Knowing your audience is one of your greatest powers in marketing.

There is no point in spending time, effort and resources in showing your content to people who could not care less.

Start by asking yourself: - Who do I want to see and engage with my content?

- Who is my work relevant to?
- Does it matter where they are located?
- Are they likely or able to purchase my work or come to my event?
- Could their friends, family and colleagues also be interested in what I do?
- Does my current audience match the criteria above?

From there, you will start to be able to build a better picture of your existing and potential audience.

Humans are curious and nosy by nature.

As annoying as it might be to have a curtain twitcher as a neighbour, in the case of marketing it is an advantage!

People want to see more than just perfect photos and curated moments. They want to know who is behind the business, how they got there, what's happening behind the scenes.

Of course, you still get to decide what you are comfortable with sharing. Sometimes showing your face can feel a bit too much - so why not show some work in progress instead or share some of your favourite things to do outside of work.

As an artist, performer or creative, giving a little bit of yourself and what you're all about can go a long way.

Being consistent will get you a long way.

It's not about posting and uploading every day - this often can feel very overwhelming.

It's about finding what works for you, whether it's a weekly update or several posts a week. There are many scheduling platforms out there to help you with this. It might be easier to sit down once a month and plan what you want coming out on your socials.

Take your time and start slow, you can always increase your posting frequency over time as you have more to share.

How do I know I am doing a good job?

Being consistent with keeping track of data will help answer that question. Take time to record your engagement, reach, views and interactions online. See what your audience responds to best.

- Which posts gather the most reactions?
- Which day/time is best for me to post?
- Do people respond better to videos, photos, polls etc?
- Are people reading my newsletters?
- How long do people spend on my website? Is it easy to navigate?

By observing data you will soon see that patterns and behaviours emerge - these will help you adapt and change over time until you find something that works for you and your audience.

Take a breath, you do not have to do everything.

There are more and more platforms out there and unless you are a full-time, multi-talented, highly trained marketing professional - chances are you don't know how to use them all.

Have a look at them all, and see what supports what you do best.

Do you hate taking videos? Then Tiktok and Youtube might not be the best for you, however you might feel comfortable posting an Instagram reel from time to time.

Do you like to write long paragraphs talking about your work? X and BlueSky might be too restrictive.

Try things out, see what works and what doesn't. There is no shame in deleting a platform that does not serve you or your work.

We can't all be professional photographers and that is okay!

Spend a little bit of time taking photos of your products or performances, work out what angles best showcase your ceramics, what lighting makes your dancing shine through, if your artwork looks best on its own or surrounded by objects.

Play around with props, colour, contrast, locations. Spend some time looking at tutorials, do some practice runs of editing short clips together.

It will take a little while but most editing software is fairly user friendly these days. Long gone is the time where Photoshop was the only programme out there.

Where am I going with this?

It can be quite difficult to see far into the future when starting a new venture.

What are some reasonable goals one can set?

Be realistic - you won't go from 0 to 10k followers overnight and sales will not increase by 400% in a week. Think about what would be a satisfactory achievement and start there - it could be making a small profit in the first month, filling up 80% of the venue for your next show, gaining 20 followers a week, creating a connection with a couple of businesses who do similar or potentially helpful work.

Think future - where do you want your organisation to be in 6 months, a year, 5 years? Setting those goals is a good start and you can go and review them on a regular basis to see if they are still achievable.

Reflect - keeping track of goals and achievements will allow you to look back and reflect on your work/practice, this will inform your future business decisions greatly!

Reach out, you are not alone!

Often times, we start out on our own with our big to-do lists and ideas for our project or organisation. This can feel tremendously isolating, how do we go about this, where can we get advice and help, how do others do it, is this going to work?

As people, we all need support and connection - this applies to work too.

Taking time to connect, going to networking events, socials, get togethers or simply reaching out online to other organisations instantly takes away some of the stress.

We are all on the same boat and can lean on each other for support - from a like or share to working together - the possibilities are endless.

Getting more confident in your on skills takes time!

You have your own expertise as an artist, maker, performer, facilitator - you know what you are doing, you have faith in the value of what you offer.

You didn't get good at what you do overnight. It is the same for marketing and social media, it will take months, perhaps years for you to learn how to navigate all of this. Take some time to learn, read books, articles, seek advice and help (hire me!).

Remember, trial and error is okay - posts can be deleted, wording can be edited, photos can be taken again, strategy can change. This won't be a linear process and not everything will seem straightforward or easy.

Give yourself some grace, Rome wasn't built in a day.