Hello readers, it’s Jessica here.  Through serendipity, I recently came in contact with Elevate Growth Consulting Group.  Elevate is a branding and marketing company that helps businesses grow.  I thought it would be helpful for artists to hear from a professional marketing company how exactly to present their art as a brand and business.  Therefore, we decided to write a guest post for each other’s blogs–you can check out my post for Elevate by clicking here.  Keep reading below to hear Elevate’s co-founder Siera Smith’s keys for presenting your art:

“Art is a vital part of marketing. Creative work drives visual communication of the messages businesses want to portray. They bring a marketing campaign to life, across websites, flyers, social media ads, emails, and more.

Just like art is a vital part of marketing, marketing should also be a vital part to how you display your art.

You’re awesome at what you do. Let your creativity shine. Let us show you 5 keys to presenting your art.

1. Create a Personal Brand

People don’t just buy products and use the services, they buy into a company — its vision, mission, purpose. Make your brand personal to you, because, well, your company is you. Don’t make it like other companies or artists; find something unique about your brand and exploit it. Let people fall in love with you and what you stand for.

2. Tell a Story Behind Your Work

People relate to stories. Storytelling often comes easy to artists, but it takes more than just a picture or paint on a canvas. Dig deep and bring emotion. Art is supposed to evoke reactions and in creating a story, that becomes possible. Stories make your art more than just a product, they make it into a feeling, a memory, a relationship. Your work should evoke emotions that move people. If you can evoke a feeling in people while they are looking at your work, they are going to remember it.

3. Network Your Brand

Networking is everything. It is a great way to build your brand and get your name out there. Networking with other businesses, dealers, and buyers is an effective way to get your artwork known by high-influence people. Go to other galleries and street art shows; go anywhere where you can network your brand and have people learn and remember your name. The more people who know your brand, the better chances you afford yourself.

4. Have an Online Gallery

Having an online gallery affords you the potential to expand your market footprint. People all over the country — or even the world — can look at your art and make a purchase with a few clicks. In addition, online galleries are like a sneak peek preview into your artwork. They entice people to come to your gallery. Shopify is the unofficial market-leading platform to set up a gallery and sell online. You can manage design, inventory, pricing, payments, emails, shipping, and more all from one platform.

5. Have an Instagram

Creating an Instagram for your artwork can open a world of possibilities. Instagram is known for lending itself to visuals, which naturally lends itself to showcasing art. Creating an Instagram can drive traffic to your online and offline gallery through links and location statuses. It is a great way to promote your work to an expansive audience in a time and budget efficient way.

You have amazing work, made from your mind and crafted with your hands. Use these tips to get your work in front of more people’s eyes.”

Siera Smith is Co-Founder and Partner at Elevate Growth Consulting Group, of Bridgeport, PA, where she creates growth roadmaps and connects people to the capital needed to get there.