One of the most frequent questions I get when teaching is What are you doing with social media, if anything?

I think that the larger and more useful question is actually about communication in general, and what methods I’m using to communicate with galleries and collectors. So, I thought I’d give you my impressions of what’s working, what isn’t, as well as my general philosophy about getting exposure.

The first thing to understand is that there are communication tiers—levels of messaging targeting different groups that are used to take advantage of specific forums. The second thing to realize is that with all the options now available for gaining information, everyone seems to have a personal preference, so while one set of followers might only look at what you post on Facebook, there are others that will only follow your twitter feed, and yet others who will only read your blog.

The tiers that I have been using include:

1. Web Site: www.laurenhenkin.com
The web site today seems to be losing a bit of it’s power as a tool for communicating. Of all the tools I will describe below, my web site is the one that is visited the least frequently, and I suspect this would be true for many people’s sites. I believe the reason is because I use it as a final showcase for all that is “perfect” in my work. It is a place to view final portfolios, my updated cv, recent announcements that might include prestigious competition placements or reviews. The information may change there once a month for small updates, and as infrequently as once every four months for a major addition like a new book or portfolio. With the advantage of one-stop-shopping for information on sites like Facebook, the likelihood of someone returning to your web site over and over again is unlikely, so understand that, and reserve it for your best stuff.

2. Email Campaigns
In terms of effectiveness, the email campaigns that I send out with the help of Constant Contact are by far, the most useful tool for communicating a specific message. The list of about 500 names that I have generated over years is extremely targeted, so there is usually a large viewing rate, usually between 60-70%. This is the only method that I use that comes directly to someone’s doorstep so to speak, so I think it probably feels more personal than something that might be posted on Facebook or Twitter. I will usually send 1 or 2 of these per month. I wouldn’t recommend more than that as you might irritate some people on your mailing list… less than that and you start to lose touch. Like the web site, these are “quality” messages, meaning, the information being conveyed should be important… a new portfolio, a competition win, a new show, a new review, etc. In a way, because you are invading someone’s e-mail box with these, you should be sensitive to that and make sure that what you’re saying is worthy. Some e-mail campaigns I’ve sent in the past include the following:

3. Blog: www.laurenhenkinblog.com
I started this blog without really knowing what I was going to be writing about, or how frequently I would be posting. I have enjoyed it much more than I thought I would, and have found it fascinating to track who is following this method of communication and why. While my web site might be dedicated to
“final” work, the blog has been an opportunity to explain works in progress, and to expand on why I’m doing the things I am, what inspires me, and to even ask for help. It is a great forum for explaining things in detail, and to expand on my working methods. Over time, I realized that this second tier seems to be primarily read by the 40+ crowd. This shouldn’t be too surprising considering the ever-decreasing attention spans of our youth. Those who usually respond to what I’ve posted, write quite a bit… it’s not the 1 or 2 lines I might get back from an e-mail announcement. That may in part be to the more lengthy messages that I am broadcasting, but I find it an interesting thing to note, especially if you’re looking for real feedback… My blog gets on average 3 times the number of hits as my web site and Facebook page, so in terms of spreading a message, this is vital.

4. Facebook: www.facebook.com/laurenhenkinphotography
Ok, this is the one I get questions about the most… To come to any real conclusions about the value of using Facebook for networking, to me, is premature. I signed on about 2 years ago, but I’ve only been using it for marketing for about 1 year. The hardest part for me about Facebook is that you really don’t know who is looking at what you’re posting, how often they’re looking, and if anything else beyond that initial read is happening. But… it is a great way to send out small messages frequently and to a wide audience—for free. It’s a perfect place to talk about smaller accomplishments like participating in a group or juried show, collaborations happening, even applying for a residency. The most critical part is that you have to post often, and with new information. It also seems to be a wonderful place to gather a more international audience. I know when my work went up on Urbanautica.com, I got a lot more fans from locations outside the US. People want to see that things are happening, and that you’re actively working. Nothing upsets me more than going to a friend’s website and seeing that nothing has been added since 2006. In my view, the biggest question mark for a gallery is not whether what you’re presenting is good work, but rather, Will this artist continue to produce good work? You need to convince them that the one brilliant body of work will feed into others. By communicating your progress, by any methods, you will be reassuring galleries and collectors that you are here to stay, your good work will continue, and that they can take a chance on you…

5. Twitter: www.twitter.com/laurenhenkin
For me, Twitter is the lowest tier. I just don’t have the time, energy or desire to post something on it more than maybe twice a day. That’s not to say it isn’t a good way of communicating. I think it’s perfect for quick messages like reminders of upcoming events, publication notices, even recommendations of shows or work. I know people that use it all the time, and I wonder what the results have been for them. I will say this, of all these methods, Twitter seems to draw the most people that I have never interacted with. I hardly recognize the people following my Twitter feed. While I don’t necessarily know what the implications of that are, I think it’s important to note. While it may seem overwhelming to have to deal with all these methods, one thing that helps is to link them together. So, for example, when I post on my blog or Facebook, a notification automatically goes out on Twitter, so there is some effort saved there.

In summary, the most important thing to do, when starting, is gather as many targeted names as you can. You want your mailing list to be effective and to do that, you’ll have to build it slowly, event by event, contact by contact. A lot of what is exciting about social media is that it’s new and therefore the possibilities for what may happen from it are unknown. A lot of the successes I’ve had have been through trial and error, just trying something and evaluating what has happened from the effort. I think that most people talk themselves out of doing new things and a big unknown loss is the result. So, I would encourage you all to experiment, find what methods work for you and your lifestyle, and then just work that until you get the results you want.

If you have more questions on this, please feel free to send them my way…

Hope this is helpful!