Instagram for Artists: How to Optimize Your Profile to Grow Your Creative Business | Ohn Mar Win | Skillshare
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Instagram for Artists: How to Optimize Your Profile to Grow Your Creative Business

teacher avatar Ohn Mar Win, Illustrator Artist Educator

Watch this class and thousands more

Get unlimited access to every class
Taught by industry leaders & working professionals
Topics include illustration, design, photography, and more

Watch this class and thousands more

Get unlimited access to every class
Taught by industry leaders & working professionals
Topics include illustration, design, photography, and more

Lessons in This Class

    • 1.

      Introduction

      0:59

    • 2.

      Your Project

      2:24

    • 3.

      Profile Picture: The First Impression

      2:20

    • 4.

      Optimising Your Name

      2:06

    • 5.

      Optimising Your Bio with SEO

      3:39

    • 6.

      Contact Info and Link in Bio

      1:43

    • 7.

      Final Thoughts

      1:47

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About This Class

On Instagram new followers decide in less than 7 seconds if they want to follow you, so it's important to make your profile work for you.

Your Instagram profile setup is one of the few things you can fully control the platform. 

For me, Instagram has been a key social media channel for growing my creative business, and over 9 years, I've learned a lot on the best ways to grow my channel, where I'm even coaching other artists 1-on-1 on how to do it successfully.

In this class, I'll share Instagram tips to create a great first impression to attract your target audience.


We’ll break it down into four key areas:

  • profile picture
  • optimising your name
  • using SEO in your bio
  • why you should rethink using Linktree for contact info.

Each of these elements will help you improve your discoverability and connect with your ideal clients or follower.

In addition, I provide examples of artist Instagram profiles to help you set up your own strategy.

Meet Your Teacher

Teacher Profile Image

Ohn Mar Win

Illustrator Artist Educator

Top Teacher

Hello I'm Ohn Mar a UK based artist, illustrator author with a long and varied 20 year career.

I am a great advocate of sketchbooks having filled over 30, which each serving as a record of my creative journey as a self-taught watercolourist for the last 7 years. They have helped capture my explorations in texture, line and tone as I extend my knowledge with this medium. I also share process videos and sketchbook tours on my YouTube channel - please subscribe!

Filling my sketchbooks remains a constant in my life, and furthermore inspiring many folks to pick up a paintbrush. Oftentimes these sketch explorations provide the basis for classes here on Skillshare.

