It’s 2023, Thoughts on Social Media for Artists:

Jeremy Ross

Hi Everyone,

I’ve been here on SVS since 2019, and some of you know that I’ve avoided Social Media like a plague.

Instead, my focus has been:

Learn and get better at making Art.
Build a portfolio
Work on books
Participating in this community

I’ve read books by Cal Newport, such as digital minimalism and deep work, and many others, which have always reinforced my position on Social Media.

However; Recently, I started reexamining whether I should feed into the social media machine by trying to build a fan base and expand my reach. I started a POD shop for fabrics and apparel and everything I read about marketing is centered on… (you guessed it) - Social Media.

From a children’s book perspective, I’ve learned that cross promotion is a big deal with publishers, and if you have thousands of followers, you’re more likely to get a book deal compared to someone “off the grid”, so to speak.

I’m 43 years old, a husband, father and work a completely separate career in construction. That being said, I LOVE making art and dream of having books available at book stores, etc., For those of us in the US, I dream of browsing Barnes and Noble with my family and seeing my book in the kid’s section, though I’m not sure if avoiding Social Media is hindering this goal.

Enough bantering, I would love to hear the advice from this amazing community of artists on your current position and thoughts about Social Media, particularly the big ones (e.g., IG, Twitter, Pinterest, FB, etc.,).

Thank you in advance for sharing your thoughts!

ksfabian

@Jeremy-Ross Jake Parker's class on Social Media has some good points to it. The information is a little dated. Right now SM is extremely unstable for creators. Twitter may or may not be crashing down. TikTok may or maynot be banned in the US this year, and Meta is well... its a mess. That being said, you can still make it work. Jake's class talks a lot about goals and branding. I know this is the most blah blah advice, but think about who you are targeting and why? Are you targeting publishers, agents, and others in that industry? They're all on twitter. Are you creating a following to purchase your independant products like artbooks, prints, etc? Then Youtube, instagram reels, and tiktok might be what you want. Also, what are you most comfortable using regularly? I personally don't like twitter, I don't find it user friendly and I don't like trying to make connections on there. I don't use it very often. I love watching videos and I know many people do. I try to make one short 1-3 minute video each day to post on TT and IG. It can be anything from a quick over view of a drawing, a step by step explanation on illustration, or a review of another illustrator's work that I absolutely love. The last is the easiest for me because my kids and I go to the library all the time. Also, network. Follow others in your desired market on Social Media. Comment on their posts regularly and go from there.

Oh and pinterest is good for references and getting others to save your pins, but it's not great for networking or communicating with followers.

Griffin McPherson

@Jeremy-Ross I think social media is unfortunately essential. Every single art director who I’ve heard talk about finding artists says it’s basically all from Instagram now. They still enjoy things like postcards but the majority of people they higher is through Instagram or via agents.
I take this to mean that we must have either an agent or a big social media following to get work.

I have heard a lot of the "you don’t need social media" conversations and they all glance over one very important factor. Every single one of these people who has success without social media once had a large social media following. Not one of them has gotten where they are without that following.

Instagram has made it so that even the people who put serious effort into Instagram are losing followers. To me it honestly feels like a lost cause at this point. I post when I have something to post but other than that I’m much more focused on building up my portfolio so I can get an agent to help me get out there.

Melissa_Bailey

@Jeremy-Ross as someone who reluctantly joined social media in 2018 -- and did so very intentionally, after doing a lot of research to find out how it works and what will work for me -- I still have a love/hate relationship (mostly dislike) with it almost 5 years in.

Yes, it can be helpful, but honestly, I think a website is crucial for an artist. Social media isn't.

And, if you're joining social media late, as I did, when it's oversaturated with artists, illustrators, and other creators vying for eyes on their posts, chances are that it's not going to have a huge impact on your illustration career.

