6 Ways To Make Your First Art Marketing Video

by Thea Fiore-Bloom, Ph.D.

Are you the shy type who is putting off making a video about your art?

Me too, but the future is here.

Studies now show that a whopping seventy-two percent of adults prefer to watch information as opposed to reading information.  

And millenials, Gen X, Y and Z’ers?

Sorry, but they would rather endure a bad bikini wax than read all the way through our long artists’ statements.

“We’ve all heard that people buy from artists they feel they know, like, and trust,”  said Emmy award-winning TV producer, artist, and Gen Z Media consultant Gina Rubinstein.

But how do you get total strangers to feel like they know you?

“The answer is video, providing you spare people and keep yours shorter than a minute,” said Rubinstein.

You’re adorable and probably a great artist — so why not give everyone a pain-free way to get to know you?

Magic Marketing Video Solution for Introverts

If you’re an introvert, like most artists, you don’t even have to show your face on-screen if you don’t want to. 

Discover how to easily shoot an overhead video that just focuses on your hands working at your drawing board from your cell phone, click here.

Just letting potential buyers hear your voice, see your hands at work, or bits of your studio will help them know you.

That opens the door to them liking you, trusting you, and wanting to take home a piece of you home with them.

You may feel you will stink at this video stuff. But it’s not true.

Because as artists we have a natural advantage when it comes to video.

Why?

We came to the world preloaded with the ability to think and speak in images.

‘Well Thea,’ you say… ‘That sounds lovely but I just don’t happen to have a dream team of video scriptwriters tied up in my basement.’

That’s ok, Gina Rubinstein does — at least metaphorically.

They’re in her head.

Gina generously consented to give us six creative ways to get our digital feet wet using just our smartphones.

You don’t even have to leave your house or learn how to edit to make most of these.

Ready to skyrocket your chances of having more eyeballs on your art and have some creative, fun in the process? 

Art Marketing Video Idea 1: “The Take Your Underwear Off The Lamp Shade and Shoot Your Studio” Tour

Give a camera phone tour of your studio.

I only include this first because this is a great one for video virgins.

It’s easy to try and succeed with this one without stress.

Just shove those dirty coffee mugs and bills off your work table, and you’ll have set the stage for magic.

Be warm.

Be human, make jokes.

Pro Tip: Don’t shoot it for the world at large, make the video specifically for a good friend who has never gotten to see your studio before.

(If you need support letting the real you shine out, read this Charmed Studio post on Letting Go of Approval: A Story for Artists That Involves Underwear or  Frida Kahlo: 7 Meaningful Tips for Artists.) 

“Maybe show a quick shot of what you are working on that day,” said Rubinstein.

“Record a lot of little things.  

Most will be boring as hell. 

If you can edit, chop them out after,” said Rubinstein.

“But one or two of those details you recorded will be surprisingly powerful.”

Let’s Keep It Real About Editing Okay?

Gina just mentioned the word editing.

If editing will never be part of your skillset, make friends with your DELETE key.

I have.

Shoot a mini-video, delete it.  Try it again. Delete it.

Eventually, you’ll make a cringe-free keeper.

I used this method on both audio and video for a while.

In fact, I used to be what I laughingly call “a one-take-Charlie” for the first fifty episodes of The Charmed Studio Podcast. (Until I figured out how to cut stuff out using Garage Band.)

Do you have a few techie bones in your body? Forge ahead and learn more about making and editing smartphone videos. You can listen to this smartphone video creation episode of Darren Rowse’s excellent Problogger podcast.

Now let’s see if video idea number two is more tempting to you.

Art Marketing Video Idea 2: Millenial Magnet-Interactive Video

Want to get all kinds of people interested in your painting before it is even done?

“If you want to attract younger buyers, try this method.  Art buyers under forty tend to find this kind of interactive approach, especially engaging,” said Rubinstein.

Video your progress on the same piece daily and ask viewers to weigh in on it as you’re making it.

“Video is at its best, and is best for one thing— emotionally connecting people,” said Rubinstein. “And that’s what this video does.”

Want to road-test Rubinstein’s theory?

If you love a little interaction mixed into your art-making, start and share a painting and ask your social media followers questions like:

‘What is this piece about for you? What would you title it?’

‘Should I add some copper leaf on her head here or leave it out?’

‘Do you think this angel should carry three anvils or would ten be funnier?’ 

Onto to easy video idea number three.

 

Art Marketing Video Idea 3.  The “I Really Just Wanted a Cocktail”  Mini-Story

Need to inject life into your social media but you’re not a fan of having people tell you what to do with your art?

Use the mini-story option.

The idea here is to tell one tiny story that lies behind a single piece of art you post. These videos are appetizers and should be under thirty seconds long.

