Digital Marketing Strategy

Recently, I listened to a Brooks Jensen, editor of LensWork  magazine, podcast called Glaring Oversight. You might be able to listen to it here.  It started me thinking. What is my digital marketing strategy? You may recall that I developed a general marketing plan for my art. You can read about it here. But I never really considered the digital side specifically. It is time I address that oversight.

I am not claiming to be any kind of expert on fine art marketing. There are far more knowledgeable writers out there. But from my perspective and limited experience, here are my thoughts. As with any plan, I am sure it will evolve over time. And that is OK since plans of this type must evolve over time to accommodate changes in the art world and the internet in general.

I felt that I needed to establish another viewer “hook” into my project work that would go beyond just a static website or an exhibition of my work.

If you are like me, you probably have many beautiful photos that, perhaps because of sheer numbers alone, would not make its place onto one of your gallery pages. Depending on who you think your audience is, you might want to consider broadening your definition in order to increase greater exposure to not only your top best work, but also a lot more of that body of work. If you go to many photographers’ sites, those aren’t the only pictures they have ever taken, just their best top ones. Their entire catalogue of “best” photos can be quite extensive! But for the sake of brevity and as a means of creating a sense of branding, this is all that they offer.

For me, my target audience so far is viewers who enjoy artistic abstraction, either intuitively or not. For example, other photographers, or, for that matter, anyone who takes pictures with more intent than just recording the moment. Travelers who go beyond the need for souvenirs and try to capture photos that tell the story of their adventure are also part of this group.

This is where I decided to branch out and share my travel photography as downloadable free ebooks. Now, that said, I am not trying to compete with the many wonderful, professional travel guide writers or travel photographers who make this their living.

In my view, downloadable, free ebook accomplishes a few things. First, it is a great way to showcase your images from a specific location. Second, it allows you to document a particular trip with not just photos but also any unique information or insights you had while at that location. If nothing else, when you look back years later it will help you remember your trip! The intent would be to portray the lessons learned in a series of images that progress from the journey”s beginning to its conclusion. This would be very similar to the way early humans shared their adventures with their family and friends upon their return to the clan. A great, related book to this is  The Way Of The Traveler by Joseph Dispenza. Here he talks about “making every trip a journey of self-discovery.”

But more importantly, by giving away the ebook, you have a better chance that someone will be curious about your other work. If nothing else, it will at least increase traffic to your website and perhaps add to the list of viewers who may return from time to time to check out any new work you may be offering.

What am I hoping to gain? Fame? Fortune? Merely traffic?  My goal simply is to get my artwork in front of as many different pairs of eyes and at as many levels of viewer participation as possible with the hope that this may open doors previously unknown or unavailable to me in the past.

The free ebook idea also led to a more generic idea that other photographers have also pursued and that is the idea of freely sharing different types of information with their viewers. This led me to create my own version of Free Stuff! which at this point also includes free viewing of my youtube videos. You can view it here.

So how is this working out for me? It is too early to tell since I just released these free materials. Sitting around hoping that someone will visit your website or Google something about or related to you and your work is just not proactive enough. Good things can only happen if you make them happen!

Enjoy life!