Instagram For Artists

Instagram is an excellent social media network to grow your online presence. The platform has roughly around over 1 billion users, and continues to grow exponentially on a monthly basis. As a social media marketing company, we receive a lot inquires regarding Instagram marketing for business. Recently, however, we’ve received hundreds of calls from Instagram artists looking to leverage the online platform.  Now Instagram for artists presents different challenges  than for a business, but we feel slight variations on previously tested strategies are applicable. Allow us to explain in further detail below.

Consistency

With any social media campaign, whether it be a business, organization or artist, consistency is key. This means creating and sharing high quality content on daily basis. (or at the very least 5 times a week). The more you post, the more likely you are to generate buzz online. Just be sure to not go overboard, though. We’ve encountered clients who post far too often and then go days without sharing anything. This is precisely why a social media manager is so beneficial. Having a detailed strategy is key, and keeps you on track throughout your marketing campaign. 

Experiment with Hashtags

Hashtags are a very effective method for attracting more followers to your Instagram feed. We’ve managed to expand various clients’ Instagram presence simply by hitting the right hashtag at the right time. We’d like to note, however, that this is slightly more difficult for an artist, as an over use of hashtags may come across as spam-y. This might actually succeed to disengage your current fanbase rather than expand it. We’ve noticed that artists only use hashtags when they are extremely pertinent and they’ll only use one to two per post.  Introducing hashtags, at the very least, will get your page in front of a wider, more diverse audience. 

hashtagging-for-artists-on-instagram

Photo by Oliver Dumoulin on Unsplash


Instagram Ads

Instagram (and Facebook) uses a highly sophisticated ads manager that allows one to reach highly specified demographics. In the past we’ve worked with clients who simply need us to manage their online ads and budget. Though as artists, an excess of ads — like hashtags — could succeed in actually turning off your audience. This is a two way street:  Ads will undoubtedly grow your online presence; More people will see your page, but you also run the risk potentially alienating long time followers. In short, Ads are a highly effective way to reach a lot of people fast, but you don’t want to solely come to rely on them.

instagram-influencers

Photo by Oliver Dumoulin

Leverage Influencers and Mentions

Leveraging influencers on Instagram is another effective way for attracting audiences to your page. In addition, taking full advantage of any mentions and tags you receive can bolster you digital presence.  Conversely, you can mention or tag any connections that you have within your industry. Posting photos with influencers in your field can also help, too. We’ve seen posts go viral simply because somebody tagged or mentioned someone within the post. In our opinion, this is a easy way to take a strong Instagram presence to the next level.

Link Instagram to Twitter

When you post a photo to Instagram, you are asked if you’d like to share the photo to Twitter as well. Often we see businesses and artists both using Twitter to link back to their Instagram feed. While this may not be a huge boost to your Instagram presence, it will increase your Instagram’s visibility. Effectively, fans will be able to access your feed through two different social networks, which is certainly a plus. Ultimately this is something that’s very easy to do, and it increases your chances of being discovered by more users.

Show your Followers the whole Scope of your Artistry

Instagram is great for giving your audience a “behind the scenes” look at your brand. This is true for not only businesses, but artists, too. Don’t just share the final product: Share the entire process, and steps taken to fully realize your work. The mark of any strong Instagram account is an engaging narrative: Show your fans the whole scope of your artistry; show them how and why it is you do what you do. This is a difficult end game to actualize, but we feel that this is key for any strong Instagram account.

We hope you’ll find this information useful. If you’re looking to take your Instagram presence to next level, the right way, contact us today for a consultation.

From Lakota’s Gifted 5th Grade Class

Today, a teacher from Lakota Schools, Christy Knopp, sent us some of her student’s questions about graphic design & animation.  We love to help the children in our community whenever we can, so we were very happy to answer their questions!  Ms. Knopp teaches the gifted 5th grade, and we were very surprised at how specific some of the questions were.  The questions were answered by one of our graphic designers.

1.  What is your favorite part of your job?

My favorite part of my job is when I get to be creative.  I usually doodle logos before I go to the computer to work out a final version.  The last logo I designed, I sketched out 3 different versions, scanned them, then went to PhotoShop to create a final design by using the sketch as a basis.  I also like it when I can use my sense of humor in our client’s social media posts.

2. Do you know how to make another person’s art into animation?

Yes I do, although I have not used that skill set in many years.  The applications and programs that are available now make traditional animation almost obsolete, so it has become very easy,  Yo can do it in PowerPoint.   I also know how to do traditional animation (like Snow White).  I went to a technical school for it in the 80s!  🙂

3. What subject would you recommend to get a head start on graphic arts/animation?

I think that if you want to have a career in graphics and animation, you should first know how to draw.  As I said before, the programs that are out now make it almost obsolete, but you never know when you may need the most basic skills, like drawing.  Remember, although some people are talented in art, drawing is a SKILL, like any other.  The more you practice it, the better you get at it.  I would also suggest taking courses in Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Flash and anything else that comes along that emphasizes graphic design and/or animation.

