For all my art friends out there struggling to keep up with your social media feeds this one's for you.
Hey art friends, you know I love you guys, and I’ll do anything I can to help you out. Recently the art community has been hit hard by the introduction of AI and what the future might bring. This post isn’t about that.
Yes, the life of an artist grows ever more complicated, but this post is meant to be a little breath of fresh air. It is meant to make life a little easier for all of you who are feeling the pinch. Are you completely overwhelmed trying to keep up with the endless demands and costs of self-promotion? Yeah, I was too until I learned about managing social. In this post, I'm going to teach you how to schedule your social media posts so you can do it just like the pros. So let’s get right into it, shall we?
Social media
Ugh. Just mentioning the word spikes my blood pressure and gives me anxiety. It's just one more thing to add to your already crowded, busy day. How hard do you struggle trying to be seen not to mention get your stuff in front of the right people? So much to do, so little time to do it.
That’s bad news. The good news is you already have the solution. Yeah, that’s right, it’s sitting right in front of you, only a click away. Adobe, yes, the same people who make all the digital software you already use on the daily, have built a program to help you regain a little of that time. Now you can create a rock-steady presence for all your favorite social channels without hardly breaking a sweat.
*SIDE NOTE - I should mention I’m no corporate shill. Adobe did not pay me to write this, and this is not an affiliate post. I’m just a guy trying to make your life a little easier.
** SIDE NOTE to the side note: If, however, you’re from Adobe and you want to show a little love, I’m not opposed
Adobe Express
Adobe Express allows you to create, schedule, and post on all your social platforms. Why is this such a monumental breakthrough? Well, it’s not really. People have been doing it for years, but you haven't, have you? Maybe you've tried a few things but nothing stuck. Maybe it got too hard or too complicated so like that guitar sitting in your closet you never really learned it. If that sounds familiar don't worry. I've got you covered. Let me give you the run down to make your life of self-promotion a little less painful.
Here’s how it works…
How to Schedule Content
Posting scheduled content allows you to block out your content in advance and schedule it to be released at a later date. That means you can plan your content and maintain a steady presence saving a tremendous amount of time and freeing you from having to be present when you post. What typically happens to many artists, me included, is that we go about our busy days not giving self-promotion much thought until things slow down. You try to make up for lost time, but by then, it’s too late. Why does that happen?
If you’re like I was, your presence on social has been random, disjointed, haphazard, and scattered. Unfortunately, that’s a reflection on you, but the darker truth is that nobody really cares. Nobody’s been looking for you or wondering where you’ve been. They’ve simply shifted their focus to the three billion other people clamoring for their attention. Even more unfortunate is that not posting on the regular will cost you eyeballs and having eyeballs on your work is the key to making connections. Connections are the key to making sales. So more eyeballs = a good thing. How you convert those eyeballs to sales is a story for another time.
Why to Schedule Content
But Bob, I’m busy. We’re all busy so it’s easy to shift social to the back burner, but if you do, you’re leaving a lot on the table. Social media, for all its faults, does one thing well. It builds connections, which in my humble opinion, is basically free advertising. You get out of it what you put into it but what you put into it doesn’t have to be backbreaking work. There’s an easier way, and that way is scheduling your content. So, if you’ve never done this before and this is all new to you, let me share how the pros do it.
Step one: Create a Content Calendar
Create a content calendar. A content calendar is exactly what it sounds like. It is a calendar that you use to plan what you want to promote. Why is this important? Let’s assume the reason you are on social in the first place is to promote your art. I mean, why else are you here? Certainly not because these platforms are highly addictive and scrolling numbs the pain of your terrible day. Well, ok, maybe a little of that, but I digress.
The content calendar allows you to plan out your posts. So let’s say you have an upcoming event that you want people to know about. By scheduling your content in advance, you can develop a campaign that creates awareness, so it lands at the right time, in front of a captive audience, and creates the right kind of buzz. That buzz creates momentum. Momentum drives eyeballs to your event so when the date arrives, your audience is right there with you. Without the content calendar, you are at the mercy of whatever you have time to post, if you ever remember to post it all. No momentum, no eyeballs, no audience. Poor planning = poor results.
Step two: Create Your Content
Create your content based on the scheduling calendar in advance. You’ve planned what you want to say and when you want to say it, now it’s time to execute. That means no more second-guessing what’s going to work out or pulling stuff out of your Procreate library and posting it at the last minute. No more art that has nothing to do with anything. Your content is all created in advance based on your calendar.
Can you still post on a whim? Of course, you can, but this is how the pros do it, and you’re a pro now, so my advice is this. If you want to post on a whim, that’s totally cool, post on a whim, but do both.
Your days of disorganized chaos and sloppy results are a thing of the past. This is the new you. Look at you all organized and grabbing eyeballs! You’re a rock star, and the more you keep up with it, the better your results will be.
Step 3: Schedule Your Social Media Posts
Being in 47 places at once sucks. Do you want a sucky life? No, you want to be one of the cool kids and cool kids schedule their content in advance so they don’t have to be in front of their devices at all times. You just create your content, pick a date, time, and a platform, and BAM, you’re done! No muss, no fuss!
Now here’s the really cool part. You already know the tools because it’s Adobe, the stuff you work with daily. You just upload your art, add the caption, add links (where they apply), and then pop in your hashtags for good measure. Look at you go. I knew you could do it because I believe in you.
What’s the matter? Why are you looking at me like that? Are you sad the article is over? What, you’re worried about coming up with the text for all that content? Ok, look, I’m going to share one more tip with you that the pros use but don’t tell anybody.
Ready? Here it is…
The bonus tip.
Use AI. Yeah, that’s right, I said it. USE AI! Look at you sitting there with that look on your face. But Bob, you said AI was evil. You said it stole from artists and made our life harder.
Yeah, that may be true but hasn’t Ai taken enough from you? It stole your art, trained its minions on your work, and has the audacity to call it original art. Isn’t it time you took something back? Isn’t it time you turned it around, and instead of letting it take from you, you took from it? Damn right, it is, and here’s how you do it.
There are some things that AI is really, really good at besides stealing art, and that’s generating headlines. It’s like having a marketing intern sitting next to you, and all you have to do is ask it for help. So ask…
"Hey AI, give me ten compelling marketing headlines to help promote this upcoming event I’m hosting, and don’t leave out the good stuff!"
Three seconds later, BAM! There it is ten headlines. Three great headlines, four ok, and three make you question the merits of modern technology. So here's what you do. You grab the two best headlines and piece them together to make one super great headline, and there you have it. Easy as pie.
Look, AI is a marketing genius, so use it to your advantage whenever you can. That's what ist there for but a word of warning. Lean into AI but don't lean so hard you lose your own voice. Your voice is the most important thing you have to connect to your audience, so hang onto that thing for dear life. It’s what separates you from the machines. Nobody wants to read what a machine has to say but they do want to hear from you.
So use AI as a jumping-off point, then add that secret sauce that is your writing style. That’s what your audience is really clamoring for. They want the authentic you, so give it to them. That way they can love you and your art as much as I do.
One last thing. Don't forget the #Hashtags!
I suck at hashtags, but do you know who’s great at them? That’s right. It’s your marketing intern AI, so use that little punk to generate spectacular hashtags, and don’t sweat it too hard. This whole thing is going to be a learning process. Give it time. You’re not going to be a pro overnight, just stick with it, and I promise you if you do by this time next year, you’ll look back and laugh at the way you used to post. Now go out there, make me proud, and tell ‘em Bob sent you!