Artists on Instagram: Don't Make This Mistake

Pro artist here: you have to view instagram as a portfolio now. Don't expect likes or engagements ('cause you're going to be disappointed), disengage emotionally from the chase of popularity and focus on your work. Accept that your followers are going to drop (I used to be 215K, now 198K) (lol) And yeah, focus on the work, always. It's good for you and your career.

😅Casually stating: "posting four times a day" and here I am like: "It takes me four days to even finish a single piece for one post." 💀

IMPORTANT note from an Artist to an Artist: I felt the social media burnout, my Art life was 5% art and 95% "business" (doing social media, scheduling, making content). I posted on my blog/reddit that I will be taking a break for a few months because I NEED to create stress free without deadlines or the pressure of always doing things on camera and always posting... I even said to my followers "listen, it is impossible to continue in real time, I will take 6 months off, make stuff, schedule them so you have content for 6 months while Im offline creating"... I was expecting to lose half my engagement. WRONG! The amount of people who were HAPPY and said stuff along the line "Finally we see someone taking care of their mental health and being an artist without being a social media persona" and they continued with comments along the lines of "We'd rather miss you for a while and know that more of your work will come back than have you burnt out and lose your work forever". Overall, people DO prefer a mentally healthy artist who puts out art once in a while rather than a content-pumping anxious mess xD Normalise doing art while none is watching. Normalise for artists to be artists and not marketing agencies.

This is sooo right on. I only have 485 followers on Insta, BUT my work sells regularly and I get to spend all my time in the studio. I rarely post more than twice a week. I have seen your work Brooke and it's brilliant. You don't have to advertise at all. The collectors will find you. Regards.

I'm so glad you did a video about this! IG has changed drastically and it's not going back. After spending a few years as a corporate publicist, I just hate social media altogether and I'm trying so hard to change my relationship with it now that I'm focusing solely on art. But really, there is only so much that we can control on social platforms. The algorithms are updated on a near weekly basis, and it's always meant to keep you sucked in and scrolling. I'm thinking of planning a content calendar so that I don't have to actually spend too much time on the platform because it really hypnotizes you within seconds. I'm so glad you decided to put some more effort into YT because I enjoy learning more about you, your processes, and your thoughts on art business and such. Keep it up Brooke, you're killing it! <3

Instagram… and all social media outlets… will not make your art career. They’re entertainment outlets with fickle fans. All of your energy and time will be spent on getting people to follow you that you will never ever have an authentic connection with through your work. You will neglect making real relationships in the real world. You will. I deleted all of my social media accounts and decided to live in the real world instead. My precious time on Earth is more valuable to me than the empty void of social media.

I've been at 130 follows for most two years now, and honest I'm not bothered by it. What bothers me the most is how to carry out all the ideas in my mind for people to actually relate too. This video was honestly helpful. I feel so encouraged.😊

Everything you said in this video is absolutely true and thank you for specifically calling out the fact that numbers don’t equal money if it’s not the right people. I think a lot of us get caught up in the number not realizing it doesn’t really mean anything from an income perspective if those people aren’t passionate enough to buy your artwork. I’ve been a fan of your work for a while but continuing to stay for the candid content 🙂

Very relatable story. I had a video go viral on instagram last year, and got over 50k new followers from it, which was neat, but at the end of the day, changed nothing. Unless your reels are monetized, instagram growth doesn't mean much anymore other than as a way to point people to where you can actually get monetary support from them if they truly want to support your art. The platform requires so much effort for so little payout if the goal is to supplement income. Most brands on there don't mesh well with what an artist is trying to do, and most artists don't want to take their focus away from their art to figure out how to incorporate a brand deal. Instagram has really let its artist community fall through the cracks in these ways, and turning to youtube is a good alternative where you do actually get paid for your efforts. Wishing you the best of luck on here!

honestly a lot of artist accounts that I support and make me hyped when they post something, don't even post as frequently and I love their art a lot.

