Last updated on January 16th, 2023
Today, branding is not only limited to products or companies. It has become an integral need for professionals as well. Whether you’re an entrepreneur or artist, you need to incorporate branding strategies to make a name in the industry. In this article, we’ve shared what is branding and why artists should focus to create a strong brand strategy.
We generally associate branding with companies, businesses, products, or services. With huge competition in the art industry, even artworks have entered the realm of branding exponentially.
Today, both art and artists are competing hard to grab the attention of prospective art buyers. This has lead marketers to build a trustworthy brand strategy for artists.
Also, you might have noticed that certain artists are more successful than many others in terms of achieving their business goals. In other words, some artists can sell more art pieces, while others struggle.
Not only that, in terms of sales, successful artists can increase their audience reach manyfold. Have you wondered how they can achieve that? Because of an effective art brand strategy.
Planning to sell an artist as a brand in the art market takes a lot of effort. A majority of artists are unable to put their artworks in commercial galleries to seek media attention.
So, they have to find out new and affordable ways to get increased exposure and recognition. This is where the marketing of artists comes to the fore.
With a carefully launched plan, the customers know what the artist exactly delivers.
Once the prospective customers know why a particular artist matters in the art world. Therefore, if you charge, they are willing to pay a premium price for the art pieces from the artist as well.
Know that the market for art products is ever increasing worldwide. According to a survey, the global art market estimated to be of over 67 billion U.S dollars in 2018 and is expanding at a rapid pace. This stat shows that an increasing number of consumers are showing interest in buying art products with the rise in incomes.
This has led to the awareness of branding amongst artists. So, as an art creator professional, you should make all efforts to put yourself as a trustworthy artist amid your niche art market. But first, know what exactly is such a branding.
What Is Branding?
Branding is all about making the potential customers know the product, services or company closely. Good branding helps people to know about what he or she is doing the best.
Incase of an artist, people know what specific skill sets makes the artist stand out from many others from the same field. This helps in projecting the artist much higher than the competitors.
It is due to branding efforts that an artist can create a brand of his or her own. However, that does not mean that branding is about focusing everything on the artist as a person.
Instead, the focus should ideally be on drawing the attention of customers to the artist and artworks. This means that branding is about saying something unique that connects with your potential customers.
But the question is, how do you connect with your potential buyers of art pieces. For instance, by merely saying that you are the best illustrator in the USA is not going to make you a brand.
This statement does not connect with your target buyers. But if you say that your brand is present in some way in most artworks, then people can relate to that. It helps you stand out from the other artists.
Similarly, if you say that your artworks are created using 100% recycled materials, then you are speaking something related to the consumers’ interest. It will set you apart from the rest of the artists.
Even providing a lifetime guarantee on your artwork is a branding strategy as you are useful to the buyers, and they see you a different artist than the others from the herd.
What Is A Brand Strategy?
A brand strategy is a well-defined long term plan for the development of a brand to achieve specific goals. The objective of a brand strategy to affect all aspects of a business which is directly connected to people and their emotions.
A brand strategy defines the values that you stand for and the promises you make to your audience. It is about conveying your personality. For instance, business logo, color palette, slogan, mission statement, etc. are also included in the strategy, but these are just the creative elements.
These elements convey your brand. But more than that, your brand strategy is what you do to interact with your niche market on a day-to-day basis.
What Is The Artist Brand Strategy?
When we talk of an artist brand strategy, it all about the long term plan for the development of an artist as a brand. The objective is to make potential customers perceive the values an artist stands for and how they see the artist as a personality.
The strategy is in finding out the right ways to communicate an artist’s value and significance clearly at every customer touchpoint.
It helps to establish the artist as a brand in the niche art market. An artist as a brand is not just his or her signature, logo, or label. Rather, everything related to the artist’s brand becomes a powerful marketing strategy tool.
Therefore, all the visual means of communication become part of the brand strategy for artists. These visuals include logos, signature, color palettes, fonts, images, tagline, and even content planning that help create an identity. The idea is to tap into the emotions of customers so that they think of the artist in the way you want them to think.
Why Creating A Brand Strategy Is Important For Artists? (Benefits)
Like businesses and companies, artists also need a properly created brand strategy. A well thought of strategy helps them compete well in the modern world of art. There is a tough competition to grab the customers’ attention.
