As recently published in the Hamilton Arts Council 2019/2020 Culture Guide:
Top 10 ways to build an online brand using social media
- Create a profile on all the major social media platforms even if you’re not going to regularly use them, and direct people in your bio to the best platform to reach you.
- Pick the platform you prefer to communicate on and commit to regularly updating it.
- Get headshots you can use for your profile: they don’t need to be professional if you can’t afford that– just choose a great setting on a bright day, and find a friend with Portrait Mode on their smartphone.
- Post about what you’re working on, tell stories and details– we want to hear details!
- Immediately friend people that you meet in real life that could be a good career connection and keep them in your sphere.
- Boost your posts on Facebook. Business pages are almost entirely a paid platform now, so unless you have a huge following, very few people will see what you post unless you sponsor them. It’s one of the most cost effective ways to advertise, as you can target very specific groups.
- Use your personal profile to share your business posts, to help increase your reach.
- If you’re a visual artist, Instagram is an excellent platform to showcase your work. You can even set up a simple online shop using Shopify that allows people to directly click and buy things that you post.
- Twitter is a great platform for making new connections in the community. It’s the platform that is designed to have conversations with complete strangers. If you’re interested in making connections with community groups, reaching out to corporations for sponsorships or opportunities, Twitter is the place to be.
- Make it easy for people to find you. Choose social media handles that include your name, or business name, so you’re easy to find when people want to tag you to spread the word about how great your work is.
- -Suzanne, The Generator
- Follow the Hamilton Arts Council for artist opportunities and events at:
- hamiltonartscouncil.ca
- @hamartscouncil
