A few weeks ago, traditional turned crypto artists Trevor Jones and José Delbo made rare digital art history with the sale of their collaborative artworks which amassed an incredible net total of $200k in gross sales. The series consisted of Genesis (selling for $110k+ broke records across the NFT space), Who is the Creator 2 , The Protector, and Vengeance.
There are obvious reasons why this release was such a success: It consisted of several amazing creations by two insanely talented artists, who as of late have been dominating the crypto art scene. But it is important to note that these artists did not establish their followings over night. On the contrary, both Jones and Delbo (and his awesome team!) have worked tirelessly on honing the art of social media marketing which has undoubtedly helped them propel their fanbases.
Let’s take a look at what artists can learn from the social media activities of these two and other artists who are successfully promoting themselves and their artworks across social media.
Start Early
Don’t be afraid to start promoting your artwork before it releases. To start, we recommend teasing your artwork at least a week before it drops… the earlier the better. However, you never want to give too much away too early, so keep your teaser posts potent with a sense of mystery and excitement!
After your initial announcement, you should be teasing every few days.
Generally we advise the following posting schedule:
+1 Week Before:
A Few Days Before:
Day of the Drop (Before it’s Live)
During the Auction
*Be sure to include current bid, closing time and tag collectors!
Post Auction
Holistic (and Frequent) Posting
Try to avoid only posting when you are promoting something as it can come off as insincere and sales-y. Make a habit of posting other types of content to give people a deeper glimpse into your personality and artwork. Most social media marketing sites recommend posting 5–7 times a day, which seems like a lot. Scheduling sites like Buffer and HootSuite allow you to plan and schedule your social media posts beforehand, taking some of the stress off.
Be Sincere and Personal
When promoting yourself and your artwork on social media it is important to allow your personality to shine through. People are following you because they want to get to know the artist behind the creations. Being sincere and even vulnerable helps your audience members to connect with you not only as an artist but as a person. It also helps nurture a similar emotional response to your upcoming (or current) creations.
Engage
Engagement goes both ways — You’ve got to give in order to get. Being “engaging” on social media usually takes two forms:
- Engage and support other artists and people in general on social media and most times they will return the favor. Plus it’s a nice thing to do anyways!
- Generally speaking, interactive posts perform better. Ask questions, take polls, seek insights. This will encourage people to interact with your posts, which will help more new eyes see the post and as a result, your profile.
Don’t Be Camera Shy
We’ve found that one of the best ways for artists to encourage excitement and get their audience emotionally invested in their creations is to share short videos of themselves. These videos can be used as an opportunity to share the inspiration behind your artwork, any funny or interesting stories about your artwork process, insights on your creative journey or just your thoughts in general! In today’s digital world, being able to connect a face with a “handle” makes all the difference in connecting with your audience.
A Picture’s Worth 1000 Words
We see this mistake a lot with social media marketing on Twitter and Facebook. Always, always, always include a photo/graphic in your post! According to Twitter, Tweets with photos receive an average 35% boost in Retweets. If you are pre-marketing an upcoming drop, we recommend a teaser photo that doesn’t reveal too much. If your artwork has been released already, go ahead and include a full visual!
When promoting motion artwork you should either post a GIF or an MP4 — The benefit to posting a GIF is that it will loop, however there may be some quality lost. The maximum GIF size for Twitter is currently 15MB on desktops and 5MB on mobile. Photos are 5MB and videos are 512MB with a maximum of 2 minutes and 20 seconds.
It’s All in the Details
Be mindful of important details when crafting your caption/post. Some things to be sure to include in your post include:
- Links — Include your store link to make it easy for your fans to find your art and follow you!
- Dates — When will the artwork release? When will the auction end?
- Titles and Tags — The artwork title and any collaborators should be mentioned in the post. Be sure you correctly tag the correct collaborator account to double your reach! If you are tweeting about an auction, make sure you tag all collectors that are involved!
Say Thank You
Acknowledging those who have helped you get to where you are is crucial. Whether they’ve supported you by buying or bidding on an artwork, or simply offering words of encouragement, you should never hesitate to publicly thank your supporters.
Everyone appreciates graciousness and reciprocity, especially the people who are investing in you.
Connect with Collectors Directly
Aside from public thank yous, it is always a good idea to connect directly with your collectors. These relationships are extremely important and require time and care. Don’t just write to a collector when you are hoping to sell something, rather give them the white glove treatment and provide them with exclusive artwork details, personalized thank yous and other specialized forms of messaging that show how much you value their support and your relationship. Once you’ve established a solid relationship with your collector(s) you can reach out to inform them of current/upcoming sales.
Get Smart About Data
Data can provide super helpful insights to understanding how your new social media plan is doing, what’s working and what isn’t (yes, even for artists!). Take advantage of Twitter’s free analytics tool to check out how you are doing on social media. You can find the tool by clicking “More” on the left tool bar, or by visiting https://analytics.twitter.com/user/[yourusername]/home.
This tool will provide insights on your most popular posts, your follower count, and more.
When looking at your post performance, it is useful to keep in mind that impressions represent how many people have seen your post, and engagement represents how many people actually engaged with it (clicked on it, liked it, shared it, etc) Generally you want posts with high impressions and high engagement. If you have high impression but low engagement you may want to look into why people aren’t engaging with the posts.
Reach Out For Help
Our goal at STart Crypto is to empower and help our artists succeed. Please feel free to reach out to our Community Manager, Aisha, on Discord with any questions about anything listed here, or beyond. Most times other artists in the community are more than happy to help offer advice and support as well, never hesitate to ask for help!
Get in Touch
If you’re a digital creator, you can learn more about STart Crypto here.
Ready to start your rare digital art collection? Join here.
Follow us on Discord, Twitter, Medium, Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest.