The Significance Of A Brand Strategy For Artists Includes:
i. Improve Recognition
Artists can generate awareness for what they do through an effective strategy to project them as a brand. Since it involves creating all types of visuals, including a logo, customers start recognizing the artist through those branding elements.
ii. Build Trust
When people know who the artist is and what his or her mission is, then it helps build a bond of trust between the audience and the creator of artworks. Remember that most purchasing decisions are made based on the level of trust customers have on the artist.
iii. Stand Out From The Competition
An effective brand strategy is the one that sets you apart from your competitors in the art world. Customers can differentiate your artworks from those of other artists’ works.
iv. Win Customer Loyalty
With the right strategy to build a brand, an artist can hope to retain customers who will come back to buy more artworks. An artist as a brand works like a glue that binds customers to the brand so that they are loyal to the artist’s works. In this way, an artist can identify the best customers. Then, special efforts can be made to please them.
How To Create A Strong Brand Strategy For Artists?
Artists will benefit from brand strategy when it has covered all its aspects well. Any random creating of some visuals are not going to do any good to the reputation of an artist. Such directionless ways will not yield the results an artist is expecting from being a brand.
So, Here Is What An Artist Should Consider When Creating A Well-Thought-Out Brand Strategy:
01. Know Your Core Competency
What is the one single best thing that, as an artist, you do? Define that for your audience. It may be that people already know you as an artist for some specialty. They may mention that quality of yours in their discussion.
So, find out that one quality as an artist or as a professional who creates a graphic design that you want people to take about.
We can say that you should first find out the motivation and reason that compels you to create art. You should also tell you about the experience that made you what you are today as an artist. But be honest in precisely knowing your core competency.
02. Describe Yourself In A Key Phrase
Sometimes, defining yourself in a few words or a slogan is the right way to build your brand strategy. People can always keep that phrase in mind when they think of your art.
But the key phrase should be catchy and short. The slogan should be clear and concise. But most importantly, it should be different from your competitor artists’ key phrases.
03. Have A Logo Or Symbol
Although not an essential condition to build an artist’s brand strategy, still, having a logo is sometimes very effective. This is because a logo that goes with a key phrase or statement becomes an identity of an artist. People can immediately identify an artist by its logo printed on business cards, banners, etc.
But your hand-written signature can also work as your logo. So, create your signature as a strong and recognizable mark.
04. Promote Your Brand
Make sure that you use your brand statement or symbol consistently on everything you create. For instance, when sending emails, do not forget to include your logo or signature and the statement prominently. Also, put your signature or logo on your business cards and website.
You should explore all the online and offline promotional opportunities. Put your brand everywhere. More exposure will mean that people will see your visuals more often, which helps in building recognition for you as an artist.
05. Build A Partnership With Fellow Artists
Think of building a strategic partnership with other artists to start new projects. This measure helps greatly in generating awareness about you as an artist. Collaborations with other artists, especially those who have a good reputation in the market, will open up new possibilities for your artistic development.
By working with the artists who share the same goals, you can share resources so that you can mutually expand your visibility as an artist. You should try to establish some generic relationships with those artists.
06. Use Social Media Extensively
Make additional efforts to grow your social media following. You should join artist circles and professional groups on several channels such as Facebook and Twitter.
When you share your experience with the like-minded artists on social channels, it helps in building a trusted community of audiences, including artists. This increases your chance of getting your name out there in the art world.
Social media is a potent weapon in creating a buzz for your artworks. Your ever move on social platforms will help you move up further in establishing you as a brand.
So, these are the key measures you should take to create and implement your brand strategy as an artist. Focus on each of these different aspects to ensure that you gradually build a visual presence across most online and offline platforms.
Meanwhile, when exploring various platforms to create your strong brand strategy, think of using PrintShop as well. This is a trustworthy online store dedicated to artists. The store is run by Designhill, the leading creative marketplace.
As an artist, you can open your own shop at this site and post all of your best creative works. Bring potential customers from social media and other platforms to the shop where people can see and evaluate your quality artworks. This increases the visibility of you as an artist and your works.
Wrapping Up
Artists are also living in a highly competitive modern art world. To grab potential customers’ attention and to compel them to buy artworks, an artist first needs to be projected as a trustworthy brand. This requires building a brand strategy. So, the artist must be visible across all platforms so that the audience can have the right perception of the professional. The strategy helps increase the visibility of artists and artworks.
