Marketing carries this undeserved stigma within the art community.
Many artists believe that marketing contradicts authenticity and pure creativity, fostering a misconception that promoting one’s art somehow diminishes its value. However, this belief is far from the truth. Historically, artists have engaged in marketing, whether they labeled it as such or not. Leonardo da Vinci, one of the most celebrated artists in history, was also a skilled marketer.
The Myth of the "Pure" Artist
The idea of the "pure" artist—someone who neither needs nor desires to market their work—is misleading. Art does not thrive in isolation; it needs to be seen, appreciated, discussed, and even purchased to sustain an artist's career. Artists are not just creators but communicators of their vision, a concept that aligns seamlessly with the essence of marketing.
Reframing Marketing: From Selling to Storytelling
For many artists, marketing is often associated with selling, which can feel inauthentic. A helpful perspective shift is to view marketing as storytelling rather than selling. Every piece of art tells a story, and marketing is simply a way of sharing that story with a broader audience. It involves creating a narrative around your work that resonates with people, encouraging them to engage with it.
Marketing as Authentic Engagement
Marketing extends beyond sales—it's about building relationships and engaging authentically with your audience. It involves listening, receiving feedback, and fostering dialogue around your work. Seen this way, marketing becomes less about promoting a product and more about nurturing a community of individuals who appreciate and connect with your artistic vision.
The term "marketing" might seem foreign or intimidating to some artists. But when examined closely, it’s clear that marketing is intricately connected to the creative process. Marketing is about storytelling, engaging, and sharing—it is as creative as the act of making art itself. Embracing this truth can lead to deeper connections with audiences, greater visibility, and ultimately, a more successful career as an artist.
a very though-provoking comment by @ilannnnnnnnkatin for this week's Cryptoart Question of the Week. one comment that caught my attention was: "ideally an artists should not have to use social media at all unless they were intrinsically motivated" admittedly, i had a visceral reaction to this that swung wildly from "that's crazy" to "hmmm that makes sense." i guess i can see both sides to this. what do you think? #CAQOTW
thank you for the quote . what made you think it was crazy and then what brought you around to thinking otherwise ?
i was coming from the perspective of social media as part of the marketing for artists. where marketing is necessary if you want to sell you art. but just because someone doesn't usual social media, doesn't mean they aren't using other channels to market. which was the realization i had. social media isn't the only way to market. there's word-of-mouth, network/connections, agents, platforms, etc. that can all help an artist sell. social is just another one of those channels. https://paragraph.xyz/@epr/marketing-isnt-evil
What if you don't want to sell your art? I find useful to look at the motivations for selling. Do you want your art to be shared, to be seen, to be part of the collective well of human culture and inspiration? Do you want to be acknowledged, supported? If you had already all the money you wanted, what would be your main motivations?
marketing is not evil . it's just a tool . it can be used for what might perceived as evil ends . but that's a different topic . i need to emphasise the use of my word 'intrinsic' . what i mean by this is that one should not have to feel coerced into promoting their works in ways that don't feel right to them . many of the artist i associate with do what they do because they feel compelled to do so without any extrinsic pressure . and they want to share their work and be validated for their contributions . the monetary is secondary to them . i would not call this 'pure' but 'honest' . granted some people have a knack for promoting their work and take a lot of pleasure in doing that . personally enjoy sharing my work . but i don't like to feel pressure in doing so . my motivation drops to zero when this is the case . this drop is clinically proven . https://hbr.org/2013/04/does-money-really-affect-motiv
https://paragraph.xyz/@epr/marketing-isnt-evil?referrer=0x5573FEdf9f390F41033C89Eb15dfDb8b1981cd3A
Even if it was evil, it's a necessary evil!! But good reframing!!
exactly. reframing it helps.