Why isn't my social media marketing working? I post my art all the time but get no engagement or sales.

Your art is the commercials. Nobody tunes in to watch commercial after commercial after commercial—that would be extremely boring. Yet most artists run their social media like an ‘art gatling gun’: here’s my art, here’s more art, look at my art, here’s my art on the wall, here’s me creating art, buy-one-get-one on my art, and on and on. If you did this in person at a gallery opening—just rattling off facts about your art non-stop—people would run away. The problem isn’t the algorithm being rigged against you. The problem is you’re only showing commercials with no programming. You are the programming. Your story, who you are, where you’re from, your struggles, your humor, your vulnerabilities—that’s what creates connection. People buy from people they know, like, and trust. You need to give them a way to get to know you as a human being, not just see your work. Think about what you’d do at a gallery opening: you’d have conversations, share stories, make connections. Do the same online.

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Asked by an artist frustrated with social media results · Answered by Patrick (inferred from context) · art-marketing-podcast · 2026-06-30