It is a mistake to think that art does not have to cultivate public relations. While an inspired artist always has a place in the heart of society, it is not guaranteed that they know the bests ways to reach their target audience.Especially the most demanding works tend to fail if they are not appropriately marketed. What can an artist do to gain publicity, and how can a PR and marketing professional help?

Photo by Jared Poledna on Unsplash

Nothing sells itself

Art and PR are two areas that previously had very little to do with each other. It is culturally ingrained in us that art should not be commercially marketed in ways other products and services are. We still tend to think that art should be made solely for its own beauty and find its own knowing audience.

We falsely think that good work sells itself — if it’s not good enough, it’s pointless to try professional marketing tricks. It is precisely these misconceptions that we need to discard once and for all.

Telling your story won’t discredit you

In the last few years, I have met several clients who feared that outward communication, an excessive aura of professionalism, and maintaining a sharp image would discredit them and make them look superficial. They feel that pushing too hard to gain a foothold in the market makes is below them and think that traditional marketing tools are profane.

However, they are mistaken on this issue, as even the most striking, high-quality piece of art can fail if it does not reach the audience through the right channels.

Moreover, marketing can easily be art itself.

Since the 2000s, storytelling has been an essential part of communication for brands and startups. It’s critical to have a tangible, human, emotional story behind the product. With good PR, these emotions will strengthen the credibility of art and artist alike. They build a consistent image that will make the creator’s products more attractive to the audience.

You can share your completed works, and you can build a whole world with cultural reference points and means of identification.

You can make your audience want to identify with it, you can make them support your aspirations and art philosophy.

To initiate such a complicated process, both the consultant and the artist are needed: the latter knows his goals, and the former clearly sees which aspects of the artist’s personality and work are worth highlighting. The two visions together make up one whole. And thus, a personal brand is born.

Jim Reno’s impressively built social platform and personal brand

Yes, you are interesting

A right PR expert knows the Unique Selling Points of a product, i.e., their unique characteristics, the unchangeable tickets, which helps differentiate you from others.

A professional consultant helps you to look objectively at the strengths and weaknesses of the product or service. They can’t only help with communication goals, but also with business goals and strategies. They give advice on measuring the impact of content, the quality of your audience, and improving visibility.

The inner worlds of the artists are colourful, exciting, and inspiring.

There are certain parts of these worlds that interest audiences. For example, what books, films, pieces, paintings, or songs did the artist build from? What are the cafes, restaurants, parks that inspire them? What is the city where their most exciting ideas are born? These favorite inspirational factors should be presented to the audience. They can also provide them with an opportunity to identify; they may recognise themselves in the artist.

Whoever can achieve this, will no longer only have an audience, but also a loyal community. It is important to emphasize, however, that it is essential to consult a professional about the form and regularity of communication with this community, as well as paying attention to tone and avoiding negative publicity.

This article was originally published in Hungarian at Media 2.0. Communications.