4. Do you use math?

As much as I don’t like Math, yes, I do.  Measurements are very important in graphic design and computer graphics.  You have to make sure everything will fit where it needs to.

5. What do you use to put sound in your animations?

Again, that is a skill set I have not used in a few years, but I do have experience with it.  Generally, we use sounds that are available online or we purchase them (as well as music) through a few different websites.  I used to do sale proposals that were fully animated with sound effects and music.

6. How is the best way to learn how to shade artwork?

Wow!  What a great question!  The best way to learn how to shade artwork is by looking at shadows.  When you see someone or an object, look at the shadows that are cast by the light source.  Shadows can be tricky, especially when they are cast on a curved or rounded surface.  Try drawing just the shadows that are cast by different objects… don’t draw the object, just the shadows cast by it.  Do that enough, and you should be able to visualize shadows, even if you are drawing from your head…   🙂

7. Does having bad handwriting hurt you in your job?

I am generally the only one that reads my handwriting and it is only the notes I take on different projects and phone calls.  When it is something that others in the office need to refer to, I usually put the info on a shared on-line notepad.

8. Do you need to be able to hand draw things to create art work?

No, you do not need to be able to hand draw, but I think that is a good foundation for graphic design.  Some of the most famous works of art in the world were created by people that may have not have any skill at drawing…  paintings by Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol and many others or anything that Pixar Studios produces, for example. The Hulk in the latest Avengers movie is a complete computer animation, and you can be fooled into thinking he’s real. All you need is a creative mind & to be able to visualize something that you can actualize, whether it is with a pencil and paper or a computer and mouse.

9. What software is best for creation? Animation?

I personally like using the Adobe Creative Suite (PhotoShop, Illustrator, etc.), but I think it’s because that’s what I know best.  I have had friends tell me that CorelDraw is also a good program for graphic design.  Maya 3D is a great program for animation.

 

 

How Video Marketing Can Boost Your SEO

How Video Marketing Can Boost Your SEO

YouTube, Vine, Vimeo…these sites are huge for a reason! Citizens of the Internet love videos.
When it comes to marketing and search engine optimization, video has evolved into a critical component for boosting search engine ratings and a higher conversion rates.
What are the benefits of harnessing video’s power? Let’s take a look!

Google Likes Videos
A 2009 Forrester study indicates that Google is 53 times more likely to rank pages with video on the first page of search results. Why wouldn’t you want to give yourself that chance?

So why do videos mean more to Google? Well, like everything about the internet – including the internet itself – has evolved. Google is smarter, according to Eric Sui of Entrepreneur.com, than it used to be in the fact that

“Google now cares less about whether you’ve optimized each individual page on your site to a particular keyword and more about whether your page’s content answers the question presented by the search user.”

In short, a smarter Google now considers answers to questions somewhat more important than careful implementation of keywords.

Shares and Views = Value

When a user finds the information that gives them the answer they need, they find the information provided in your video valuable. As such, it’s more likely the user will share the valuable content, which increases the likelihood your website will rise in search engine ranks. Besides. Google owns YouTube, so does that help you see where their priorities lay?

Users Push Play
AimClear conducted a study that reveals users are 41 percent more likely to click through a web page with video rather than a page with only text.
I work almost exclusively online, so if I may, I’d like to switch my writer’s cap out for my average user’s cap. If I’m working on something – and usually I am – on the computer and I want to learn about something else at the same time, I confess I don’t have the mental fortitude to read about one subject and write about the other at the same time.
However, it’s common for me to listen to podcasts or – in this case – hit play on a video and watch and/or listen while I work.

When it comes to reading online, to me, it’s not as fast or efficient to absorb the information I’m looking for as watching or listening to a video. The more accessible your information is, the more valuable your users will find it, which will translate to higher search engine ranks.

So what are you waiting for? Get to work and plug in to the power of video today!

Social Media and Public Relations

Public Relations is the practice of managing the spread of information between an individual or organization and the public. Nowadays social media and public relations share a close relationship. In the past, managing PR has been much easier. As a company, you paid for ads on TV, radio, newspapers and magazines. Your pitch was given and your message to the public was a one-way communication. Therefore, PR was simply putting dollars behind a public persona.

Social Media has opened new flood gates.

Transparency is the new champion of PR.

Your company’s ability to both reward positive feedback and strategically manage criticism, will impact both your immediate and long-term business. Companies that effectively manage Social Media complaints are rewarded twice. When you strategically manage your complaints, you turn a disgruntled customer into a satisfied and more loyal customer. On top of retaining a greater number of customers, strangers who visit your Social Media properties are able to see you high level of customer service and satisfaction. You have the opportunity to create a company image that can’t be bought!

Let's talk about digital.