How To Use Twitter For Artists: Simple Yet Effective Ways Of Being Online

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Not Using Twitter As An Artist? Here’s Why You Should Join Now

Twitter is a much-loved and used social media platform that has ingrained itself in the daily lives of those across the world. Despite the recent controversy surrounding Elon Musk’s acquisition of the company – it remains just as popular and beneficial to brands, content creators and artists alike.

However, according to statistics, the app actually ranks behind other top platforms like Instagram and Facebook in terms of popularity. That’s not to say that its 396.5 million global users is a small number in any way. In fact, around 500 million tweets are sent everyday, meaning there’s plenty of conversation at all times. Amongst these discussions, you’ll definitely find some creative individuals – all using twitter for artists and art related things.

Is Twitter good for artists?

So we’ve already established that Twitter sees a mass of activity on a daily basis, but what does this mean for artists? If you’re undecided whether it’s worth your time as a social media platform for artists, here are a few benefits to using the app.

1. It’s a practical way of appearing in someone’s daily news feed, reminding them of your work.

2. It’s easy for artists to spot patterns and art trends.

3. The platform boasts a wealth of community building tools making it a great place to connect with other artists.

4. It’s an easy place to share the work of others and subsequently be shared yourself.

3. You can directly send followers and users to your other online avenues including shops.

Instagram vs Twitter for artists

For years, Instagram was the go-to platform for artists looking to host an online portfolio. Being a photo-focused app meant it was easy for artists to share their works in progress, finished pieces and more. But with Instagrams shift towards video content, a lot of artists are finding it difficult to get their visual art seen by the audience numbers they once achieved. Instead, there seems to be a huge emphasis on moving image, forcing creatives to adopt a new style of content creation.

For a lot of people, this feels inauthentic to their practice. Twitter is one of the only social media apps that has stayed true to its text-based news feed, with image and video taking a backseat. Visual content still receives high engagement on Twitter, but in a way that is driven by natural user trends rather than a set algorithm. This means that artists aren’t forced into a video realm and can continue posting in formats that work for them.

How do I create an artist account on Twitter?

Creating a Twitter account is really simple. You’ll have your profile up and running in just a few minutes.

1 – Go to the Twitter website or app.

2 – Enter your name, followed by an email address or phone number you have access to. You’ll also need to provide a secure password. Alternatively, users can sign up using their existing Google or Apple accounts.

3 – Once you’ve validated your account, you’ll be prompted to create a username. When using twitter for artists, we recommend inputting your art business name or artist name so other users can easily identify you.

4 – Now that you set up the basics of your account, you can begin curating your twitter feed, as the app will suggest users and topics to start following.

5 – Make sure you go into your profile and add personal touches to your account. This includes a profile photo, header photo, short bio and website link. These factors are key to establishing an interesting profile that people will want to follow.

Tips for artists on Twitter

The best artist experience on Twitter is going to happen when your fans and following engage with your posts. But how do artists get popular on Twitter in the first place? Here are 8 helpful Twitter tips for artists who are looking to grow their account.

1. Understand and utilise trends

Just like Tiktok; Twitter also facilitates a lot of trends, whether these be art challenges or #ArtvsArtist tags. Adding your own spin to Twitter trends is a great way to appear in users newsfeeds, boosting your artist visibility. Keep an eye on what fellow creators are tweeting about and join the conversation.

You want to attract followers who are interested in what you do, as these individuals are more likely to support you in general. Even unrelated trends can be useful to you gaining a presence as an artist on Twitter. Once you’ve built up a community, why not try and start your own art trend for others to get involved in?

2. Post regularly and consistently

With any kind of online marketing, consistency is key. Unfortunately, it isn’t as simple as going viral overnight, despite that happening occasionally. What you don’t see is that the Twitter user has been posting away for months before, sometimes multiple times a day.

