Building Your Creative Audience: Strategies for Success
Written on
Chapter 1: Understanding Marketing for Creatives
If you're looking to monetize your creative endeavors, mastering the art of marketing is essential. However, this doesn’t mean resorting to aggressive or disingenuous tactics. Marketing can indeed be enjoyable!
Marketing Explained for Creatives
Marketing is fundamentally about generating income from your artistic pursuits, whether you write, design, paint, play music, or craft. Being talented is only one aspect; you must also cultivate an audience, a dedicated client base, or what some call your "1000 true fans."
For many creators, this doesn’t come instinctively and is often overlooked in arts education. Yet, I’ve never encountered a thriving creative who hasn’t engaged in some form of marketing. This doesn’t have to be synonymous with spreadsheets or wearing uncomfortable suits. It may involve acquiring new skills, stepping out of your comfort zone, and more actively showcasing your work.
The payoff is significant; in fact, it’s the only route to financial success in your creative field.
New Perspectives on Marketing
Here, I propose alternative definitions that align better with creative work. Rather than viewing marketing as selling or pushing, consider it as a means of connection, sharing, and offering.
It’s about forging meaningful relationships with your audience, clients, and the influencers—editors, agents, and managers—who can help you advance your career. It’s also about engaging with retailers or galleries that might showcase your work.
Instead of being desperate or overly focused on profit, it's about expressing your passion for what you create and inviting others who might share that enthusiasm.
You’re not shouting, "Buy my stuff!" to strangers; rather, you’re extending an invitation to your community: "I created this for you. Would you like to learn more?"
This approach emphasizes creativity, authenticity, openness, and generosity. It’s about finding and communicating with individuals who resonate with your work and are eager to discover more.
How to Approach Your Marketing
The method you choose for marketing is entirely personal; there’s no universal solution. It requires experimentation to find what resonates with you, your style of communication, and your audience.
Research your ideal client. Understand their language, challenges, and needs. Determine how you can satisfy, delight, and even surprise them. Challenge limiting beliefs about marketing; choose to view it as something enjoyable and effective.
Learn to articulate your story, detailing the services you offer and how they can benefit others. Show your process and highlight what makes your work special.
Be brave! Seek visibility, showcase your creations, gather feedback, and explore new opportunities. Remember, you don’t need to create all new content from scratch; utilize your existing creative assets and keep promoting them.
Engage directly with your audience, maintaining regular communication to foster real connections. Get comfortable with pricing your services or products, making clear offers for potential customers to support you.
This journey might push you outside your comfort zone, but it’s a lifelong process of skill development and gradual improvement.
If you're not dedicating at least 20% of your time to marketing or outreach, you may struggle to make progress.
Marketing Tips for Creatives
Have a Clear Objective
If your aim is to generate income quickly, focus less on building a social media following or crafting a new website. Instead, reach out to potential clients, send pitches, or reconnect with previous clients to explore their needs.
If you’re planning to launch something in 6-12 months, begin sharing relevant content now to build excitement and collect email addresses for a newsletter.
If you already have a product without an audience, invest time in learning how to effectively target ads toward your ideal customers. Alternatively, collaborate with others who have an audience that would appreciate your work.
Simplify Your Approach
When I transitioned from journalism to coaching creative professionals, I overwhelmed myself with various marketing activities. Despite researching numerous strategies, I found it exhausting and unproductive.
Eventually, a business coach pointed out that I already had connections who could serve as my ideal clients. I reached out to my existing network, which led to fruitful collaborations and recommendations.
Focus on a Few Marketing Activities
You cannot do everything at once—posting on multiple social media platforms, designing a website, launching an online shop, and more. Instead, concentrate on one or two marketing strategies at a time. Experiment, and once you find what works, streamline those processes and make them routine.
Make Consistent Offers
When posting on social media, ensure that at least one out of every four posts includes information on how to purchase your work. If you offer services, regularly promote your pricing and packages.
While this may deter some followers, remember that they likely weren’t your target audience to begin with.
Don’t Hesitate to Ask
Request testimonials and referrals from satisfied clients. Inform past clients when you have availability for new projects.
Regularly check in with your network and send newsletters or updates, even if they’re simple. Building long-term relationships is key to creating a sustainable career.
By being generous and authentic, you will cultivate a loyal audience and create a thriving career doing what you love.
The first video, "How to Build an Audience (Even if You're a Nobody)," provides insights into attracting followers and establishing a supportive community around your work.
The second video, "The Audience Building Step Everyone Skips (But Wishes They Hadn't)," highlights essential yet often overlooked strategies for audience engagement.