Haven't read about how Artist's Launch Academy started? Check out our first post to hear the full story of why I created this space for artists!
You know those moments when you realize you've stumbled onto something big?
Not just big, but potentially life-changing for an entire community?
That's exactly what happened when I started digging into the world of art marketing education. What I found (or rather, what I didn't find) absolutely floored me.
The "Wait, Really?" moment in understanding current education for art marketing
Picture this: I'm sitting with an incredibly talented artist and her assistant, mapping out a marketing strategy for an upcoming exhibition. We're talking about weaving together different marketing tools - website, email, social media - into this beautiful tapestry of promotion.
And they're looking at me like I'm speaking a foreign language.
At first, I thought maybe this was just a one-off situation. But then I started talking to more artists. And more artists. And MORE artists. Over 100 conversations later, I kept hearing the same thing:
"Marketing? Oh yeah, I post on Instagram."
"A website? Maybe someday when I can afford it."
"Email marketing? What would I even say?"
The kicker? When I chatted with an art school instructor (who shall remain nameless), she told me their students are required to have a website to graduate... but they don't teach them how to create one. 🤯
The Market Research That Made My Jaw Drop
Listen, as someone with ADHD who gets excited about new business ideas roughly every 3.5 minutes, I've done my fair share of market research. But this was different. This wasn't just a gap in the market - it was the Grand Canyon of gaps.
I printed out all my research and practically ran to my partner's office (he's the J in J&K Online Development and has way more entrepreneurial experience than I do). Usually, he's my reality check when I get excited about new ideas. But this time? He was as surprised as I was.
Here's what I found:
Artists were stuck in a social media/gallery loop, missing out on so many other powerful marketing tools
Even artists with websites weren't optimizing them (hello, SEO!)
Nobody - and I mean nobody - was teaching comprehensive marketing planning
Finding My Pilot Artists and Building the Dream Team
When it came to selecting pilot artists for the Academy, I wasn't just throwing darts at a board. I was looking for specific signs:
Active Instagram presence (showing they're serious about their art business)
Signs of marketing curiosity (like using keywords in posts - even if they weren't quite getting it right)
That "ready to grow" energy
I wanted a mix of amount of years dedicated to selling their art professionally:
62.5% are in their first year of selling art
12.5% have been selling for 1-3 years
12.5% have 3-5 years of experience
12.5% are seasoned artists with 10+ years under their belt
This mix gives us invaluable insights across all experience levels. What's particularly interesting is that regardless of years in the field, many of the same marketing challenges persist.
The Pre-Academy Survey Provided Actionable Insights
Before each of the 8 artists went through the academy, they were asked to take a survey that will help me understand their current marketing knowledge set a bit more as well as understanding how their brains work to create a marketing plan.
They will be taking this same survey after the academy to further create data to showcase the effectiveness of the academy education and how I teach.
Current Marketing Confidence Showed Gaps in Knowledge
When I asked our artists to rate their confidence in various marketing activities on a 1-5 scale (1 being least confident, 5 being most confident), these are their answers before they entered the academy:
Website and Analytics Knowledge Was Limited
50% rated their website setup confidence at 3/5
A striking 62.5% rated their analytics understanding at 1/5
The remaining 37.5% rated analytics at 2/5
This tells us something crucial: even artists who feel okay about building a website struggle to understand how it's performing. It's like having a beautiful gallery space but not knowing how many people visit or what they look at!
Content Creation and Marketing Strategies Were Overlooked
The data around marketing strategy was particularly revealing:
50% rated their landing page creation ability at 1/5
75% rated their follow-up skills with new contacts at 2/5
Most artists rated their content creation higher (3-4/5)
This suggests that while artists are comfortable creating content, they struggle with the strategic aspects of marketing - turning that content into sales.
Real-World Scenarios Tested Theory and Practice
I also wanted to know how the artists think when it comes down to organizing and planning, so in section 2 of the survey, I presented our pilots with various marketing scenarios, and their responses revealed common patterns:
Spontaneous Art Sales: Most artists defaulted to social media posting without a broader strategy
Collection Launches: Many admitted having "no idea" how to plan a timeline
Website Traffic Drops: Almost universal uncertainty about how to diagnose and fix traffic issues
One particularly telling response came from an artist who said: "Problem is I know how to do the thing, not plan how to do the thing. So I just do the thing until it gets done."
Learning Preferences Highlighted the Need for Hands-On Education
Our pilots showed strong preferences for certain learning formats:
Video tutorials were universally requested
Interactive exercises and one-on-one coaching were highly valued
Written guides were also popular, showing artists want both visual and written instruction
What These Research Findings Mean for Art Marketing Education
This data validates our approach with the Artist's Launch Academy in several ways:
The Need for Structured Planning: The low confidence in strategic planning across all experience levels shows why our systematic approach is crucial.
Technical Knowledge Gap: The stark contrast between content creation confidence and technical marketing understanding (SEO, analytics) confirms the need for practical, artist-focused technical training.
Learning Style Alignment: The preference for mixed learning formats supports our decision to combine video lessons with workbook exercises and group support.
One artist's comment perfectly captures why this matters: "Commercial art was very looked down upon in my fine arts bachelors program... I have very low confidence in my formal understanding of any marketing strategies."
We're not just teaching marketing - we're helping artists overcome years of internalized beliefs that marketing their art somehow diminishes it. The data shows we're not just filling a knowledge gap, but helping reshape how artists think about promoting their work.
This research has been invaluable in shaping the Academy's curriculum and approach. It's confirmed that artists need more than just marketing tips - they need a comprehensive system that builds both skills and confidence.
Have you experienced similar challenges in your art marketing journey? The more data I have of how artist currently understand marketing and planning the better the Academy will be.
The pilot phase will be from December 1 2024 to mid-April 2025, during that time I will be editing the modules and workbook based on the feedback of the pilot artists and I will be using your data to help shape the public version of the academy.
Fill out the survey below and you will be automatically entered into a raffle to get the entire academy for free when it is officially launched.
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