Great relatable post. I’m a very sporadic poster on IG so it’s never bothered me but I’ve seen lots of other artists looking for the holy grail of social media such as Threads and Blue Sky which are all the same if you ask me. I’ve already deleted X and my account and am considering maybe returning to a traditional website. For you I think sticking to your plan of finding an agent is a great idea. I think it’s time to go back to the drawing board and maybe come back to IG later, it will all still be there.
Just found your substack via notes and then this post. We were literally on the same wavelength back in December. One of my goals for this year was Quality over Quantity. https://bridgettemeinhold.substack.com/p/new-year-new-me
Hi there Marloes, I stumbled across your post and clicked because I’ve been hearing more and more artists considering the same thing. I’m curious to know how to market without social media?
I’ve been illustrating as a hobby for years but never used IG as a marketing platform. So when I decided to become an illustrator I felt that it was too late. The market is saturated, AI artwork, and my inability to land a first client has made things rather difficult for things to get started. So I’m here on Substack to see where it takes me. Hoping to meet more illustrators like you, and hopefully build community.
Hi Lindsey! I've been working on a follow up. In short, I think Instagram is still one of the best ways for artists to get eyeballs on their work. I'll work further on the follow up, which will take a few more weeks I think.
This was a fab read, thank you. I still enjoy Instagram, but mainly that's because I interact with people in stories. I also only follow accounts I'm really interested in so when I scroll I generally see cool things. That said, recently found myself looking at how many people were shown my work, something I never used to care about. I don't want to be that person, talking about or pandering to the algorithm....but it is starting to feel like it's not a good use of my time and energy. I like it here so far - it's taking a while to figure out but it feels good. Wishing you a happy year ahead :)
I feel the same way. I hate that social media is an expectation now and how many amazing, talented artists don't get book deals or jobs because their following isn't large enough. A large following doesn't dictate your worth.
I'm on Instagram less and less but I still enjoy looking at what other artists are posting and what my local galleries are showing. It's a conundrum isn't it? I feel the same about being tied to a particular type of artwork but that's an issue on and off Instagram - galleries like consistency, urgh! I'm thinking of cleaning up my feed, deleting a lot of older work, and just keeping Insta like an online portfolio of works that are available for exhibition or sale. For me, most of my Substack subscribers still come from Instagram, so I'll use it as marketing tool for my writing. I love Substack and it's great to see more visual artists moving over here, but if we all keep our posts behind paywalls, I don't see how we are going to attract buyers to our work, unless Notes really takes off and becomes an alternative to Instagram for readers. An interesting read, thank you.
I've cleaned up my IG feed and it feels so much more aligned with the work I do now. I also limit access to the app so when I'm on there, I'm more purposefully using it.
Since then, I've found IG a much lovelier place, much more intentional.
I agree completely with Substack: it's a wonderful place to elaborate on your work, but finding new people on there is so much harder. You find people who's work you like on social media (like IG) and then you go a layer deeper on Substack or newsletters. At least, that's how I feel at the moment.
It is such a refreshing thoughts, after you posted about cleaning your Instagram for this reason I went though my own Instagram and archived a lot of my older posts from when I was in college and when i was doing my foundation year, because my style has changed so much and what was once my personal account had become my creative account
Thanks a lot for sharing, Marloes! I am very behind on Instagram (always used it only for personal connections) and I was thinking about creating an account for my art, but I understand that growing an audience from zero is an additional job. I am just not ready to do that on so many levels, but I still feel some pressure, because "everyone is there"... Instead I try experimenting with other platforms and formats to find ways of sharing my art and connect with other artists & creatives. At the moment Substack sort of feels being a more genuine place for connecting and sharing.
It's so tricky, isn't it? It's like maintaining a way too big garden, sowing seeds everywhere, not having enough time to water them all, and hoping for the best.
What I'm trying to do is following my joy. I've noticed I feel worse about myself after more than 20 minutes on IG, so I limit my time there to 15 minutes each session, and I can only open the app 3x a day (I use the app ClearSpace for this). This gives me lots of extra time to spend on other things.