These days I'm is primarily... See full profile

Level: All Levels

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Transcripts

1. Introduction: On Instagram, new followers decide in less than 7 seconds if they want to follow you. So it's important to make your Instagram profile work for you as an artist. Your profile setup is one of the few things you can fully control on this constantly evolving platform. Hi, I'm Omar. I'm an artist, illustrator, and author with over 180,000 followers on Instagram when filming this class. I'll be sharing simple yet effective tips that will help you stand out and ensure your Instagram profile is concise and working to support you. Throughout this class, you'll learn how to make a great first impression to attract your target audience. We'll break it down into four key areas profile picture, optimizing your name, using SEO in your bio, and why you might want to rethink using Linktree for contact info. Each of these elements will help you improve your discoverability and connect you with your ideal clients or followers. Let's dive straight in. 2. Your Project: For your class project, follow this simple guide. Take the steps from the class videos and apply them to your Instagram profile. Capture a screenshot of your Instagram profile page before and if you want, after you've made any updates. In your project submission, mention two things you considered or changed based on the lessons. I'll review your project and may offer one additional suggestion to help fine tune your profile. If you'd like more in depth consultation, feel free to check out my one on one consultation page for personalized advice and portfolio review. When you're ready to upload your class project, head over to the Projects and Resources tab and hit the Create Project button. Here you can add the screenshots of your project and say a little bit about what you considered for your profile. First, give your project cover photo. Here you can add the contents of your project, including your photos and the text to reflect on the process and what you found interesting. When you finished, adding your content, hit publish. Let's quickly look at the different parts of an Instagram profile so you understand what I'm talking about. The username, this is your at or your handle. Here is your profile picture. This part is your profile name, and underneath is the bio. This is the written description. You can also add a location. And there's a space for links. So my username is at Own Underscore M underscore Win. You can see my profile picture. My profile name is OMA Win. Normally, I would have had artist and illustrator after it, but I am now meta verified, so I can't add that. My bio reads Burmese UK watercolor sketchbook artist and author. Food Illustration, top teacher at Skill Share, YouTube, join My Patrion and the link in the Bo is my Patrion with three other links. 3. Profile Picture: The First Impression: Profile picture is the first thing people will notice when they visit your page, and first impressions matter. Many artists choose to use a logo or a piece of their artwork as their profile image. However, research shows that people are more likely to engage with profiles that use a clear, well lit photo of a person. And since Instagram is all about connecting with the audience on a more personal and visual level, when your friendly face is the first visual they see, this will help build trust with potential clients and followers. If you haven't done this already, now's the perfect time to update your profile picture with a friendly headshot that represents you. Here's a few points to consider. Use the right dimensions. Choose the square image with at least 320 by 320 pixels. Remember, Instagram will display this in a circle, so make sure you are right in the middle. No, selfies, it's best to have a friend take a photo of you looking at the camera or phone, as I think this is better for less blurry pictures at funny angles and don't forget to look happy. Focus on head and shoulders. Avoid full body photos as details will get lost in the tiny profile space, and be sure to keep color pictures instead of black and white. Keep the focus on you. Choose a simple or neutral background. In my profile picture, it's my living room wall. Good lighting. Use natural lighting or stand near a window. Let's take a look at two profile picks. Originally, artist and designer Nick Squirrel used a Fox illustration as her profile picture to represent her brand on Instagram. I suggested that she switched to a photo of her friendly, welcoming face so people could easily connect with the person behind the beautiful home decor and gift designs. This small change helps build a much more personal connection with her audience. Mel Rising's de grand profile picture features a relaxed, approachable upper body pose, perfect for her role as an educator. The soft pale blue background adds a calming touch whilst making her stand out and keeping the focus on her warm professional image, which helps build trust with her audience. 4. Optimising Your Name: Now let's talk about optimizing your name. This is one of the most underrated fields on Instagram, but it's incredibly important. Did you know that your name field is actually searchable? This means you can add relevant keywords here to increase your visibility when people search for artists in your niche. To optimize your name, go ahead and use your first and last name, but consider adding one or two words to describe what you do. For example, instead of Jane Smith, at Jane Smith hand lettering artist. This not only tells people what kind of work you do at a glance, but also helps you show up in search results when someone is looking for those specific skills. It could be anything from children's book Illustrator to printmaker. You might also choose titles like surface designer, quilter, or art teacher to showcase your expertise and attract your ideal audience. It's a simple tweak, but it can have a big impact on how easily potential clients or followers can find you on the platform. Let's look at two examples. First, we have Karen Gutharn whose profile name is Scottish Scribe. I advised her to put watercolor artist after her name in the profile name section. So it now reads Karen Guthar watercolor artist, and that part is now searchable. We also updated her profile picture and the wording in her bio, which is something I'll talk about in a little bit. Next