Hey Brooke, what a much needed video for a lot of us, fellow artists. I just reached 400 followers on my insta art page, and I'm so proud of myself. Last year, I wouldn't have felt that way. Like you, I was devoting every waking moment into trying to create content and post at least every day. I got burnt out and stopped painting for several months because I was exhausted, discouraged, and had a major artist block. I got back on instagram this year and decided that I didn't care about the numbers anymore, but I was going to use the art page as a sort of diary to chronical my growth as an artist. I'm actually looking into becoming an art vendor this fall as I like personal interaction over social media. You should be so proud of your accomplishments, and I love your new jewelry line.

I'm so thankful you came out with this video. I've been in this depressive funk for the past month because I went from 100k followers to 97k just in a few months and I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing wrong. Not only that, I've made 0 sales this week and it's honestly taken a toll on my mental health and making me rethink what I'm doing with my life lol. Thank you for coming out with this video because now I know I'm not alone and I don't need to be posting 4 times a week and make a buttload of reels.

This video just made my day. I have been so down about instagram and trying to do alllll the things and keep thinking none of it is worth it!! It’s making me depressed!! I’m so happy I found you, thank you for this!!

I relate a lot to this video. I have no more sales from instagram when I had 3k followers than I do now with 30k. I’ve also had a bunch of follower bumps from silly reels that have nothing to do with my art, therefore bringing in a bunch of followers that aren’t there for my work. Reels have been great for my following, but have also made that following pretty shallow.

This is such an important video! I genuinely stuck at the whole being social thing. I truly couldn't care less about creating "content". However, over the lonely years, I've admitted the need to share my art with others. I decided to start posting not to grow numbers or gain popularity, but just to share and document my work. I am also fascinated with process. So that's what i share. Whatever step I'm on, finished or not. When I'm on a project, it keeps me gently motivated to not abandon halfway through. To at least finish one step. I don't feel too rushed, because i am not curating a visual museum of finished products. It's more of a "look what i made, ma!" approach 😊 In the end, even if I'm not a "artist of instagram", or only get 4 likes on a post, i have a kind of portfolio that makes itself.

I'm a brand new artist and really have no idea yet how the algorithm works on any social media platform, but I have noticed a change in Insta since even Oct last year. My posts reach maybe 50% of what they once did. We need another platform, perhaps one that is made for artisans and artists. Keep all the garbage content on insta so it's not drowning us out. Thank you for the very informative video! Glad YouTube is doing its job properly and recommended you to me 😊

Look here young lady, in my day we didn't have anything like instagram. You are young, beautiful, and a talented artist. Follow your heart and nuture your soul, that's what a artist needs to do. Just be kind and easy on yourself, your just getting started, give yourself all the credit and don't think what you have done is wrong, you are learning and growing, focus on that. Learn, grow, and do your art, the money will come. Go into yourself and tap your inner wisdom and be blessed, and it will all come to you.!!!!!

I'm a learning 3D artist, 'have been learning it for about 3+ years and I'm starting to take my artwork seriously. I made my instagram account back in 2022, and at the time I didn't make it for the intentions of getting likes, or followers (my first few posts had very few likes), but I know that I wanted to make it to promote my artwork. And that's what I've been doing. Obviously, I only post on it when I finish an artwork, and posting everyday would just be a monumental task. However, since I'm going to be taking my artwork more seriously, and am about to promote my Instagram to my YT audience, I know that I needed to educate myself to further maintaining a professional Instagram Art account for the future. So, I want to thank you for making this video and for educating, not only me but for many artists who are keen to share their work over social media. And you are right about Quality over Quantity. That is key advice that I'll keep in mind for many years to come. Thank you 🙂

Great video and reminder. It can get really easy to worry about social media numbers or even just sitting and watching videos all day, rather than working on your art to gain that experience and use the tips found on YouTube. Something I have to keep watch in my artist journey. I found your channel earlier today and you’ve gain another subscriber. Thanks for posting and wishing you continued success all the way from Texas.

Ack, yes. Super small artist here, never was able to get over 250 followers reliably. I'm done with Instagram. I'll keep posting but I don't want to spend any more energy than necessary on it. I'll focus on my channel (it's in Spanish so the potential isn't as big but I'm more comfortable with my native language).