Yes, it is tricky! Still need to figure things out for myself, but following my joy is a great advice! Thank you for your answer and also for the tip about the app!
Thank you so much for the shout-out Marloes and for writing these reflections. That moment you had in the bookshop sounds beautiful and precious, a nudge to challenge you and help you take steps. I'm looking forward to following along with you again this year! x
I really feel conflicted about social media, specially as a writer who is just starting out and is still building an audience. On most days, I feel like I am swimming in a sea which has no end, and I feel so lost about the direction in which I want to head. As a result I end up posting, but not consistently. And I mostly feel drained when I check my instagram anyway. When I truly focus all my energy on my writing though, like writing here on Substack, I feel fulfilled. It's such a weird space to navigate and as a new entrant, I feel confused about the direction in which to head all the time
Thankyou for the advice. I think it’s time to let go of the fear that I’ll be left behind if I don’t have a “consistent” posting schedule on Instagram. It will ease so much of my pressure and I can devete time to Substack guilt free
As someone who has been posting on Instagram for more than 7 years and who started there as a veeeeery green beginner, I can't help but feel that I didn't "get in the bandwagon" at the proper time. It seems I couldn't make the platform work for me back then (maybe because of the quality of my work as a beginner), and today it feels almost impossible, no matter how hard you try to please the gods of the algorithm. It's all very disheartening, but I promised myself one last try to post my work consistently in Instagram this year - purely because I couldn't think of any other platform where I can reach the same (or a bigger) audience that I already have there. I wonder if you and other artists who have a wide audience there also feel like this and which platforms you've been enjoying (and seeing more results from) posting most recently :)
You also touched upon a topic I feel is super important, but that I don't see many artists with big followings talking about: how companies might choose not to work with you because you're not "big enough". This is something that scares me a lot, since I still haven't reached 2k followers, despite the 7+ years on Instagram. I like to imagine most companies and/or clients don't use this metric to choose who they work with, even though this might only be wishful thinking. I'd love to hear you talk more about this and your experiences if possible <3
To reassure you: there are wonderful companies and publishers that prioritise the quality of the work instead above social media numbers.
I'll be honest: it worked well for me that I had many followers, because it did give me an advantage over people with similar skills/experience but didn't have a big audience. It has also made me feel insecure at times. I wasn't always sure whether someone wanted to work with me because I had a large followering, or whether they appreciated my work. Even in my personal life there were people that didn't like me for me but hoped I could drop their name with a client or on social media.
When I was rejected a few weeks ago because someone else had a larger following and got the job, my immediate thought was that I made the selection in the first place because I have a large following. I also realise that I don't want to be picked only because of the numbers on social media.
So, I'm happy I got rejected. I want to work with people that understand what I'm trying to do with my work, and create something meaningful together.
Yes, having many eyes on your work does help, but there are more ways. I think reaching out personally to companies and publishers is probably better than waiting until you get noticed on social media (which is what I did). And yes, some people might not want to work with you because you don't have a large audience and therefore they're not sure if a book will sell well, but to be fair: a large audience doesn't mean a book will sell well either. For example, Billie Eilish' book didn't sell well a few years ago because the publisher thought they didn't have to do any marketing themselves. If a publisher or company thinks the maker of a book will sell the book by posting about it on social media, they're so wrong. That's not how it works. You have to ask yourself if you want to work with people that don't want to put in the work.
Companies/clients that focus on follower count are nervous to invest in any artist that isn't already vetted, in a sense. They want to know that the artist has invested in marketing and this is typically done via agencies, publishers, press, publicity etc. because it is not cheap.
>> The algorithm is designed to prioritize paying accounts by amount. <<
To be honest, companies and clients that prioritize count over the work probably wouldn't be fun to work with anyway. :)~
I thought the podcast linked in the post offered a really great perspective on all of this. Definitely worth a listen.
Yes yes yes... this has been the basis of my newsletter for 2+ years, and my countless rants on Twitter for years before that haha
For me it’s kind of felt like, the people I want to work with aren’t sitting on Instagram 6 hours a day, or scrolling on Twitter keeping up with all the ultra niche news of the day.
