How to Build Excitement for Your Art Releases
Whether you’re selling your original art or are licensing your artwork with brands, it’s important to build excitement for the release of your work! No matter your audience size, the key to selling your artwork is to let people know it’s available.
Building excitement ahead of a release is a marketing tactic that is used in all kinds of industries, and it’s a tried and true way to make sure that your release is successful. It’s not every day that these pieces are available, which creates a sense of novelty and anticipation around what you’re releasing. Sharing about it ahead of time helps your audience feel like they’re “in the know” and gets them excited about purchasing a one-of-a-kind piece.
If you have an upcoming art licensing partnership, promoting it ahead of time tells the brand that you’re a good partner. Brands love working with artists that are committed to helping them promote the launch of their product. This is a great way to stand out, and it keeps the door open to future partnerships with the brand. Plus, it’s a win-win! More people hearing about the launch means more sales for the brand, and more royalties for you! So shout it from the rooftops!
How to Build Excitement for an Upcoming Release:
My favorite way to build excitement for an upcoming release is to share behind-the-scenes content of me creating the artwork. I do this for both original art releases and licensing partnerships.
I know it can be scary to share your work before it’s done, but one of the things that has helped me build my brand is showing my work in all of its stages. I was so nervous to share my first process photo on Instagram. I felt so vulnerable sharing my art before it was fully ready. But, I promise, the more you do it, the easier it becomes! You’ve got this!
The main reason that I’ve found so much success in sharing the behind-the-scenes content before a release is that it helps my audience feel a deeper connection to me as an artist and to the artwork itself. When it comes down to it, art is an extremely personal experience. People choose art not just because it would look nice in their home, but because it makes them feel something. Bringing your audience into the art-making process helps them feel like they were right alongside you as you created it. Everything from the inspiration behind the art to what materials you used has the power to build a deeper personal connection with your potential buyers.
How to share your behind-the-scenes content:
There’s no cut and dried formula for how to share this behind-the-scenes content, but you can start by choosing the platform where you are interacting with your audience the most. This is a very personal approach to promoting your art, so it’s best to share this in a way that feels authentic where you can really connect with your audience!
Instagram is where the majority of my audience hangs out so that’s where the EttaVee party's at! When I’m thinking through how I plan to promote my upcoming releases, I know that I want to share the behind-the-scenes content on Instagram. I specifically use Instagram Stories for this since it is a more personal way to connect with my audience than posting in the Feed or creating a Reel. Sharing the behind-the-scenes of what I’m creating in my Stories sparks conversation with potential buyers sometimes even before the piece is complete!
Here are a few of my favorite types of content to share when promoting an upcoming release.
1) Bring your audience along for the ride
Share the progression of a piece in different stages from start to finish. Seeing a piece go from a blank canvas to a completed work of art is a pretty magical process. Share that magic with your audience so they’ll feel as if they were a part of the art-making process. This helps people feel more connected to your work which can inspire them to purchase it.
2) Ask for Feedback
As you’re sharing the behind-the-scenes process of creating a certain piece, you can ask your audience for feedback. People love to share their opinions, so you can ask engaging questions using the Instagram Story poll feature. An easy way to do this is to ask which color people prefer. Since I use a lot of gold in my original artwork, I could share a photo of a piece in progress and ask my audience whether or not to add more gold to it.
There are two big benefits to this strategy. First, the Instagram algorithm loves to show your content to more people if it sees that a lot of people engage with it. So you’ll be getting your art in front of even more eyes by using a poll sticker! Second, it helps your audience feel like their opinion was taken into consideration. If someone who voted for “more gold” saw that I added more gold elements to the painting, they would feel like they had a say in the creation of the piece and would be more inclined to purchase it!
3) Share the story of your work
Share the story or inspiration behind one (or all!) of the pieces you’re releasing. This shows your audience the meaning behind your work, and will help them feel more connected to it. Sharing the story behind your art adds an extra boost to the emotion of the piece, and therefore increases the likelihood that people will connect with it and want to snag it for themselves.
4) Keep your audience guessing
At the very beginning of the promotion period for an upcoming release, tell your audience that you have a surprise launching soon that you’re excited to share with them. You can share some closeup photos of your artwork, but keep it a little mysterious. Ask your audience what they think it is that you’re releasing! Your followers will want to come back and find out what the surprise is. People are naturally curious, so this is a great way to generate engagement and anticipation before announcing what you’re releasing.
5) Show how much you care
Part of sharing your works in progress is that your audience will get to see how much you care about what you’re creating. Sharing the process shows just how much attention and detail goes into what you do, and helps people see that each piece is truly one-of-a-kind. Often people tell me they purchased a piece because they saw me taking my time and adding fine details. In their eyes the piece became more valuable because of the love that went into creating it.
I hope that this has helped spark some ideas for building excitement for your next release!
xo, Jessi
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