11 Best Tips for How to Promote Your Art on Instagram

• Share behind-the-scenes and/or process videos to build interest in your work by showing the effort that goes into it and what inspires you.
• Use Stories and interactive features like polls to boost engagement and see what your followers like in real time.
• Review your analytics regularly to identify high-performing content and refine your strategy based on what’s working and what’s not.
• Incorporate keywords and a link-in-bio tool to improve search discoverability and send followers to where they can buy your art.

Social media has allowed artists worldwide to connect with new audiences. Visual artists, in particular, have found a way to build their following on Instagram and hopefully find new collectors for their art.

According to Statista, Instagram has a whopping one billion users worldwide, with 120 million of them in the U.S. That’s a vast audience of people waiting to connect with your art. But you need to know how to reach them first.

Here, we’ll give you actionable tips you can use when using Instagram to share your art.

Promoting your art on Instagram‌

‌From photography to oil painting, there are opportunities to promote your art and your gallery on Instagram. The platform makes it easy to create visually compelling posts that draw attention and then upload them from anywhere.

But with so many pieces of art posted daily, how do you differentiate yourself from all the noise? You can start by being a little more flexible about what you post.

1. Done is better than perfect‌

People who follow you for your art want to see the process. They like the polished, finished product, sure, but they also like to see the work behind it.

So, even if you don’t feel something is absolutely perfect, post it! A progress sketch. Outtakes from a shoot. A wireframe for a character you’re working on, or a speed-drawing video.

Posting multiple aspects of your work will help you form a closer relationship with your audience, who in turn may feel more invested in that work. People love to see the bones of something becoming art.

Artist Gu Zheng Wei, for example, regularly posts reworks of old pieces to show progress and encourages people just starting out. It shows that art is a journey and artists are constantly evolving.

2. Use Stories to your advantage‌

Another way to show your followers the artist behind the art is by using Instagram Stories. They’re a simple thing — short content that vanishes in a day — but they’ve got a lot of utility.

You can share sneak peeks of your latest project or renovations to your gallery space with photo carousels. Short videos that feel like an informal chat let you speak directly to your followers so they can get a sense of your personality.

Features like polls and countdowns let you get even more interactive. Got an event coming up? Let your followers know, start a countdown timer, and give them the option to set a reminder when it’s finished. Selling prints? Ask your followers which pieces of art they most want to hang on their walls.

Since they’re so easy to record and post, you can even use stories to broadcast short clips from events as they’re happening. Or, you can stream live, and your icon will change to let your followers know.

Story live streams allow you to invite others to collaborate, so if you aren’t streaming an event you can host a Q&A session or hold a live charity auction. If you have the budget, you can run ads in Stories as well.

Get as creative with Story features as you like and keep an eye out — Instagram is always adding new features and widgets. You do have to have a certain number of followers to use some of them (like the “swipe up” feature), but others are available to everyone.

3. Keep track of your engagement‌

Instagram’s analytics provide a detailed snapshot of how your followers interact with every post. The number of accounts reached, how many new followers, how many saves your posts get, and more are all easily accessible.

Pay attention to that information and see what’s getting engagement on your profile. What posts have higher numbers of comments, saves, likes, and shares? See if you can figure out what makes those posts special, and use that information in your marketing efforts.

That’s not to say your posts should all be the same, highly polished type of thing (see tip number one), but it is worth it to see what your followers respond to.

Engage with your followers on your posts — learn firsthand from them how to promote your art on Instagram. Respond to insightful comments and start discussions where you can.

Or, just express appreciation that they like your work. You probably won’t be able to respond to every comment if your account is large, but having some interaction with your audience can help.

Also, engage with other artists. Tell them you appreciate their work. Share pieces of art that inspire you or content from your followers to your Stories. They may do the same for you in return, and it can introduce your followers to people they might like.

All of this will make your account more active, which will favor it with Instagram’s algorithm and hopefully get your work in front of more people.

4. Try using video

Video is a powerful engagement tool that more and more people are using. Being a visual medium, Instagram lends itself very well to the use of video. Take advantage of that to market your gallery.

Beyond Stories that disappear in 24 hours, the Reels feature lets you post short, TikTok-like videos with ease to your feed. It’s perfect for process videos like time-lapse painting. If you’re an animator, for example, post a quick video of a character study and see what people think.

Instagram has built-in analytics for Reels and live videos, so you have plenty of information at your fingertips about what your followers are engaging with. Try out different iterations of video to see what your followers respond to.

