So you’ve built a website using Etchser’s free website builder for artists and now need traffic without spending any money…Social media collaboration is a great, free way to get visitors who turn into patrons and build your art business.
Find out how to identify the right people and make a strong introduction and case for working together.
This is a growth hack anyone can use.
Your Social Media Collaboration Steps
Follow this simple plan to start getting new visitors to your website:
- Pick a platform: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.
- Research Potential Collaborators
- Create a Shortlist
- Begin Outreach
- Deploy Your Plan
- Measure Results
Yes, you can post about yourself, but having someone else post about you is so much more powerful. Just remember how using Twitter for Artists got Alex Scott 100s of new visitors over a single weekend.
Let’s take a look at the steps to getting your first social media collaboration underway in more detail.
Your Social Media Collaboration Step-by-Step Guide
1. Pick a Platform
As an artist getting started in the art business, you can easily spread yourself too thin. For your first social media collaboration initiative, pick just one social media platform.
You’ll want to choose a social media platform where:
- You have a well-developed, attractive profile.
- You have been posting recently.
- There is evidence that your posts get liked, shared, commented on, etc.
- You enjoy spending time on that platform.
Since you’ll be offering to use your social media profile to promote someone else, you want to be sure that person sees potential to reach a new audience from your profile.
Once you choose one of Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc., stick with it. Get good at using a single platform before worrying about others.
2. Research Potential Social Media Collaborators
While you might be tempted to reach out to friends, that’s not the goal for this method. Unfortunately, their connections likely have a large overlap with yours.
You’ll want to identify to some good-fit artists.
Where should your collaborators be?
If you’re looking to grow in your local area, be sure to find artists there. ETChster’s search makes it easy to find artists in your country or city.
If you are looking to break into new markets, you’ll want to search those areas.
What about style?
With one goal of your project being to sell more original art, you might consider finding artists with similar styles. You’ll likely find collectors in the followers whose taste makes them a better fit for your work.
What about the quality and reach of their social media profiles?
While you might get lucky and convince an artist with a significantly stronger social media presence to work with you, you’ll have more success with someone at a similar level to you.
You’ll want to review their profile and look for evidence of:
- Recent and consistent posting
- Liking, sharing, commenting, or other activity on their posts
- No objectionable content
Use these criteria to find perhaps 20 potential social media collaborators.
3. Create a Shortlist
Once you have a list, narrow it to your 5 favorite artists. Then do a deep dive on them, taking notes and building a better understanding of their work.
You’ll want to be able to articulate what you like about their work and how you might help promote them if you choose to work together.
4. Begin Outreach
If you’re not familiar with the term “business development,” that’s what you’ll be doing. You’re now actively seeking out new partners.
Keep in mind this is not a spamming activity. You are individually reaching out to people with a win-win proposal.
Keep it simple.
Your key points to convey:
- Who you are
- What you are offering to the artist
- What you are asking in return
- What you think is the logical next step
Here’s a sample 1st outreach:
[Artist Name],
My name is [Me] and I’m a [my city]-based artist focused on [my medium, style, etc.]: [paste a link to your ETChster profile]
I’m reaching out to propose we collaborate on social media. I’d like to post about you and your work over a 3-month period.
I’m hoping you would do the same for me.
If interested, would you mind proposing some time over the next week that would be available to talk?
Warmest regards,
[Your Name]
Note: You won’t get a response to your first outreach to many people. That’s simply the nature of the internet. Don’t take it personally.
You’ll want to send at least two follow-ups.
5. Deploy Your Plan
Once you get your partners and discuss your plan, you’ll want to deploy it on the social media platform you picked.
Think campaign, not post
Just like a single email may not get read, a single post won’t either. You want consistent posting over a period of time to ensure you’re reaching your collaborator’s audience.
2 posts a month for a 3-month period is a nice-sized campaign.
Be sure each social media post has the critical components:
- A well-cropped, well-lit, non-pixelated photo.
- A spell-checked comment with a clear call to action: “See her portfolio at:” “Learn more at:” etc.
- A logical link. If the post is about you, it should link to your ETChster profile page. If it’s about a work, it should link directly to that Etching.
As the posts go out, you can share your appreciation in a comment.
6. Measure Results
If your campaign is working, you’ll start to see more visits to your website on your traffic tracker.
As you get new ETChster followers during your campaign, see if you recognize them from the social media of your collaborator.
As people contact you during the campaign, ask them how they heard about you. As you get better at the art business, you’ll have multiple campaigns running at the same time in addition to other passive ways of introducing your website to strangers.
The idea of measuring results is for you and your social media collaborator to get a better understanding of what you got on top of what you were already generating.
Repeat
You’ll learn a lot about digital marketing from this simple growth hack. The beauty of it is you can set up similar campaigns continuously.
You’ll probably want to let some time pass before you work with the same artist again, but you both can use your learnings to make even more effective future campaigns.
What images got the most comments?
What post generated the most clicks?
You’ll want to be sure you have similar content in your next campaign.
If you’re an ETChster community member, you’ll find social media collaborators in your home country. Just reach out. If you haven’t joined, get a free artist website today.
What’s Next?
Did you:
- Have follow-up questions?
- Have other related thoughts that might be beneficial to the community?
Post them in the comments!
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