An effective marketing strategy keeps one truth at its heart – it’s all about relationships.
The goal of marketing your work is not to suddenly act like a used car salesman, but instead to facilitate the conversation between your work and your audience.
On October 13th, artist Dread Scot will be leading our Creating a Marketing Strategy webinar. Pulling from his long and storied career, (He once had former President George H. W Bush call his work ‘disgraceful’), Dread Scott will be sharing actionable tools and tactics for artists to create a marketing strategy that allows them to leverage their work into a greater conversation. Register Here

Your words and your documentation are critical to a marketing strategy that speaks truthfully and effectively about your work. Having your own documentation puts the power of representing your art in your hands. This is so important because as Dread wisely shares,“We can’t make everyone like our art, but we can represent our work accurately so people can make an informed decision about it.”
To that end, Dread stresses the importance of artists treating the documentation of their work with the same seriousness and creativity that they devote to the work itself.
Document Better: Art Directing Your Images

1. Set up a dramatic action shot
   1. If movement or participation is key to the essence of your work, that should come through in your documentation.
2. Include a person in the image for a sense of size and scale
   1. For visual artists it can be difficult to create the physical experience of engaging with a work in a single image, but alluding to the scale of the piece can give those who can’t engage with the work in person an idea.
3. Rearrange the installation so important elements are in a single shot
   1. Pulling things closer together can give viewers a feel for the “wholeness” of the live experience.
4. Video clips that convey the essence of a longer work.
   1. For literary artists in particular, a short video of you or another person reading a passage or chapter of your work can serve as an effective type of documentation.

Effective images are only half of the work however. Images need to be coupled with clear and engaging description to do their best work. Elements that can’t be easily appreciated visually – like the significance of a particular material, or the importance of the space itself should be communicated.
You are the single best advocate for your work, and taking the time to ensure that your work is documented in ways that authentically convey the ideas and purpose behind your art will make promoting and marketing your work that much easier, authentic and effective.
For more in-depth conversation around effective documentation, as well as the all the other important components of an effective marketing strategy. Join Creative Capital and Dread Scott on Thursday October 13th for our Creating a Marketing Strategy webinar.