotional work to artists. 

In this post, I want to talk about how to increase your media literacy, and apply those skills to the promotion of your work, so you can gain not just visibility for your art, but the opportunities that can come with it when done right.

So, let’s begin by recounting a familiar scenario: 

You’ve come up with an amazing series of new art works.

You know exactly what your show could look like. 

And you feel like you’ve really mastered your medium and concepts. 

So you share the work on your social media account, and . . . crickets.

Nobody’s talking about it. You’ve got a few likes on Instagram, but zero inquiries about the work. Your friends have been encouraging, but otherwise, nothing.

What’s happening? Why is something you know is good, getting zero attention? 

A lack of attention is feedback from your art audience. Something isn’t working, and this gives you an opportunity to change what you’re doing to more effectively communicate with that audience. 

I know that not getting the visibility you want for your art can be demoralizing. I’ve seen it happen to countless artists, and it’s happened to me too. It suuucks. 

There is hope, though. From my years of experience working with artists I’ve learned there are four primary reasons your art isn’t getting attention. And the good news is that every one of these issues can be resolved. So, let’s do a bit of troubleshooting. 

Reason #1: You’re Not Actually Promoting It

You shared a post or two about your art on Instagram with all the details. That’s enough for now, right?

No.  

First, it’s not enough to post on Instagram and head back to the studio. Now, this actually isn’t that different from approaching the press. Press outreach is not effective unless you’re talking to members of the press at least three months prior to making an ask. They want to know who you are before making an investment of time in you. The same is true for any other human. We don’t go to see shows or engage in work until a level of trust is established first.

Which brings me to my second point, which is that social media doesn’t work when used sporadically. It requires consistent effort and posting over a prolonged period of time. Your audience needs to get to know you and your work. 

And normally this needs to happen through your social media accounts, AND your website, AND your mailing list. If you want people to become aware of what you’re making, you’ll need to let them know about it, REPEATEDLY, and through different channels.

Why?  

Because your audience is just like you. They’re BUSY. They’ve got dinner to make, kids to take care of, personal challenges to contend with, and, yes, a variety of horrific news stories to process. (Thanks, America.) One post will be forgotten in a flash. Hell, two posts will be forgotten in a flash. Even your biggest fans are likely to forget you’ve shown new work amidst all the shit they have to deal with. And that’s true for you too! How many friend’s shows have you missed that you WANTED TO SEE because you forgot it was happening, or simply missed the notifications? 

The upside of relying on multiple methods of outreach, though, means that there’s less pressure to make them perfect. So, your email isn’t expertly formatted and you’re still getting the hang of instagram. It doesn’t matter. Most people won’t notice and you’ve got more than one chance to get it right.  

If adding to your to-do list feels less than appealing, or you’re not sure what to say to people because your work develops slowly, I’ve got you. Start small and work up. Here’s how to maximize what you’re already doing.

• Repurpose your content. Choose an instagram post that did well from three months ago and repost it. No one will notice. Remember, your audience is busy. Repetition is good for them.

• Share Instagram posts to your stories. I do this regularly because some people don’t look at the posts and vice versa!

• If you don’t have a mailing list and don’t know where to start, email your contacts on gmail, ask if they want to be added, and voila! You’ve got a mailing list.

• If you don’t have any shows on the horizon, tell people what you’ve been working on for the last few months. This is COMMON and a great way to engage your audience.

Remember, if you don’t tell anyone about what you’re making, they can’t show it. 

 

Reason #2: Your Writing Is Ineffective

So maybe you are sharing a lot. You’re posting on social media every day, but your follower count is stuck, and nobody is inviting you to do shows.  

At this point, it’s time to assess how you’re promoting yourself. What are you saying about your art? What is your primary message? 

Knowing how to describe your art well is a skill that needs to be learned. It’s what arts journalists learn to do, and the reason they’re good at it is nobody will care what they write if they aren’t thinking about an audience. 

You need to do this too. The first step is to throw away art jargon that plagues gallery press releases. You do not need to sound like that, and if you do, people will not respond to your work. You’re an artist, not a branded gallery.  Practice describing your art in a way that’s clear and free of words like, “praxis” and “hegemonic structures”. 

Remember that your audience wants to know why your work is relevant to them. “I’m so excited to announce the launch of my new show” surely rings true for you—and yes, we should celebrate—but it’s not a reason for anyone to go see it. 

As an art maker, your concern is often driven by your interests and what you get out of the work. An audience does not care about your interests. They care about what they get out of the work, and how your interests align with theirs. 

Once you learn how to communicate this, you will be able to repeatedly apply it to new bodies of work, and gain attention for it.  

Reason #3: Your Audience Has Seen Your Work and No Longer Responds 

In the marketing world, we refer to this as “audience saturation”, and it takes quite a bit to get to this place. Further, I don’t suggest placing a lot of emphasis on audience growth until your messaging has been refined. 

Why? 

Because growth won’t convert into opportunities until you know how to express how your work operates.  

But at some point, all the interested members of your audience will have seen your work and the opportunities will slow. This is not unlike a media story that gets old. 

Here are the parameters to get a better sense of when your audience might be saturated:

• You used to get DMs about your work, but now it’s crickets.

• Your audience is relatively stagnant, with no flow of new followers for a while.

If you fit these criteria, it might be time to work on expanding your reach. The goal in expanding reach is to increase awareness of what you make. My favorite way to do that is through collaborations—interviews, group art projects and exhibitions, instagram takeovers—basically fun stuff. I’ll be talking about this more in another post, but the reason collaborations work really well is that they not only grow your art audience but strengthen your network. And you know we’re all about that here :) 

Reason #4: Your Art Doesn’t Look Very Good

Oof. AWKWARD. 

But we have to talk about it.

I want to start by making a couple of things clear. 

First, what your work looks like is not the same as being a bad artist. So, let’s separate your worth as an artist from what you make. 

You determine your worth—not your audience, not your collectors, not your friends. And you’re the only one who can do this because you’re the one with the vision. Your vision is what establishes your criteria for success.  

When we talk about what your work looks like, we’re really talking about what you make and how you present it. And for mid-career artists, this is the part that tends to need improvement—not your vision. 

Now, because you’re emotionally attached to what you make, it can be difficult to impartially assess what’s working and what’s not. And this can lead to frustration when your audience doesn’t respond. 

But if people aren’t responding to what you share, that feedback should tell you something. 

Part of your frustrations may simply lie in poor documentation. You need a professional photographer. You need installation images. If you don’t prioritize these things you will get fewer opportunities. It’s that simple. 

But sometimes the work you make will feel out of step with what’s popular. And I want to acknowledge here that this is an actual concern for artists, not something you’re just worried you might be experiencing. 

The thing is, that self-consciousness can lead to insufficient development of bodies of work. That’s bad!

Ask yourself the following questions: Are your art making decisions specific responses to your environment, or do they stem from a more generalized set of concerns and anxieties? The more specific our response is, the more unique our perspective and our voice. 

What’s Next

The fact that you’re having trouble gaining visibility for your art doesn’t mean you should stop trying. Sufficient promotion, excellent writing, ample reach, and unique vision can all be refined as you learn more about what works and what doesn’t in your practice.

So the next time your inbox is devoid of emails, just ask yourself: what can I do differently next time?

The decision to refine your promotion, writing, reach, and vision marks an excellent time to get support from the experts. And that’s where the Netvvrk membership comes in. If you want access to robust coaching, curriculum, and a thriving community of artists, join the Netvvrk waitlist. We want you here