These things take time, and if you’re going to build a platform on Twitter – it’s best to start straight away. The more content that you’re putting out, the more likely you are to be discovered by people. You can even save your valuable time for making art by using a scheduling website that will post tweets on your behalf. Just make sure you’ve planned them out beforehand.

twitter for artists

3. Post at the best times

The best times to post on Twitter depend on your timezone and the timezones of your followers. It’s best to start experimenting to discover what time your specific audience is most active, and tailor your posting times accordingly.

As a general guide , you should probably aim to post in the early morning and evening, avoiding times where people will be busy at work. Twitter offers two ways in which to view your timeline: a personalised algorithm or a ‘latest tweets’ system. This is a great feature as it allows you to time your tweets strategically to appear at the top of someone’s ‘latest’ feed.

4. Make the most of the pin feature

Twitter has introduced a very handy tool for artists and businesses alike called the ‘pin feature’. Similarly to Instagram, this allows for users to hold a particular tweet at the top of their profile for as long as they like. So when someone goes to view your account, your pinned tweet will be the first thing they see. Artists on Twitter should really utilise this, drawing attention to their most important tweet. Take the chance to direct users to your art prints, your artist website or Etsy shop.

There’s a whole host of things you can say here – just make sure it grabs the viewers attention and includes a call to action.

5. Use artist related hashtags

When Twitter first launched hashtags back in 2007, no one knew quite how influential they would become within the site. Nowadays, it’s hard to imagine the social media platform without them. Whatever your job or interests, there’s most definitely a hashtag for it, and that goes for artists too. But how can hashtags help the success of using Twitter for artists?

Try to think of them as categorising your tweets. When you use #art amongst a post, it’s automatically grouped with other tweets using the same hashtag. This is particularly good for creatives as they can cement themselves into a community, allowing their work to be found by people with similar interests. Art related hashtags help to find your target audience instead of putting tweets into an empty void. Below are some examples you could use yourself.

#art

#artist

#portfolioday

#artvsartist

#painting

#photography

#drawing

#abstract

#artinfo

#illustration

#artwork

#wip

#digitalart

twitter for artists

6. Establish your brand

All good marketing endeavours require a business or individual to establish their brand. When discussing Twitter for artists, this usually means having a profile photo, header and description that appropriately represent your art style and practice. Every time you tweet, your Twitter profile photo will accompany it, so make sure it aligns with you and your best work.

It’s also good to use the same imagery across your social channels, that way people remember and recognise your art account no matter what social media they’re on. In terms of descriptions; make sure your short bio is simple yet exciting, including the most important information. You want users to gain an understanding of you as an artist straight away but be so interested that they stay on your profile to know more.

7. Show your personality

Not only is expressing your personality online more fun and natural – it also has positive impacts on your online success. Most of us like engaging with users and content we can relate to which stems from someone showing their character.

So as much as you want to keep your art account professional, it may actually help to show your personality from time to time. This can come in the form of showing works in progress, recent exhibitions you enjoyed, questions you’re interested in and ideas you’ve been thinking about. People will be turned off very quickly if you’re always posting business links and selling work. Make sure to strike the right balance if you’re an artist using Twitter.

8. Engage with other users

A great way to build your following on Twitter as an artist is to engage with other users, especially fellow creatives. More often than not, we can become too focused on numbers, forgetting that meaningful connections with others is actually just as important. As you discover artists through hashtags and trends, try reaching out. Complement their work, ask questions and be interactive. In the art world, it’s important for creatives to support each other and build an artistic network of support around them with Twitter being a great way to do so.

What social media is best for artists?

Not too long ago, the best social media site for artists would have been Instagram, and the platform definitely still has its perks. However, artists are starting to expand their digital presence to new avenues, including Twitter. Instead of using one social media for your artist needs, it may be best to use a number of them. That way, you can use all of their best, individual features to your advantage, sending users between them using links.

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Twitter for artists

By Mia Harwood

September 10, 2023

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