Why do most artists fail at social media marketing?

Most artists do what can be called the ‘art gatling gun’—their feed is nothing but art posts: here’s my art, here’s more art, here’s a carousel of art, here’s a reel of art, here’s art in my house, here’s someone standing next to my art, and on and on. You would never interact this way in person. If someone walked into a gallery opening, you wouldn’t just point at art repeatedly and demand they buy it. You’d have a normal conversation—talk about yourself, your life, your story, your perspective. Social media needs to work the same way. Your art is the commercials, but you need programming too. People need to get to know who you are, where you’re from, what you do when you’re not creating, whether you’re funny or sarcastic, what experiences shaped you. When you only post art, there’s no opportunity for people to know, like, and trust you, which is how humans make purchasing decisions.

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Asked by synthesized from teaching · Answered by Patrick · Art Business Webinar · 2026-07-10