Does updating social media feel like a chore you’d rather do without? It may come as no surprise that most artists prefer the creation portion of their work and loathe the marketing aspect. However, maintaining an active online presence is vital in the digital era. If 2020 taught us anything about our businesses, up there on the list we learned that being flexible and able to pivot our marketing plan from in person to digital was essential. Being that most of us have converted somewhat (if not entirely) to a web-based sales format, the “building your legend” aspect of social media is still an integral part of art sales.
If you’ve been around Kirby before - you’ve heard her say “build your legend”, meaning get yourself out there so there is a record of you and your artistic enterprise on the web and in real life. Apply to shows and galleries, participate in local art events, collaborate with other artists and make sure to keep your digital archive up to date. This can feel like boasting, or it can feel like you’re “being annoying” posting about yourself so much, but please let these feelings GO! You’re an artist, an entrepreneur and you’re promoting your craft. The only way you will be seen and discovered by new followers is if you are being consistent in showing them the most current work you’re creating.
Art collectors and new fans are out there, waiting for you to show up and be yourself! A common sales adage is that new buyers must first know, like and trust you before they purchase from you. How can they do any of this if your social media is a ghost town of outdated posts from years ago? Be sure to keep it up to date with all the incredible things you’ve been busy with to entice your current followers to check out what you’re up to now, as well as attract those new fans who are just discovering you.
What if you’ve just been too overwhelmed timewise with other commitments to make a consistent social media update happen? In comes Canva’s Content Planner to help you pre-schedule your posts and keep your social media accounts alive and well. If you’ve never tried this out before, give it a go! It’s a great way to plan your upcoming content and get it posted without having to do it manually.
Navigate to Canva.com and sign in. This tutorial is only applicable to Canva Pro users, so now is a great time to join in if you haven’t yet already. Visit our private group on Facebook - Curious Kirby Creatives to opt in to our Canva Pro account. In addition to the Pro perks, you have access to Kirby and myself to answer your questions and help you gain mastery over Canva in no time. We’d love to have you in the CKC group either way, so check us out!
On the left hand side you will see “Content Planner” - click on that to begin. You’ll see the current month’s calendar with grey days and white days. The white days you can see a plus sign appear when you hover over the day. Click on the plus sign of whichever day you’d like to schedule your post.
Another box will open with “Recent” and “Templates”. The Recent ones are the ones you’ve created last, so if you are brand new to Canva this area will be blank and you’ll need to create a post first. That is where the Templates come in handy - these are pre-made designs that you can click on and customize to suit your needs. Try it out!
After you’ve created a post or selected one you’ve previously created, you will click the drop down box “Select a Channel”. This will let you choose where your scheduled post gets sent.
If you have a Facebook Business Suite setup, this will already be good to go for both FB and IG when you link your FB account by signing in with the prompts. Simply click Schedule to set it up for posting on that date or click “Save as a Draft” if it still needs more prep work. If you have not previously linked your accounts, you may need to take the extra step to set up sharing between your Instagram and Facebook Business Page so you can seamlessly post to both. You can also send it to Pinterest, Tumblr or a variety of other apps. Give it a try! As always, feel free to reach out if you have any questions and have fun creating <3 Heidi