And if people wanna judge from follower counts? Eh, fine. I’ll be over here doing my own thing haha
Exactly. Where are the people you're trying to reach hanging out? And with what kind of people do you want to collaborate? I want to work with people that appreciate the kind of work I make, not because I have x-amount of followers. I've always felt iffy when companies were more in love with my 120,000+ followers than with my work.
As someone who just left a long career in marketing via graphic design and is planning to make a go of it without social media, I think about this a lot. And what I notice is people, creative professionals especially, have trouble with social media as community versus social media as marketing. Because for so long they were one and the same. (They're also more likely to find marketing, in general, "icky.")
The cold, hard truth is that the free-trial period for social media as marketing has expired and now the bill is due. We can have an organic and small community at a cozy pace for free. Or we can have robust engagement that leads to followers/sales/clients/business-goal-here for time, money and much hoop-jumping.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, love it or hate it, people need to be budgeting (time, money or both) for marketing in their business plan. Relying on third parties and not diversifying will only lead to lost time and frustration.
I deleted my instagram about a year and half ago. For anyone else that is considering going scorched earth like I did, just know that you can download all your posts and data beforehand. Good luck everyone!
"The cold, hard truth is that the free-trial period for social media as marketing has expired and now the bill is due." Love this. So true but we hang on to the old ways and don't want to accept this.
This is why I like Substack: thank you for adding your perspective to this, Mandy! So true that we have a budget on our time too, and have to think about where to spend that time. Marketing is necessary for many of us, and the question is: where to spend that budget so you get enough out of it? I've spend too much time on IG the last two years without getting much out of it. I think if I spend less time on it but just enough, it probably will be alright.
The one thing I love most about Instagram is scrolling down in artists posts right to the beginning and then making my way back up - following their paths!
Great relatable post. I’m a very sporadic poster on IG so it’s never bothered me but I’ve seen lots of other artists looking for the holy grail of social media such as Threads and Blue Sky which are all the same if you ask me. I’ve already deleted X and my account and am considering maybe returning to a traditional website. For you I think sticking to your plan of finding an agent is a great idea. I think it’s time to go back to the drawing board and maybe come back to IG later, it will all still be there.
I hear you too !
Just found your substack via notes and then this post. We were literally on the same wavelength back in December. One of my goals for this year was Quality over Quantity. https://bridgettemeinhold.substack.com/p/new-year-new-me
Hi there Marloes, I stumbled across your post and clicked because I’ve been hearing more and more artists considering the same thing. I’m curious to know how to market without social media?
I’ve been illustrating as a hobby for years but never used IG as a marketing platform. So when I decided to become an illustrator I felt that it was too late. The market is saturated, AI artwork, and my inability to land a first client has made things rather difficult for things to get started. So I’m here on Substack to see where it takes me. Hoping to meet more illustrators like you, and hopefully build community.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Hi Lindsey! I've been working on a follow up. In short, I think Instagram is still one of the best ways for artists to get eyeballs on their work. I'll work further on the follow up, which will take a few more weeks I think.
I look forward to reading it!
This was a fab read, thank you. I still enjoy Instagram, but mainly that's because I interact with people in stories. I also only follow accounts I'm really interested in so when I scroll I generally see cool things. That said, recently found myself looking at how many people were shown my work, something I never used to care about. I don't want to be that person, talking about or pandering to the algorithm....but it is starting to feel like it's not a good use of my time and energy. I like it here so far - it's taking a while to figure out but it feels good. Wishing you a happy year ahead :)
I feel the same way. I hate that social media is an expectation now and how many amazing, talented artists don't get book deals or jobs because their following isn't large enough. A large following doesn't dictate your worth.
I’ve definitely cut down my IG activity even though my career was not made in there, I’m not sure I ever really loved it, maybe that’s why.
