Many things have changed about NFTs from the price of ETH, Tez, Solano, etc to the rise and fall of popular marketplaces. However, in terms of marketing, building a collector base, and becoming a member of a community, things haven’t changed. The core attributes, methods, and processes remain unchanged.
For newcomers or tried and tested veterans, marketing is still a big hurdle to jump over when creating and promoting NFTs.
A multitude of factors influence the sale of an NFT. Below are points/questions that new and current artists should think about when creating their NFTs:
Artist brand and influence
- Who are you as an artist, an introvert, or an extrovert?
Artists and collectors are connected with each other not only because of the art they create but also because of the personality of the person. Being authentic and showing different aspects of an artist’s personality can help facilitate the process of building connections.
- Are you confident and comfortable speaking in Twitter spaces/clubhouse rooms?
If yes, there are Twitter spaces/clubhouse rooms hosted to help creators become comfortable talking in front of a lot of people.
- Do you feel comfortable showing your face in promotional videos?
A video explaining the process and concept behind the creation of that NFT. For example, what colour scheme did you use and why?
- Are you a traditional or digital artist or both?
NFTs can be used for traditional artists that want to sell physical pieces. However, the artist should make it clear in the description that the physical artwork will only be given to the first purchaser of the NFT. Anyone buying the NFT one secondary market will not get the original physical piece.
- What type of art do you make? 2D, 3D, Music, Photography, Film, spoken word/poetry, and/or dance.
- Are you a multidisciplinary artist?
- Does your art focus on a specific style?
- Are you a volume artist, meaning you create artwork every day or do you create artwork once every 4 months?
An Article written by NiftyTable explains the pros and cons of both approaches https://www.niftytable.com/archive/scarcity-and-success-in-nft-art/
NFT
- Which blockchain will you use to mint your work?
- CurrentlThe current cost of minting on ETH is higher than that of other blockchains such as Solana or Tezos. (For a more detailed explanation of some of the different blockchains and marketplaces you can Mint your NFTs on please refer to a document I created last year) https://mirror.xyz/jhennyart.eth/8B4o8a6sMIDOdIJoTbBIGIUW9zEgEm06kvd5zLAzzYc . Explore an article created by Niftytable, analysing Solana NFTs. https://www.niftytable.com/archive/solana-nfts/
- Will you take advantage of using blockchain technology?
- Creating a dynamic NFT that changes over time?
Artists can use platforms like https://async.art to permute their NFT and change it over time in a no-code solution. Some artists have with with developers to create Dynamic NFTs.
- Minting your NFT using your own smart contract (for a deeper dive into the advantages of an artist using their own smart contracts please refer to https://medium.com/@intjquart16/a-guide-to-smart-contracts-for-artists-creators-84005b9273b3)
- Is your NFT a 1/1 or 1/10 edition?
- Is this a collection of NFTs with a particular theme and concept?
- Are you open to doing collaborative artwork with other creators like musicians, spoken word/poetry, or film?
- Does it draw in different audiences from different genres of art?
Target audience/Potential collector
- Will you use social media to grow your existing audience?
- Is your audience currently familiar with NFTs?
- If not, will you create content to explain what an NFT is?
- Are you targeting new collectors coming into the NFT space or experienced collectors?
- Do you want to target collectors on a particular blockchain.
Collector behaviour
Sometimes it’s challenging for artists to see the value or what makes an NFT attractive from a collector’s viewpoint. These different perspectives are critical pieces of information that could help creators sell their NFTs.
Below are segments taken from ART NFT Collecting report(https://www.arttechreport.com/#KF-07) Creators Art+Tech Report initiative by Kerstin Gold, Kristina Leipold, Johanna Neuschäffer, and Anne Schwanz.
The report has deep insights into collector demographic, values, and spending behaviours amongst other things. Responses and answers were taken from a sample of over 300 collectors. The chart below shows a breakdown of gender, types of art collectors, and price range spent on NFTs.
Two significant facts about these statistics are that 1) more women are becoming collectors in the space and 2) over 50% percentage of NFTs are being bought between the $101–10,000 range.
Although it is not broken down further by blockchain.
The screenshot below outlines and explains what collectors consider a high-value art/NFT. The top 3 factors were:
- 86% of respondents agree that strong artist concepts enhance NFT’s appeal.
- 63% Using different aspects of blockchain technology.
- 62% The image is available in high resolution.
Curation and exhibitions play an integral part in motivating a collector to purchase an NFT. Curators who create more targeted exhibitions facilitate this process. Below is a screen that explains the reasoning behind this.
How can collectors show off your art
One factor that isn’t mentioned in twitter spaces, is the methods of empowering collectors to showcase the art they have bought. For example gifting collectors a digital display, merch, prints, or explaining different ways a collector can showcase their NFTs in a virtual gallery or in the Metaverse.
Here are the statistics on how collectors display their art and how they plan to do so in the future.
