We all know the importance of having good content. Beautiful images and videos are such a key element to story telling and helping potential collectors connect to you and your work.
But capturing good content, never mind content where you are actually IN the frame is like trying to stick to a habit of washing your brushes every day…basically impossible!
So when you DO manage to capture some sweet content it’s essential that you try to squeeze as much life from that content as possible! Enter The Optimistic Artist’s Content Creation Strategy!
As you know, I’m all about cheering artists on and helping them find their possible. So this post is dedicated to helping you see how it’s possible to take one photo shoot and turn it into SEVERAL pieces of content that will go the distance- making the fact that you put on a clean shirt and tidied the studio for a shoot actually worth it!
How to turn 1 set of photos into 5 days worth of content on Instagram.
TO GET STARTED: Take 5-10 photos that tell the story of you and your work..
DAY 1: Share these photos in your stories with some relevant text if it works.
DAY 2: Turn your stories into a reel by tapping the 'create' button.
Easily turn any photos from your stories into a reel by tapping create, selecting which photos to include and then Instagram will time the images to any music you choose. Yuss!!
DAY 3: Use Canva or the text function on Instagram, to add a quote over images and share them as a still image in your feed or as a story.
(If you do this for each image, that's 5-10 posts!)
DAY 4. Share a combination of your raw images and quotes as a carousel post.
DAY 5, 6 and 7. Pick your favourite photos and share them in your stories with a question sticker, a quiz, poll or a link to your website or email list.
Unfortunately a lot of your social media content is seen sporadically so you absolutely do not have to worry about using the same images several times. In fact, seeing the same images several times will help your art business! It creates a sense of familiarity which creates connection and is more likely to lead to a sale.
You can also zoom in and crop the same image to make it look slightly different or schedule the posts to be shared a week apart. You absolutely do not need to keep reinventing the wheel!
How to turn 1 video into 3 pieces of content.
TO GET STARTED: Take one two minute video of your studio and art.
Don't stop and start- just take one continuous video. This will stop you feeling overwhelmed when you look at your camera roll, see 5000 takes and wonder which one was the "good one."
DAY 1, 2 and 3: Create 3 different reels using this one video.
Did you know that shorter reels outperform longer ones? You can take that one video and use the cutting tool in the Instagram Reels maker to create 3 different reels. One of your art, one of your studio and one with a combination of your art and studio. Use different music each time. I promise you no one is going to be sending you emails if there is some overlap! Remember people need several opportunities to fall in love with a piece before they buy it. You are simply giving them more opportunities to see your work and fall in love with it.
Day 4. Create a Voice-Over reel.
Take a snippet from the same video or a reel you've made before, slow it down using the speed function on the left hand side of the Reel creator and add a voice-over of a quote or a thought from you. (Remember to add captions!)
Day 5. Use Canva or Instagram to add a quote over a video and share it as a story and/or a reel.
If you're falling in love with the idea of story telling you're on the right track! It's incredible what's possible when you add some intentional strategy to your content creation.
Story is how we build connections with our audience and turn them into collectors who are excited to buy our work. But what do we tell stories about?! If you're looking to really hone the story of you and your work, make sure you check out Episode 2 of The Optimistic Artist. It comes with a free workbook that will help you uncover your personal story and learn how to tell it in a way that sells.
For another dose of optimism, check out some of these episodes and resources below.
Brilliant! Thanks for sharing Monique. This is one area I really struggle with, both spending too much time and questioning if I’m doing it right. I also spend waaayyy too much time writing and rewriting the captions on my posts.