Mastering Social Media As An Artist

Show Notes: https://hyperluxmagazine.com/curated-muse-podcast-mastering-social-media-as-an-artist/

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Hey everyone, I'm here today to chat with you guys about how to win social media. In the last few years, social media has changed drastically. Years ago, it was easier to gain a following, it was easier to get likes, it was easier to make a connection, until that dang algorithm got crazy. I cannot tell you how many artists, creatives, and people that I know, even business owners, that are having an extremely challenging time with social media. And I wanted to give you guys today a few tips on how you can master social media yourself. And when I mean master... I say that with a grain of salt. There's no actual way to master social media. Of course, I just watched a YouTube video where this woman mentioned that she was able to make almost everything go viral. So maybe people can master it. But she also watched hundreds of thousands of videos. She ran video scripts, as well as general copy and content through different types of AI to learn what was going to potentially go viral. Most of us don't have access to that kind of software as well as we do not have time for that. Most people that I know don't even really like social media that much to care. But if you are an artist or creative looking to make a living online or just really even gain a following and camaraderie among other artists or people who like what you do, then being on social media is unfortunately important. And then we have the rise of things like threads and the change of Twitter to now X. It is an ever-moving landscape that can be very challenging. As many of you guys know, not only am I a full-time career artist, but I also run a web design, SEO, and digital marketing agency. So in my agency, we help people with social media. And mind you, I don't love social media and I know very few people that do. And there are people that do, but they're few and far between. And because I do run an agency, I think that I can give you some pretty good tips because not only do I do it for people in business, I also do it for myself as an artist. So I can see where things work and where things don't. And I want you to know that everything that you do is all gonna be a matter of how it works for you. There is no formula. If people are out there telling you, if you do A, B, C, D, and E, and you follow this formula, or they try to get you to sign up for a workshop or some long-term coaching class thingamabobber, it's probably just one of those things that potentially worked for them. No one really has cracked the exact code about how to do something because each artist, each business, each personal brand has a bunch of variables. The demographic of people will matter, your subject will matter, and there are so many other different types of variables, as well as the different types of platforms and how they've changed. So Twitter has a certain way that you can interact with it and the people that are on it. Instagram is the same way. Facebook's the same way. LinkedIn's the same way. They just have their own way, their own independent way. And the platforms are ever-changing, which is also something that's extremely stressful. So I just recently watched a YouTube where I cannot think of his name. I believe his name is Adam. And he may be the CEO, and I believe that he is. Don't quote me. I'm doing this improv, as you guys know, when I record these. I do it in the moment. But he was doing an interview on YouTube about how Instagram has shifted. Almost everybody that has joined Instagram years ago went there for pictures, and now it is completely video. Stories and reels are one of the biggest things on there, and a lot of us don't want to dance around or make videos. It's a lot of work. And if you like doing videos and you find them exciting, well, that's excellent too, but not everybody does. Not everybody wants to have to do that much engagement. But it is the way it is. And then he made some interesting comment where he said, the number one way to improve engagement, make connections, is through direct messaging. Listen, when I get direct messages... I'm often offended because most of the time someone's trying to sell me something. Or they're trying to make me an ambassador of some fake website where they want me to wear their gothic jewelry. And I'm not quite sure how that works, but it's something to look into to see how people use DMs on Instagram. But if you do comment on a story... it does go right into the DM in stories number two. So those could overlap. They say that pictures are way down and reels are even below stories. Stories are the things that get shared the most. And they encourage you to do numerous of them a day. That's a lot of work. But I'm here to tell you not that it's a lot of work or that, oh, let's give a sigh of just how much one person has to do to keep a presence going, and let's talk about ways that one can do it without exhausting themselves. Number one, do not think you're ever gonna master it. Do not take the time to try to back end figure it out because it's changing often and there's never gonna be a rhythm. What you need to do is try to figure out what works for you and your audience. Number two, Engaging with other accounts. One of the biggest things that I have failed at, as well as other people, they think if they just post online and they post really good stuff, that people