How to Analyze Your Audience for Monetization as an Artist

Maybe it's just the Reels algorithm, but lately, I've been seeing so much advice on my feed about monetizing my Instagram growth. Most of the advice comes from self-proclaimed experts and gurus saying "target audience" this, and "target audience" that. It all gets pretty darn confusing and overwhelming. If I spend all my time on social media trying to promote my art, I don't have time to actually MAKE art. 

I'm a funny painter who sometimes makes ceramics and fashion, but I also live in an RV, love Chinese food, and travel. So how the heck do I find an audience who loves all that!? 

I've accumulated over 22k followers on Instagram from posting about these things. Still, my art sales are minimal when I tell them about my prints on the site or art for sale. My original goal is to sell my art.

I think I figured it out. 

Here's how I, as an artist, determined who my current audience is on social media. In another post, I'll tell you who I'd like my target audience to be and how I plan on shifting or starting fresh! 

How I determined who my current audience was: 

1. I paid attention to what kind of content I was posting. Mostly I was posting my painting process, thoughts I had as an artist, and encouraging reels. I always made these posts comedic and authentic because I'm goofy.
2. I examined what was most popular. My top videos were my inner artist's feelings or thoughts regarding my procrastination or struggles with pricing my work. This was content that other people related to, not just artists.
3. I paid attention to my comments. I looked at who was commenting and what they were saying. Most of them were artists saying "lmaooo me..." or "How are we all living the same life?" or "Thank you for encouraging me to get back into my work. So inspiring." 

4. I looked at who was following me. Again, there are a LOT of fellow artists who follow me. The rest of my followers are art lovers who like my personality, people who like my art style, and some creepy creeper men. 

So I determined-- hey! This platform (@brejenn) is serves a fabulous community of artists supporting me because I create content about the things they FEEL. 

I'm making fewer sales because, as an artist, how often do I buy other artists' art? Only sometimes, because I don't have the money too or I don't have the room because my art is already all over the house.

So, suppose I want to monetize this audience. In that case, my next step is creating a product or service for artists that I know would be helpful and profitable. 

Let me know what you think in the comments below and stay tuned for the next blog post, where I'll tell you how I decided who I want to be in my target audience and how I'll make the shift.