My presentation for the West Carleton Art Society - Promoting Events on Facebook and Selling on Pinterest for Visual Artists

1. Social Media &
Visual Artists:
Promoting events locally &
selling art globally

2. ‘For artists, I think [social media is]
crucial, because people connect with
your work but also want to connect
with you as a person…they are going
on a journey with you.”
- Andre Woolery

3. Events

4. Awareness & Presence
Event marketing has a few objectives, yes you want
to get butts in seats but an event is a great “story”
and an opportunity to boost your awareness and fan
base in addition to filling your seats and selling your
creations.
Goals
- Raise general awareness
- Grow your fan base
- Raise awareness for your event
- Get people to show up!

5. Events = Awareness

6. Claim Digital Real Estate
 Add all details to a dedicated page or post on
your website
 Use a tool like Eventbrite to manage attendance,
collect contact information, collect ticket fees
 List on as many community event calendars as
you can – almost all are free! (Include a link to
your website and all social media pages)

7. Spend Time on Free Listings

8. Facebook Events
 Create the event on your business page, pin it to
the top
 Make it public
 Set it to show the guest list
 Invite people from your personal account, invite
those people to invite people!
 Tag any partners (venue, other artists, sponsors,
speakers, etc) when you mention them, encourage
THEM to share and promote
 Share it on your personal page weekly

9. Make it About Them

10. Facebook Invites Are
Critical

11. After Facebook
 Share on Twitter, LinkedIn…
 Promote it (if you have a budget)
 Email it to your contacts or mailing list,
encourage them to share the event in their
networks
 Keep the event active, post something to the
event wall – ideally an image – 1-2 times a week
leading up to the event
 Post on the event page a reminder to Like your
page, subscribe to your email list, etc.

12. Give It A Boost

13. Invent An Event
If you need something to work towards and to help
build buzz, invent an event!
 Create a contest and promote it like an event as
well as a contest (giveaway art, a workshop, a
lunch with you…)
 Fundraiser – adopt a charity and pick a % to
contribute for an auction or event
 Open house, demo day, meet the artist,
workshop…

14. Paraphrasing Alyson Stanfield:
Social media is great, but it’s a waste of
time if you have no art to market. Don’t
use social media during your peak
productivity time, studio first, then
business, then social time.

15. Sales

16. Sales Page
Make sure your sales process is clear, dedicate a
page on your website clearly named Sales or Buy
Art
- Be clear how to order completed art work,
commissions, classes and define any other
services or products you offer
- Clearly define what type of payment you accept
- Have a clear call to action “Submit form to
contact..” “Email now to order…”

17. Make it Simple to Buy

18. Pinterest
 Create a number of theme boards
 Invite others to pin to them too (this is key to
quick growth!)
 Follow lots, sync with your Facebook & Twitter
followers
 Take multiple photos of your art, list them with
slightly different descriptions on different boards

19. Pinterest Shared Boards

20. Album Storefronts
Facebook & Pinterest
 Add all photos of items for sale to one photo
album
 Include the price, and how to order
 Update and mark as SOLD in the description (not
comments) when sold, with information on how
to commission a similar piece
 For Pinterest include contact info since people
cannot private message you

21. Link It Up

22. Words and Visuals Matter

23. Mark as SOLD

24. Cross Network Promotion
The power in Facebook is in the people, the power in
Pinterest is in the search.
Share EVERYTHING from both to Twitter – you can
automate the posting but be ready to chat if chatted
to.
Look at social media as the top of your sales funnel,
the more people you can get into your network the
better the chance of converting them into a sale.
Events are the next step in the sales funnel.
Worth Noting
Behance | Instagram | Tumblr

25. Treat your artistic enterprise as a
business in order to protect your future
success as an artist.
- BJ Foreman

26. Thank you
Shawna Tregunna
ReSoMe | ReSoMe.com | @ShawnaActally | @ReSoMe
Shawna@ReSoMe.com | 613.899.8485