10 Ideas for More Engaging Social Media Posts
Have you ever felt completely stuck when it comes to writing creative, engaging social posts? Sometimes it’s hard to stay motivated and come up with new ideas, so we’ve put together some inspiring examples from Redbubble artists to help you take your social media game to the next level.
Introduce Yourself
The #artvsartist hashtag does the rounds every now and again on Instagram and Twitter. It’s a great way to introduce yourself and highlight some of your favorite artwork, and it helps you connect with new followers.
Posting your image online may be a step too far for some of us, but there are other ways to let people know more about you. If you’re more of an introvert, start slowly and share what you feel comfortable with. You might add a comment on what you did on the weekend, something creative you’re experimenting with, or the story behind a work.
Head over to Bianca Green’s Instagram for some great examples. Bianca shares stories of her life in Berlin, her amazing home, sources of inspiration, projects she’s working on, plus art and products she has for sale, while still maintaining her ‘brand’ and a visual consistency in her feed.
An #artvsartist post from Bianca Green
Share a Work In Progress
Take your audience behind the scenes by sharing an insight into your process. Still images are great but short videos are even better. Vlad Stankovic has some great examples on his Instagram.
Work in progress by Vlad Stankovic aka vladimirsart on Instagram
Turn Your Work Into a GIF or Animation
There are so many easy ways to animate your work now. You can use programs like After Effects, Photoshop or Procreate or there are apps for creating animated gifs from multiple images. Animation adds another element to your designs and can make them even more engaging. Ronald Kuang is the master of animating his work. Click through to his Instagram to see how he makes his work come to life, and how his fans respond in the comments.
Instagram post by Ronald Kuang aka Seerlight
Ask a Question
As Chuvardina demonstrates below, asking your followers a question is a great way to engage with them, and it’s something we see from many artists with high a social following. In this example, they’re asking for help naming an illustration, but we’ve also seen artists asking followers to pick their favorite design, what they should draw next, and which colors they’d like to see.
Instagram post by Chuvardina
Share Your Inspiration
This is a lovely example. Susann Hoffmann not only shares a new skill she’s learning, she also gives a shout out to other artists who have inspired her. It’s a great way to build connections with other artists and spread some creative love around.
Instagram post by Susan Hoffman
Post a Teaser
TaylorRoseArt posts gorgeous progress shots without revealing all the details of an up and coming artwork. Sometimes she’ll tease followers with multiple posts to create anticipation for one of her new works. She’s also great at engaging with her followers in the comments and answering their questions. Head over to her Instagram for more inspiration.
Teaser post by taylorrosemakesart
Invite Followers to ‘Ask Me Anything’
Tumblr has a function that lets people ask you questions and Instagram has questions stickers in Stories. These are just two examples of how you can use your social profiles to invite questions. In both cases you can repost these to share the answers with the rest of your followers. It’s another engaging way to open up a conversation. Here’s a great example from salami-spots.
Tumblr post from Salami Spots
Share Insights Into Your Process and Tools
As Puffygator shows in this post, people love to get a peek behind the scenes to understand how you make your art and the tools you use. Something as simple as art supplies or a photo of your workspace will do the trick.
Instagram post by Puffygator
Run a Giveaway
Terry Runyan runs a monthly art print giveaway for her email subscribers. This gives a boost to sign ups for her mailing list. It’s an idea you could easily adapt to increase your followers. We’ve seen some great examples where artists have asked their followers to tag a friend in the comments so they both have the chance to win some goodies.
Giveaway post by Terry Runyan
Say Thank You
It may seem like a simple thing but showing gratitude to your followers and fellow artists can be a great way to engage with them. In this example, Milkkoyo has also invited followers to introduce themselves and tag other artists they love in the comments.
Instagram post by Milkkoyo
What’s been your most successful method for engaging followers? Is there anything that works best for you? Are there artists you follow who do a great job of sharing on social? We’d love to see some more examples so please share then in the comments below.
Blog header image: Bird Mix by Terry Runyan