“Tell us how hard the work was to finish because you changed it 300 times and it still looked like junk and you really just wanted a cocktail but then you figured out how to get that damn bird right,” said Rubinstein.

“It’s okay to be yourself and be funny.  In fact- dear God- please be funny,” said Rubinstein.

Or keep it simple and tell us one story about what inspired some detail in one of your pieces.

The above video is a great example. It’s a simple mini-story that gets results. It was made by silversmith and Charmed Studio subscriber Laura Teague.

 

Art Marketing Video Idea 4: The Non-Gallery, Gallery Video

Gallery show videos don’t have to be glamorous or champagne-fueled to be effective.

They don’t even have to be shot in a gallery.

It’s great if you have that option but you might not right now so why not make a video of you speaking in front of your work while it’s up on a nicely painted wall in your…. home gallery?

You can just pop your phone onto a tripod for this one but you do have to be on camera. So maybe try the Non-Gallery Gallery Video after you build up courage by roadtesting the other videos listed here first.

Model your un-gallery video on biologist and feather artist Chris Maynard’s effective, story-based video shot in an actual gallery.

In his video, Maynard opens the door to his work in this short talk with a small personal vignette.

His father was a surgeon and his mother an artist.

Maynard uses the very surgery tools his father used to carve silhouettes out of the feathers that inhabit his art.

This story has at least two things going for it:

It’s brief and it tells us something meaningful about how Maynard creates his work.

I urge you to also take eight minutes to watch Maynard’s Tedx video. It sets the bar for artists’ talks in my opinion.

Art Marketing Video Idea 5: Your Brand Video

“Every artist could use an emotionally engaging story known as a brand video for their landing page.

“Simple is best here,” said Rubinstein.

“Please don’t try to tell people everything about you; don’t make a long, boring documentary!”

Your job is to leave people curious.

I suggest you choose one small story about something meaningful to you in your past that influenced why or how you make your art the way you do in the present.

(That is what Maynard did when he told the audience about his surgeon father and artist mother right?)

“All our attention spans are narrowing,” said Rubinstein, “so keep your brand video short…unless you are talking about The Pope coming, I’d say make it less than 60 seconds; people will love you so much more.” 

Studies show you can get a ton of engagement if you keep your videos under 2 minutes. After the two-minute mark viewership can fall off a cliff.

Above is a one-minute video Rubinstein made to establish the brand of automobile artist Harold Cleworth.

Now, this is a professionally done piece so unlike our homemade attempts it’s highly edited.

I share it with you as a good example of how much personality you can pack into one minute.

And I bet you’ll smile at the last 10 seconds of it.

Art Marketing Video Idea 6: Legitimize the Zeroes in Your Prices With a Timelapse

If you take one techy leap this year, you couldn’t go wrong having it be learning how to make a time-lapse video.

Why?

Because time-lapse videos show rather than tell your audience just how much damn effort is underneath the surface of each canvas.

And by accomplishing that, the time-lapse video legitimizes the number of zeros in your prices.

You may want to go here for a nice example of how time-lapse adds value to an artist’s brand and go here to learn how to shoot great time-lapse videos yourself on your smartphone.

Timelapse is easier than you think!

 

Final Point: Rough Edges Can Be Good for Sales

Don’t let perfectionism stop you from trying to convey the essence of your art in homemade videos.

You don’t have to come off smooth.

“Rough edges are good.”

“I got news for you, people don’t buy from the intellect, they buy from emotion anyway,” said Rubinstein.

“People truly just want to see you being you,” said Rubinstein, “talking about your struggles, being relatable, telling a story.”

Try it.

Everyone makes mistakes at first. Keep a sense of humor about it.

“My life is full of mistakes. They’re like pebbles that make up a good road.” — Beatrice Wood.

You can do so much more than you think.

You are a creative. That means you are daring by nature.

Let your freak flag fly. It will encourage others to unfurl theirs.

You are way more intelligent, resourceful, and funny than you think. 

Maybe balance out this marketing post with another Charmed Studio piece on a topic equally important to the well-being of your art practice – meditation:

3 of My Favorite Meditations For Artists That Reduce Fear and Ignite Creativity.

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Check out these Other Popular Charmed Studio Posts:

• 51 Blog Post Topics for Heart-Centered Artists for 2020
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• Don’t Get Hacked on Instagram: 15 Minute *Fix for Artists
• Black Artists Matter: Supporting Artists of Color
• How To Prioritize Your Time as an Artist
• Transform Your Art Newsletter in 3 Questions
• 3 Podcasts To Elevate Your Art Business
• Etsy For Fine Artists: Succeed Without Marketing?
• How To Write a Press Release For Your Art
• or How to Submit Your Art to a Museum Store: Insider Tips from a Top Museum Store Manager

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Have you done a video yet to market your work?

Let me know in the comments. 

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