Interestingly, I took a social media break for the last 6 months or so of 2022 and noticed that my IG account was gaining followers (albeit not very many) even though I wasn't posting. When I posted for the first time in months, that post reached more people than normal (which meant that the algorithm noticed it was my first post in a while and prioritized it?), received almost double the engagement of any post I've made since, and attracted a few more followers. And now that I'm trying to post more regularly, my follower count and engagement per post has gone down. At this point, it's just not a game I want to play and while I'm still posting, my focus is elsewhere.

Going forward, my goal is to direct any online traffic to my website. That will include building an email list, which is what I should have been doing years ago. It doesn't rely on social media accounts (which you really have little to no control over) or algorithms, and to be honest, it's much more my pace.

To sum it up: I don't think that social media is absolutely necessary to become a working illustrator. And my advice is to spend your time deliberately and do what works best for you.

Jeremy Ross

Thank you for sharing your feedback, experience and thoughts, @Melissa_Bailey @Griffin-McPherson @ksfabian

My biggest focus area is finding a literary agent, not collecting followers for the purpose of making sales.

kayleenartlover

All I know is, unlike all the other options for social media platforms, YouTube isn’t going anywhere. It may or may not be helpful for what you want to do, but it’s more stable than instagram, twitter, etc.

kayleenartlover

@Jeremy-Ross I don’t know much about finding an agent, but I’m pretty sure you just need to contact agencies and see if it’s a good fit. Boosting a social media platform in hopes of one specific person finding you, is gonna be a lot harder. But having your portfolio on social media as well as your own website won’t hurt when you introduce yourself to agencies.

willicreate

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NessIllustration

@Jeremy-Ross I also really don't like social media at all, and for the first 4 years of my career I never did most than post a new illustration 2 or 3 times a year. Despite that, I managed to earn a good living and work with some great clients, including on a 0-4 bestseller that regularly pops up at Barnes and Noble!

So I don't think it's crucial to have social media to achieve that, and in fact I maintain that Instagram is one of the most inefficient ways to find clients in the short term. However it does have its place, not necessarily to find client as the main goal, but as a sort of social proof.

Just having an Instagram account with a few thousand followers carries a certain authority, and could definitely make publishers and agents alike look at your queries twice. Social media can allow you to build a name for yourself in the industry and grow your notoriety.

As you've mentioned, it's also good to sell products directly to customers (POD, Etsy, commissions, or even courses). In fact, this year for the first time of my career, I've finally made it a goal to focus a bit more on Instagram to try to establish myself a bit better in the surface design world. I've had trouble getting an agent since switching to licensing and leaving my publishing agent last year, and I'm sure a large follower count really can't hurt in the competitive race for an agent!

Jeremy Ross

Thank you for your thoughtful feedback @NessIllustration , @kayleenartlover and @willicreate.

Learning from fellow artists such as yourselves and this community is a gift.

Melissa_Bailey

@Jeremy-Ross same here. I'm in the querying trenches with you! If you haven't, you might want to check out podcasts that interview agents (the Illustration Department has interviewed quite a few) and check out the Bookends Literary YouTube channel. I've enjoyed hearing the different perspectives from different literary agents. And interestingly, while most say that they do look at an author's/illustrator's social media, the number of followers doesn't sway them in their decision to offer representation or not. They're much more interested in the work. Hearing that repeated over and over from several different agents helped me put things in perspective.

Jeremy Ross

Thanks @Melissa_Bailey! I’m a big fan of Giuseppe’s podcast and worked with him on a PB Dummy.

So far, I’ve been politely rejected by everyone (40+ literary agents), which is good because I’m trying, but kinda makes me feel like I’m not good enough yet.

Here’s the 3 major focus areas I need to do this year to grow:

Paid professional portfolio review.
Make better portfolio-worthy pieces
Get a mentor in the industry, 5-10 years ahead of me who can provide guidance to get me to the next level.

Kristen Lango

I really feel your struggle Jeremy! I think we all do.

I think the only thing I can add to this conversation is just echoing what someone already mentioned about YouTube. It feels like the most stable and least volatile place online. If you have the capacity (which I know is a tall order anyway) I think it's worth giving some thought into starting a channel.