Marketing strategy
- Will you be creating advertisement videos to showcase your work before officially releasing it?
- Displaying snippets and sneak previews of your art and collections as a whole?
- Will you utilize Clubhouse and Twitter Spaces to engage more with other artists and build a connection with your audience and potential collectors?
- Will you use LinkedIn to upload explanation videos about the NFT world and your work?
- Will you turn toyoutube, discord, or twitch to live streams so viewers can see your creation process?
- Will you run any paid social media ads?
- Will you use an online art gallery like https://oncyber.io or https://www.oarbt.com to show off your collection and give your audience a different viewing experience than just seeing your NFTs on a marketplace screen?
- Have you decided what marketplace you want to list your NFTs?
Perceived Value of NFT
- Is it a collaboration piece with audio & video elements?
- Will your NFT be sold with any hidden content or physical assets?
- Will collectors receive benefits like free NFTs in the future or behind-the-scenes access?
- Can the NFT grant access to gated content or benefits via a website?
Platforms like https://litgateway.com/apps or Mintgate amongst other similar platforms can help creators create tokengated websites and aceess points, for hidden content.
- Has your work been previously featured in any popular art exhibition?
- Have you been featured in any magazine articles or done any video interviews?
- Will part of the proceeding go to a charity?
Pricing
- Have you previously sold art? If so, what is your benchmark-based price for your NFT?
- Will you have different price tiers for your NFT collection for example $50 for image NFTs and $80 for animation or video NFTs?
- Will you set the price of your NFT low to incentive newer collectors?
- Will you prefer an auction or buy-now style when listing your NFTs.
Auction-style allows collectors to place bids on a particular NFT until the highest bid wins.
Your Network
In the NFT world it’s an unwritten rule to always be on the lookout for more followers and new collectors. This at first is a good idea if you don’t have a steady loyal following however, this can become tiring and mentality draining over long periods. In addition, artists with a social media following of 2000–4000 have made more NFT sales than accounts that have over 10k due to the connection they have with their audience and community.
There are various platforms like tweet decks that help you create lists of different segments of your following for example creating a list of all the collectors that follow you to get a better idea of their tastes for art and personal likes in general.
Please refer to
https://medium.com/@intjquart16/the-gu1de-presents-social-media-marketing-toolkit-47b2d7505e6b
One last factor to mention is the importance of being part of a community. This can help an artist immensely with regards to discovering information regarding up and coming curated exhibitions to apply for and Potential art or musical job opportunities.
There is no one right template for a marketing strategy as each artist’s art is unique. A creator should tailor their strategy based on the character. A creator should work to their strengths to provide an authentic connection to their audience..
Using the questions above an artist should be able to create an outline of the strategy of how they would like to release their NFT.
Honorable mentions
List of NFT creation Apps, Marketplaces, listing & Collections
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1DPzWSloQHKY5Puc60gmkrNVeBkwPlbQ3Zu3pklvpfZ0/edit#gid=0
Below is a section taken from a NFT marketing document created by From Greg Beazley and Haejin Yoo. For a full read of this please refer to https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WULmBXgH65X08LhwOtmWp4PXH0g_JyFiioNAcD1yaqI/edit#
Promoting NFT giveaways
Consider promoting your giveaway (or drop) on an NFT community promotion account, such as:
Twitter Marketing Tips for NFT Artists
We all know Twitter is essential in the NFT space and so I’ve put together a selection of marketing tips to increase engagement, reach your targeted audience, and encourage more sales.
- Mentioning Popular Pages in your Tweets.
This can help increase your potential reach, however, be wary that if the tagged person doesn’t appreciate being tagged, you run the risk of having your Twitter account suspended.
- Replying to notable tweets.
See a tweet from a popular account relevant to you? Reply and be seen by them and others, broadening your prospective reach.
- Quote retweeting relevant content.
Why hit Retweet when you can Quote Retweet and add context to why you’re retweeting. Plus, the tweeted account will appreciate whatever it is you have to say, which will gather their attention and the eyeballs of more accounts.
- Liking and engaging with content.
This goes without saying, really. It’s important not to have a one-way conversation by only tweeting yourself. Instead, nurture your connections and turn them into relationships.
- Messaging accounts you wish to collaborate with.
Not mandatory of course, but engaging in DMs is the deepest form of engagement Twitter offers, which will have a positive impact on the algorithm and the relationship you are forming.
- Join popular Twitter spaces (like mine 😉) and listen to what other creators have to share.
I (littleRedlionb) host a Twitter Space every Sunday at 9:30pm CET about Building a Community for Artists/NFT Artists. Please follow me to be notified about future Spaces.
- Join an eminent space as a speaker. 😎
Be a part of a session and collaborate as a co-host. OR create your own space as a host and share your insights.
- Listen to your audience and what insights they have to share about your NFTs.
Use their feedback to know their preferences and improve your NFT collection.