But here is wonderful I’m loving it and if you enjoy bookshops I hope you’re reading Katie Clapham https://katieclapham.substack.com/
I'm on Instagram less and less but I still enjoy looking at what other artists are posting and what my local galleries are showing. It's a conundrum isn't it? I feel the same about being tied to a particular type of artwork but that's an issue on and off Instagram - galleries like consistency, urgh! I'm thinking of cleaning up my feed, deleting a lot of older work, and just keeping Insta like an online portfolio of works that are available for exhibition or sale. For me, most of my Substack subscribers still come from Instagram, so I'll use it as marketing tool for my writing. I love Substack and it's great to see more visual artists moving over here, but if we all keep our posts behind paywalls, I don't see how we are going to attract buyers to our work, unless Notes really takes off and becomes an alternative to Instagram for readers. An interesting read, thank you.
I've cleaned up my IG feed and it feels so much more aligned with the work I do now. I also limit access to the app so when I'm on there, I'm more purposefully using it.
Since then, I've found IG a much lovelier place, much more intentional.
I agree completely with Substack: it's a wonderful place to elaborate on your work, but finding new people on there is so much harder. You find people who's work you like on social media (like IG) and then you go a layer deeper on Substack or newsletters. At least, that's how I feel at the moment.
It is such a refreshing thoughts, after you posted about cleaning your Instagram for this reason I went though my own Instagram and archived a lot of my older posts from when I was in college and when i was doing my foundation year, because my style has changed so much and what was once my personal account had become my creative account
Thanks a lot for sharing, Marloes! I am very behind on Instagram (always used it only for personal connections) and I was thinking about creating an account for my art, but I understand that growing an audience from zero is an additional job. I am just not ready to do that on so many levels, but I still feel some pressure, because "everyone is there"... Instead I try experimenting with other platforms and formats to find ways of sharing my art and connect with other artists & creatives. At the moment Substack sort of feels being a more genuine place for connecting and sharing.
It's so tricky, isn't it? It's like maintaining a way too big garden, sowing seeds everywhere, not having enough time to water them all, and hoping for the best.
What I'm trying to do is following my joy. I've noticed I feel worse about myself after more than 20 minutes on IG, so I limit my time there to 15 minutes each session, and I can only open the app 3x a day (I use the app ClearSpace for this). This gives me lots of extra time to spend on other things.
Yes, it is tricky! Still need to figure things out for myself, but following my joy is a great advice! Thank you for your answer and also for the tip about the app!
Thank you so much for the shout-out Marloes and for writing these reflections. That moment you had in the bookshop sounds beautiful and precious, a nudge to challenge you and help you take steps. I'm looking forward to following along with you again this year! x
I really feel conflicted about social media, specially as a writer who is just starting out and is still building an audience. On most days, I feel like I am swimming in a sea which has no end, and I feel so lost about the direction in which I want to head. As a result I end up posting, but not consistently. And I mostly feel drained when I check my instagram anyway. When I truly focus all my energy on my writing though, like writing here on Substack, I feel fulfilled. It's such a weird space to navigate and as a new entrant, I feel confused about the direction in which to head all the time
Unsolicited advice, hope you don't mind. But, follow your gut and your joy. If Substack brings you joy, go there.
Thankyou for the advice. I think it’s time to let go of the fear that I’ll be left behind if I don’t have a “consistent” posting schedule on Instagram. It will ease so much of my pressure and I can devete time to Substack guilt free
As someone who has been posting on Instagram for more than 7 years and who started there as a veeeeery green beginner, I can't help but feel that I didn't "get in the bandwagon" at the proper time. It seems I couldn't make the platform work for me back then (maybe because of the quality of my work as a beginner), and today it feels almost impossible, no matter how hard you try to please the gods of the algorithm. It's all very disheartening, but I promised myself one last try to post my work consistently in Instagram this year - purely because I couldn't think of any other platform where I can reach the same (or a bigger) audience that I already have there. I wonder if you and other artists who have a wide audience there also feel like this and which platforms you've been enjoying (and seeing more results from) posting most recently :)
You also touched upon a topic I feel is super important, but that I don't see many artists with big followings talking about: how companies might choose not to work with you because you're not "big enough". This is something that scares me a lot, since I still haven't reached 2k followers, despite the 7+ years on Instagram. I like to imagine most companies and/or clients don't use this metric to choose who they work with, even though this might only be wishful thinking. I'd love to hear you talk more about this and your experiences if possible <3
To reassure you: there are wonderful companies and publishers that prioritise the quality of the work instead above social media numbers.