Like everyone else here, I have that same dysfunctional relationship with it and I hate the things I'm saying right now, but I don't think it's a good idea to not be posting your work somewhere in some fashion. Here's why:

When I really love an illustrator the first thing I do after following them is a complete deep dive into all the work that they've posted.

If I'm a super fan of that person, I'll follow them on almost every platform (IG, Pinterest, YouTube) and when I'm feeling stuck or I feel like I want to connect with another creator who I like or admire or just want to absorb their energy, I'll go to watch their stuff (images, videos, blog posts, etc).

BUT, if you're that person who I'm a super fan of, none of that happens if you don't have a back catalog of work in several places online.

That said, I'm very much so not an expert, so definitely take what I say with a grain of salt but those are some of my takeaways.

Melissa_Bailey

@Jeremy-Ross you’re further ahead than I am in querying! I’m starting to send out my first round of queries this month. And I’ve wanted to get a PB dummy review from Giuseppe but haven’t had the extra cash to do so yet. Would you recommend a review from him?

kirsten-mcg

@Jeremy-Ross everyone's had a lot of good advice for you, but I just thought I would add my two cents worth, since this has been a topic on my mind recently. I do have an instagram account that I started in 2019, as well as a twitter account that I just started a few months ago. I don't have a huge amount of followers on either, though I have more on Instagram. Of the two I like Instagram better. But it is nearly impossible to gain traction anymore! With more and more emphasis going to reels, I've been wondering, if I have to make videos, if it might be more worth my time to creat a YouTube channel than lots of little 1 minute reels for instagram. I don't enjoy the reel-focused instagram as much as the picture-focused instagram from a couple years ago. I don't think I'll go so far as to delete my social media accounts, but I've been seriously considering moving my energy to creating a blog, newsletter, and YouTube channel.

Jeremy Ross

Hi @Melissa_Bailey, I certainly do recommend Guiseppe! I took advantage of one of his promotions.

Jeremy Ross

Thank you @Kristen-Lango! You make great points! I might just have some super fans out there. Appreciate the perspective!

Jeremy Ross

Your 2 cents are appreciated @kirsten-mcg!

carlianne

I wanted to throw my opinion on here as someone that IS focusing on social media and does have a good amount of followers.

I chose to grow social media because I had already been working professionally as an artist for a decade and wanted to transition my career. So - no you don't need to have a following to work as an illustrator.

However, I felt very stuck in my career with bosses that told me I wasn't a very good artist and after 5 years without a promotion, and struggling to find a new job. I was super tired of being dependant on other people for my success. I wanted to be fully self sufficient and have freedom and flexibility and to work in my own style and on my own projects. I wanted to create my own brand of which books was a part of my path.

I've been very fortunate to grow to 30k and my literary agent found me through Instagram. I also had a successful Kickstarter and am doing well with sales on my book that I self published. And I thank a lot of that success to Instagram. So it CAN be amazing.

But at the same time I've collected almost 1000 emails for my list which Jake talks about in the video on social media. I know that those 1000 names are more valuable than the 30k followers on Instagram because at the end of the day I'm still reliant on Instagram to share my post or to stay relevant or to not lose my account etc. I've also started posting more to the other social websites so I don't have all my eggs on one basket.

Growing your social media following is a lot of work and takes its own amount of studying to understand. You don't need it to get an agent and you don't LIKE it so you probably don't consume it. I think it might suck you in and could distract you from your great goals.

If you really want an audience maybe there's a creative way you can build a mailing list without social media? I think you mentioned a blog before? Or you can offer a free gift for people that join your list and use Google ads to drive traffic.

Jeremy Ross

Thank you @carlianne! I can’t believe your prior bosses said your art wasn’t good; IT’s GREAT!

I appreciate your insight and sharing the benefits you’ve experienced from Social Media. Definitely helps me see differing views.