are going to engage with them. And sometimes they do. But really, it is a social network. And what you need to be doing is supporting other people. Making sure that you're going and supporting other artists and doing it authentically. Don't just go around and post on... 25 posts, great, love it, beautiful, wonderful, because that's not authentic and people know that. Go around and connect. Connect with people you want to connect with. Connect with them because you like what they're doing. Tell them something genuine. And you know what? It may start a conversation, which then improves the engagement on your Instagram or your Facebook or your LinkedIn or your Twitter. I mean, pretty much any type of engagement is going to improve that, as well as it's also gonna bring you into the radar of someone else. Oh, who's this person engaging with me? Perhaps they might go check out your page, your profile, or maybe they won't think too much about it. If you already have a relationship with the person, okay, that might be different, but it's also to engage with accounts that you don't have relationships with that you enjoy. Engagement with others is so important on all social platforms, even platforms like YouTube. YouTube is also a very social platform. And it's common for us to think, well, if we take good photos, we take good videos, if we post it up there, that perhaps somebody might see it. But the more that you engage with other people, the more you'll see their stuff And the more they engage with you, the more that they'll see your stuff. So that is tip number two. Tip number three, take it all with a grain of salt. I know I said that earlier, but I'm dead serious. You may post your dinner, I wouldn't advise that, and get 100 likes. And then you post this piece of art that you took 40 hours to create and you get two. It really just depends, and it is not representational of your work sucks. Sometimes it's just a fluke, and that's just what happens. Number four, stay consistent. So here's a good example about consistency. I don't watch TV. However, I know a lot of people that do. And if you know that your certain show is coming on at Tuesday, at Tuesday, on Tuesday, at 7 p.m., and sometimes it comes on and sometimes it doesn't come on and you really don't know, you are gonna completely not care. And it's the same thing with art. The more that you're consistent, whether or not you've decided to post three times a week, five times a week, seven times a week, you have to make sure that you're consistent. You can't just post seven days a week And do that for two months and then all of a sudden drop off the planet. Or do that for a week and then go, well, I'm only going to do one. It's better to get into a rhythm. Okay, I'm going to make a schedule where I'm going to create a post and I'm going to do it three times a week. And then you would go and you would look at your metrics and find out when people are on. And then maybe work your schedule around that. Think about the times that people are on. But consistency is really important. Showing that you're engaging, showing that you're showing up, showing that you're there. Nobody likes inconsistency. It's not fun. Nothing feels good when it's inconsistent. It's confusing and people often move away from that. I mean, if you had a friend who every time you went out, they came to pick you up, but sometimes they showed up and sometimes they didn't, you probably wouldn't engage with them very much because they're not reliable. Being consistent creates reliability. Being consistent also puts you in people's faces more often, which then they're more apt to look for you or recognize you. And lastly, be thoughtful in what you post and what you share. It's better to share things two pieces of content that are really thoughtful and have good captions and that have decent pictures or the video was done well than to put out seven things that are subpar. It's more important to put out quality content and to take your time with the content. If you're just trying to throw it out there, it's not really going to work. But if you are thoughtful about your captions, you think about your hashtags, you maybe even add an alt description, let's say on Instagram, you can do that on YouTube as well, then you are going to potentially hit audiences that you might not have hit, as well as you can think about for SEO, which is search engine optimization, which also happens with social media. is that you can put your location. And I had started putting my location about three months ago, and I've definitely connected with people in my local area. I just moved here. So for me, it was a really great way to find and connect with other people. So your location is also a great thing. But overall, be thoughtful with your content. Be consistent. with your content. Don't have extreme expectations and feel awful when you're not gaining anything. Just remember that over time, if you do some of these things I suggested, they can help you. Are they going to blow up your account and make you go viral? No. And anybody that promises you that is just lying. There's just no formula for that. The formula like anything to succeed in is hard work, consistency, and don't forget, the most important thing is to believe in yourself. Even if you don't get likes, even if you do not feel the community supporting you, always believe in yourself because you are very important no matter if you get likes or not, and your art and creativity matters in this world.