I'll be honest: it worked well for me that I had many followers, because it did give me an advantage over people with similar skills/experience but didn't have a big audience. It has also made me feel insecure at times. I wasn't always sure whether someone wanted to work with me because I had a large followering, or whether they appreciated my work. Even in my personal life there were people that didn't like me for me but hoped I could drop their name with a client or on social media.
When I was rejected a few weeks ago because someone else had a larger following and got the job, my immediate thought was that I made the selection in the first place because I have a large following. I also realise that I don't want to be picked only because of the numbers on social media.
So, I'm happy I got rejected. I want to work with people that understand what I'm trying to do with my work, and create something meaningful together.
Yes, having many eyes on your work does help, but there are more ways. I think reaching out personally to companies and publishers is probably better than waiting until you get noticed on social media (which is what I did). And yes, some people might not want to work with you because you don't have a large audience and therefore they're not sure if a book will sell well, but to be fair: a large audience doesn't mean a book will sell well either. For example, Billie Eilish' book didn't sell well a few years ago because the publisher thought they didn't have to do any marketing themselves. If a publisher or company thinks the maker of a book will sell the book by posting about it on social media, they're so wrong. That's not how it works. You have to ask yourself if you want to work with people that don't want to put in the work.
Companies/clients that focus on follower count are nervous to invest in any artist that isn't already vetted, in a sense. They want to know that the artist has invested in marketing and this is typically done via agencies, publishers, press, publicity etc. because it is not cheap.
>> The algorithm is designed to prioritize paying accounts by amount. <<
To be honest, companies and clients that prioritize count over the work probably wouldn't be fun to work with anyway. :)~
I thought the podcast linked in the post offered a really great perspective on all of this. Definitely worth a listen.
Yes yes yes... this has been the basis of my newsletter for 2+ years, and my countless rants on Twitter for years before that haha
For me it’s kind of felt like, the people I want to work with aren’t sitting on Instagram 6 hours a day, or scrolling on Twitter keeping up with all the ultra niche news of the day.
And if people wanna judge from follower counts? Eh, fine. I’ll be over here doing my own thing haha
Exactly. Where are the people you're trying to reach hanging out? And with what kind of people do you want to collaborate? I want to work with people that appreciate the kind of work I make, not because I have x-amount of followers. I've always felt iffy when companies were more in love with my 120,000+ followers than with my work.
As someone who just left a long career in marketing via graphic design and is planning to make a go of it without social media, I think about this a lot. And what I notice is people, creative professionals especially, have trouble with social media as community versus social media as marketing. Because for so long they were one and the same. (They're also more likely to find marketing, in general, "icky.")
The cold, hard truth is that the free-trial period for social media as marketing has expired and now the bill is due. We can have an organic and small community at a cozy pace for free. Or we can have robust engagement that leads to followers/sales/clients/business-goal-here for time, money and much hoop-jumping.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, love it or hate it, people need to be budgeting (time, money or both) for marketing in their business plan. Relying on third parties and not diversifying will only lead to lost time and frustration.
I deleted my instagram about a year and half ago. For anyone else that is considering going scorched earth like I did, just know that you can download all your posts and data beforehand. Good luck everyone!
"The cold, hard truth is that the free-trial period for social media as marketing has expired and now the bill is due." Love this. So true but we hang on to the old ways and don't want to accept this.
This is why I like Substack: thank you for adding your perspective to this, Mandy! So true that we have a budget on our time too, and have to think about where to spend that time. Marketing is necessary for many of us, and the question is: where to spend that budget so you get enough out of it? I've spend too much time on IG the last two years without getting much out of it. I think if I spend less time on it but just enough, it probably will be alright.
The one thing I love most about Instagram is scrolling down in artists posts right to the beginning and then making my way back up - following their paths!