5. Make your feed reflect your gallery‌

In addition to sketches and works-in-progress, curate a selection of your best art to show in your feed. Experiment with different color palettes and patterns that give your page a cohesive, aesthetically interesting look.

Try out different apps that can make your feed look more interesting as a whole. Giant Square, for example, lets you make a big collage out of several images in your feed. Unfold provides beautiful templates you can use to make Story and feed posts look amazing.

Not only does this show off your best work, it gives your gallery an air of professionalism. And you can pair that with well-written captions that give an insight into your work.

6. Use keywords and hashtags

Hashtags used to be a key part of getting your content discovered on Instagram, but these days there’s less of a focus on hashtags (and Instagram limits you to 5 per post now anyway). Instead, focus on including relevant keywords in your posts; this will help people who are looking for art like yours find you.

Make sure the keywords you use are relevant to your art, like “watercolor” or “embroidery”. If you post random ones you think might be popular but have nothing to do with your brand or the kind of art you make, the algorithm will pick up on that and you might not get as much engagement.

Study other artists and galleries with a large following to see what kinds of keywords they’re using. Often they’ll be included at the bottom of the caption, in the place where hashtags typically used to go. Odds are some of them will apply to your art as well, and you can incorporate them into your strategy.

Another way to find popular keywords when researching how to promote your art on Instagram is to use the Explore page. You can enter a keyword and look at the top posts for it, then see what other keywords those people are using.

7. Collaborate‌

If you can, collaborate with other artists and influencers you know in the art space to create something new. That can be a joint Instagram live session, a piece of art you both work, on or a video you both make.

Collaborating with others gains you access to their following once they share the project on their account, and vice versa. It’s a great way to grow your reach and get your art in front of new eyeballs.

8. Use ads‌

If you’ve got the budget for it, Instagram has a huge reach for paid advertising. They offer Story ads and in-feed ads, and since Facebook now owns the platform, your ads are seen by users there as well.

You can even turn any of your posts into an ad just by clicking the Promote button. Instagram’s ad platform lets you target your ads to specific audiences, and adjust how long the ad will run according to your budget.

9. Build a recognizable artist brand‌

With so much content on Instagram, having a cohesive brand helps your work become instantly recognizable as people scroll through their feeds. This doesn’t mean every post has to look the same, but there should be a “thread” that ties your gallery together.

Maintain consistency across your posts by using a similar lighting style for your photos or a recurring color palette. You might also choose to develop a “signature” look or subject matter. Think of how some artists are known specifically for their “rainy cityscapes” or “geometric portraits.” When a follower can identify your work without even looking at the username, you’ve successfully built a brand.

10. Share the story behind your work‌

Use your captions to dive deeper than just the title and dimensions of a piece. Share the “why” behind what you created: Was it inspired by a specific memory, a sudden emotion, or a place you visited?

Providing personal context or a backstory makes your work more relatable and memorable. When you share the meaning or the struggle behind a canvas, you’re inviting your audience to connect with the human element of your art. A collector is much more likely to purchase a piece if they feel a personal connection to the story it tells.

11. Use your bio and profile as a sales page‌

Think of your Instagram profile as the front door” to your business. You only have a few seconds to capture a visitor’s attention, so make sure your bio includes a clear value proposition. Instead of just your name, try something super specific and descriptive like: “Abstract ocean painter | Original works & commissions available.” This tells people exactly what you do and how they can support you.

Since Instagram only gives you one link in your bio, use a link aggregator tool like Linktree. This allows you to direct people to multiple destinations, such as your online shop, your email list signup form, and your portfolio.

Your Story Highlights are also valuable real estate, so try using them as mini landing pages. Create categories like “Available Work,” “Collectors,” and “Process” so that new followers can easily find the information they need to move from an admirer to a buyer.

Get your art out there‌

The art scene is a noisy place these days. But if you understand how to promote your art on Instagram the right way and stay consistent, you may be able to break through.

Share a variety of content across your feed, Stories, and Reels in order to reach as many people as possible. Engage with people who comment on your posts and track your analytics to see what’s working in your favor.

Promoting yourself as an artist is a never-ending effort, but the right tools can make it easier. With an all-in-one digital marketing tool like Constant Contact, you can wrangle all your social media platforms and your email list in one place. Start your free trial today to see how easy it is to start getting your art seen.