up, we have Denise Love, who is an artist and creative educator. She already had that in her bio, but I told her it would be better use of her profile name if she added artist and creative educator in that section there. We also updated and rearranged her bio. So mentioning at the bottom the mediums that she used, again, I will talk more about this later. However, and this is important, you won't be able to add anything after your name if you are verified with an Instagram blue badge like I am. 5. Optimising Your Bio with SEO: I the section underneath your name is your bio. This is the place where you tell people exactly who you are and what you do and why they should follow you using 150 characters or less. I want to emphasize that this part of your profile is prime real estate. Please don't waste it. You only have three or four lines before folks will have to click on more. So every word counts, and those first three lines are really important. SEO is just as important on social media as it is on websites. So take the time to ensure your bio includes keywords that your audience might be searching for. Think about your target audience. Who are you actually trying to reach? Is it art directors, potential clients for art licensing or wanting to build a Patrion community? To be concise, please consider what do you do? For example, ceramics. What medium do you use? For example, procreate or gouache. And the market you work in or would like to attract, for example, greetings cards or art galleries. You don't have to write in full sentences, but you must be concise and clear so that people can quickly understand what value you offer and make a decision whether or not to follow. Let's talk through a few examples. This is Hannah, an artist and illustrator from Singapore. I asked her to change the hierarchy or the order of the lines so that we have the most important thing at the top, which is acrylic and gouache mixed media paintings. Remember, these are searchable words. And then next line is urban sketcher and co founder of Urban Sketch Plus, which is urban sketching for kids. And I moved the digital learning experience designer to the very bottom, so it does actually appear after more in this newer version, it doesn't matter as much since it is used primarily as an art account and the important information appears in the top three lines. Next we have Allie Miller. The version on the left is a slightly older profile, and the one on the right is one that she has updated recently. You can see that she has put map and food Illustrator in her profile name. And then she goes on to say foodillustrations for cookbooks, editorial and brands. These are keywords that can be easily searchable, including things like illustrated maps. She has also ended with shop and gifts because she wants to draw attention to that. I also want to mention three points worth considering Threads. Unless you are very active on threads, I would disable this badge, togle it off, as it's space you can use for other aspects of your bio. Do you remember if there's too much text, you are going to have to tap more to see what is in the line underneath. So make sure all the important information is above it. Location. This could be important if you sell at local art fairs and markets, so you can include specific locations like Rananok in West Virginia. Otherwise, you can keep it general. I just say Burmese UK artist. And please don't just use a flag because people commonly won't be searching for flags in Google. Better to use an actual country like Canada. 6. Contact Info and Link in Bio: Now, let's talk about how to guide people off Instagram and onto your website, shop or Patrion. A lot of artists use their Linktree to organize multiple links on their bio. The main reason to avoid using Linktree for Link hosting is its negative effect on SEO. Social media traffic is vital for increasing your website's visibility as it shows search engines that your site is popular. By directing traffic to Linktree, you're giving them the SEO benefits that should be going to your own website. If you do have a website, there's no reason not to create your own inks page using simple Builders in Squarespace or something similar. You can customize it to match your brand, easily edit links, and fix any problems that come up. I would keep it to the six most relevant links, otherwise, it could get too overwhelming for the viewer. However, Instagram now allows you to include up to five links on your bio. Previously, there was only a single link option. Your chosen links could range from your website to recent blog articles, your online class, or a YouTube channel. You can always update the links to reflect your current priorities, whether it's promoting a new collection, a workshop or your newsletter. A clear caar action like view my latest YouTube video or Shop My Prince can encourage people to click those links. This is Geniu who is a graphic designer and photographer, and these are the links that she provides to her classes. 7. Final Thoughts: Let's quickly recap. Your profile picture should be a clear, welcoming headshot to create connection. Optimize your name with keywords that reflect what you do and what you can offer. Tailor your bio with SEO friendly language and words that appeals to your target audience. And finally, use a direct link in your bio rather than Link tree to make it easier for people to find and engage of your work. These small tweaks can make a huge difference in how you're discovered on Instagram and help you build a stronger presence. I have one more example for you. It is Sylvia. And originally she wasn't looking at the camera, so she changed her profile picture, and I also advised her to put artist and surface designer in her profile name. She also updated her wording in the bio so that it includes keywords such as muralist, home decor, and teacher. I can't emphasize enough how important it is to include keywords in your niche so that people are going to be able to search for them. You'll notice that she was using Link tree before, and she has now changed it to something that is on her website. And if we take a look at it, you'll see that she's a graphic designer. She also works with textiles and patterns, and other links lead to her YouTube channel and classes. Now it's your turn. Take a few minutes to update your profile with these tips, and when uploading your project, let me know how it goes. Bye for now.