Distribution
I focused on the distribution of physical flyers and posters in the last part, because I think a lot of people only use online sources for promotion. Obviously you can reach thousands of people with a click of a button, and distribution is entirely free, which is why everyone is moving most of their effort to the internet.
I’m going to assume that you at least have created a few online profiles and that you have already established yourself on these sites. Ideally, you would have a website of your own to act as a home base and then tendrils around the internet to interact with people. Right now, for me, Twitter reigns supreme, then Facebook, Yahoo and even MySpace plays a part. For the record, Google + shows a lot of promise and I hope that it takes off. I’m on there (Dirk Hooper on Google +) and if you want to add me to your circles, I’ll be glad to return the favor.
Home Base
My philosophy on promotion is that your own site should serve as a home base and that everything should begin there and all the other social networking sites should lead people back to your site. I plan on doing an actual article on that subject because a lot of people disagree with me on that, but for me there’s no other way.
Leading up to the Candychrome art show I created one page on my site where I posted a straight press release and another where I posted the flyer and bullet points with all the information. I continued to update the information page as I neared the event and always pointed to that page from across the internet. So, my site and the information page that I set up, was the undisputed authority on current and accurate information.
While others will want to set up information pages about your event (like the gallery, newspapers, art sites, art groups, etc.) the only place that you can completely control is your own site. As long as you have directed everyone to visit your site from the beginning then you can make corrections immediately and emphasize the things that are important to you. Also, the promotional effort you make will be introducing new people to your website and they will most likely look around and may even bookmark your site to keep up with what you are doing. If I haven’t convinced you that using a Facebook Fan Page as a home base is a mistake, that’s alright… I’ll keep trying later on.
Viral Promotion
Once I set up an information page on my site the first thing I did was change my profile photo on most of my social networking profiles to the online flyer I had created. I let that profile photo run as my avatar through opening night. If people pay any attention to you at all they will check out what that new avatar is.
Facebook (Dirk Hooper on Facebook)
Just between you and me, I’m not a big Facebook fan. I think that Facebook is way too interested in invading your privacy, has too many silly rules, and that many of the things they are doing with their site (to generate money through advertisers) will eventually drive everyone away. With that said, Facebook currently has 700 million users, so it’s the King of the Hill and no matter how I feel about it, we’re all going to have to deal with Facebook for the time being.
Whether you are working off of a Facebook fan page or a personal account, you can upload a photo to share with your friends. You could upload your flyer as a photo and put some descriptive information underneath that. Even better than that is to share a link from your site and choose the photo of your flyer to display along with the link. It will grab information from your site and lead people back there so they can learn more.
Hopefully you have joined a few groups that might be interested in your show. That is an excellent place to share your flyer as well. Fan pages of other artists, relevant vendors and personalities are a great place to share with their friends. Always be respectful and don’t overdo it.
Facebook has a good event section and you should definitely take advantage of that. Always remember to put the basics on your event page and invite everyone under the sun, but refer them to your site for more detailed information.
Twitter (Dirk Hooper on Twitter)
Twitter has become a favorite of mine because the opt-in to follow or be followed is so low. The 140 character limit means that your commitment level is low too. What that translates to is a very current, very active and very connected user base. I’ve gotten more engagement and met more people through Twitter than any other network I’ve used. Like all social networking platforms, you get out of it what you put into it. If you only broadcast information, or don’t work to gather followers, then Twitter will not work for you.
The thing that Twitter does so well is allow you to blast out tidbits of information over the entire course of your promotional period. Any piece of new information can be shared on Twitter and it will reach a different audience. Most people will not see everything you tweet, so feel free to be active on Twitter and share everything, with a link back to your site, of course.
You can upload your online flyer to Twitter directly or though a service like Twitpic or through Hootsuite to share it with your followers (I’m going to be doing an article on Twitter strategy soon). Again, this is something you can do many times leading up to the show. Don’t just broadcast information. Check your account to see if someone replied to you or sent you a direct message. They may be encouraging you, helping to promote or asking you a question, so make sure that you stay engaged.
Integration
I would advise you to pick two or three big social networking sites to stay current with and mostly broadcast to the rest. There are ways to integrate your own website RSS feed or your Twitter feed with almost all the other social networking sites. With proper integration you can post on multiple sites through only one post. (I have it set up so that a post to Twitter will go to Facebook, MySpace and Linked-In at the same time.) You can be in many places with one post.
If you prefer to concentrate on another site besides Facebook or Twitter, then the basics stay the same. Use your online flyer as a starting point to engage your network and try to always send them to your home base for more recent or more in-depth information. By keeping your information page up to date, and using social networking to drive traffic, then you will cut down on having to update across all of your accounts.
Niche Marketing
Besides the major social networking sites, there are thousands, if not millions, of other sites out there that may be directly related to your art. If you are a photographer then Flickr might be a good place to network. If you do edgy art the Deviant Art could be a good fit. For me, Fetlife (as TheDreamKing) was a good place to talk about my show because a lot of my models and subjects deal with fetish and an alternative lifestyle. Don’t limit yourself to only the big sites. Sometimes the niche sites will be more productive, even with a smaller audience.
Honestly, I’ve only scratched the surface of online marketing for a show. If you have the time and the inclination, you can blanket the web with marketing. However, if you stick with what I’ve outlined above you will get the biggest bang for your effort. Don’t forget to ask your network to send your information to their friends too. That’s how a campaign goes viral and you’d be amazed sometimes what your online friends will do for you if you just ask.
So here’s where I ask my online friends for some help. If you have any ideas or questions about online marketing for art shows, please leave a comment below. The next part of this series is about Press Releases.
- How I Prepare for an Art Show Part 1: The Venue and Timeline
- How I Prepare for an Art Show Part 2: The Art Show Theme
- How I Prepare for an Art Show Part 3: Designing Posters and Flyers
- How I Prepare for an Art Show Part 4: Poster, Postcard, and Flyer Distribution
- How I Prepare for an Art Show Part 5: Online Marketing
- How I Prepare for an Art Show Part 5: Press Releases
1 comment on “How I Prepare for an Art Show Part 5: Online Marketing”