Selling art prints online is an exciting way for artists to reach a broader audience and generate income. However, marketing plays a crucial role in turning viewers into buyers. While some strategies are highly effective, others can be a waste of time and resources. In this post, we’ll explore 8 marketing tactics that are completely unnecessary and 8 that are essential for successfully selling your art prints.

8 Marketing Tactics That Are Totally Unnecessary

1. Posting Without a Strategy

Randomly posting on social media without a plan doesn’t help build an engaged audience. Instead of throwing content out there and hoping for sales, focus on a strategic approach tailored to your ideal buyers. Post at the same time on the same day every week, as an example. Or update from start to finish of new pieces.

2. Relying Solely on Organic Reach

Social media algorithms limit organic reach, making it difficult to rely solely on unpaid content. Supplementing organic posts with targeted ads can help your art prints reach the right audience.

3. Ignoring Email Marketing

Many artists overlook email marketing, but it’s one of the most powerful tools for maintaining customer relationships. Relying only on social media followers—who might not see every post—limits your ability to connect with potential buyers.

4. Listing Prints on Every Platform

Trying to sell prints on too many platforms can lead to burnout. Instead of spreading yourself too thin, focus on a few key platforms that align with your audience and where customers actively purchase art.

5. Using Only One Social Media Platform

While it’s good to focus on a primary platform, ignoring others entirely can be a missed opportunity. Cross-promoting on multiple platforms increases visibility and helps you connect with different types of buyers.

6. Avoiding Trends Completely

Not every trend is worth following, but avoiding trends altogether can make your marketing efforts feel outdated. Keeping an eye on popular formats—like short-form video or interactive posts—can enhance engagement.

7. Overpricing Without Justification

Setting high prices without explaining the value behind your prints can deter buyers. Clearly communicating what makes your art unique (quality of prints, exclusivity, technique,) helps customers feel confident in their purchase.

8. Skipping Networking Opportunities

Marketing is not just about posting online—it’s also about building relationships. Ignoring networking opportunities with other artists, influencers, and industry professionals can limit your reach and growth.

8 Marketing Tactics That Are Essential

1. Building an Email List

Email marketing allows you to build direct relationships with collectors and fans. Offering a small discount or exclusive content in exchange for email sign-ups can help grow your list and boost sales. If you have a booth at an art show, or you are in a gallery, have a guest book. Each page should have a heading that says something like, “Like what you see? Leave me a note. Drop me your email and get updates on new pieces, upcoming shows, and special sales and discounts!”

2. Using High-Quality Product Photos

Great visuals sell prints. Invest in high-resolution images that accurately showcase the details, textures, and colors of your artwork. Lifestyle shots showing prints in real-world settings also help buyers visualize them in their own spaces.

3. Engaging With Your Followers

Actively responding to comments, messages, and engaging with your audience creates a loyal community. People are more likely to buy from artists they feel connected to. NEVER respond negatively to any comments. And take the time to personalize your responses, don’t just click a “like” button or say, “thanks” to each message left by your audience.

4. Running Targeted Ads

Paid advertising, when done correctly, helps you reach art buyers who are actively searching for pieces like yours. Platforms like Instagram and Facebook offer targeted options to put your prints in front of the right people.

5. Offering Limited Edition Prints

Creating a sense of exclusivity can drive urgency and demand. Numbering and signing limited-edition prints can make them more desirable to collectors. You can make certain sizes limited edition, rather than the painting only having, for example, 50 prints made ever.

6. Leveraging SEO for Online Listings

Search engine optimization (SEO) ensures that potential buyers can find your prints online. Use relevant keywords in product descriptions, blog posts, and image alt texts to improve visibility. Many website builders will have the option of purchasing an SEO improvement tool, and it is well worth it in most cases.

7. Creating Behind-the-Scenes Content

Sharing your creative process, workspace, and artistic inspiration makes your brand more relatable and engaging. Storytelling builds an emotional connection with your audience, increasing the likelihood of sales. Artists tend to sell more pieces at art shows where collectors can meet and talk with them, so try to recreate that experience online. Tell the story behind your pieces, don’t just list title, size(s), and prices.

8. Collaborating With Influencers or Other Artists

Partnering with influencers or artists with a similar audience can expand your reach. Whether through joint giveaways, features, or collaborations, working with others helps introduce your prints to new potential buyers.

Selling art prints, while allowing you to work smarter not harder, still requires smart marketing. By avoiding ineffective strategies and focusing on what truly works, you can grow your audience, increase engagement, and boost your sales. Which of these essential tactics will you implement next?

Before you begin having your work printed, here are a few phrases or words that you need to know, so you better understand what you are asking for, or what your printer is asking for.

Print/giclee/digital print: These all mean the same thing to most printers. The word that most often gets misunderstood is “giclee”. Giclee is a French word that means, “to spray”. It has come to associated with a higher level of quality of print, but, if you are dealing with a printer who specializes in reproducing artwork, there shouldn’t be substandard quality prints of any kind from them. If you ask for a print, and then say you also want giclees made, that can be a little confusing. Giclee is also often misused to mean prints of artwork on canvas rather than on paper. Digital print is a more modern version of “giclee” and is often used these days to, once again, imply to the collector that there is a higher degree of quality. But, really, all prints are digital prints, in that they have to be processed by a computer, and then printed by a machine. So, when asking for prints, just use one word (whichever most appeals to you), and then say what media you would want them printed on (such as “textured fine art paper giclees, or canvas prints, or luster photo paper digital prints.)

PPI/DPI: This is pixels per inch and dots per inch. Pixels per inch refers to how many little dots of color are used to make up the digital image, and dots per inch are how many dots per inch of color the printer is laying down on the media. Ideally, if you are setting up files for your printer, you should have between 200-400 PPI as your file setting, and your printer should be printing at between 600-1,200 dots per inch.

Media types: The most commonly used are canvas, paper, photo paper, metalics, baryta and fabric.

Canvas should be either cotton/poly blend or all cotton for best quality, and should be a relatively heavy weight canvas. Pure poly canvas feels very unnatural and plastic like, and is usually very thin.

Papers will be either textured or smooth, and will also vary in weight and thickness. You should ask your printer to see what options they have available for you.

Photo papers usually come in matte finish (no sheen at all), luster (low sheen), semi gloss (more sheen), and gloss (which has a LOT of sheen). The more sheen, the more light is reflected, which can make it hard to view from certain angles at times.

Metallics are all the new rage, and are usually either papers with a very thin layer of metallic material under the gloss, or are actual pieces of metal that have been treated to hold the inks from printing. They have a unique look, and they will require a special set of mounting hardware.

Baryta is a photo paper that feels much thicker than normal photo paper, and has a deep richness in it’s color, due to a thin layer of clay embedded under the surface of the paper.

Fabric can be printed on, as long as the machine has the correct ink set. Most wide format printers these days use water based pigmented inks, and these do not normally hold up very well to washings or water.

The single most important thing about your media type is you want to make sure that all materials used (paper/canvas, inks, overcoating spray, etc.) are archival/museum grade. This is a certification that the materials used to create your prints are stress tested to last for 100 years without color shifting or fading. Not using archival materials could end up with your saving a few dollars today, but not having happy clients a few years down the road when the print they bought no longer looks like it should.

Next blog post: What is a stretched/gallery wrapped canvas, what is embellishing, and how do I know what size my original image can be printed at?