How Much Do We Spend On Social Media Marketing Ads For Art - Tips For Artists

On Etsy I'm using keywords, even paid for a while EtsyRank to research better keywords, and most of my listings still get zero views lol. Facebook and Insta ads just got me likes/views but nothing else so far!

I dont do paid ads. I used to with my other business when fb first started offering ads. I used them to grow my page. But Im afraid I grew disgruntled when things changed and I suddenly found that i had to start paying again to show posts to the page fans id alreafy paid to attract. Now and again i have the 'shall I? No!' Convo with myself and i never do.

I’m thankful for Rafi and Klee! Thank you both for what you do for us artists and have a Happy Thanksgiving!

In my city there is an artist who put his "tag" (a sticker with his name/design) on every stop sign, street sign and mail box around the city. He did some graffiti in places, and had exhibits in downtown coffee shops. Now he's a celebrated local artist and was given a budget to hire artists of his choice to paint murals on buildings downtown. Guerrilla marketing! apparently it works.

I never click on a google ad. I see it as some kind of scam or of they had a good product, they wouldn’t have to advertise. And it looks desperate to me.

Have an Awesome Thanksgiving! I count you guys as blessings in my life! Your wit, knowledge & inspiration gives me much Joy! 💛 much Thanks!!!

Feel better & have a very Happy Thanksgiving! You guys totally rock -I look forward to your videos and when I get a notification i'm like 'good stuff comin' my way today in the art world!'. Hugs. & Happy Holidays.

I’ve done paid ads on Instagram a few years ago, it didn’t do much of anything. And artists I follow did experiments where they paid for ads on Instagram and found that their original posts without being an ad got more traffic/engagement than the ads they paid for. That echoes my experience and ads over time really add up money wise so I think proper hashtags etc do more than ads for your accounts tbh

Thanks guys! x

hi! great vid Happy Thanksgiving!

Thank you for this information Rafi and Klee, it's very helpful and reassuring

I'm far off from running ads on anything of mine, but this is solid advice! I can count the number of times I've clicked on a promo post on one hand, and each time it was because it was something that I would've enjoyed no matter how it came across my feed. Being able to set a specific audience works far better imo!

Happy Thanksgiving 🦃 I am thankful for you guys. Love to listen to you when I am painting or cleaning up.😁

Those ads to target people on social media almost always run before your videos! His “Masterclass” he tries to sale is just how to target people.

Great advice. I noticed Facebook offered credited advertising, I haven’t tried it yet but might try it once I get more settled in my products. Anyone used it?

Feel better and happy turkey day!

I’d say I run Instagram ads a couple times a year to maybe once a season...somewhere between there. I don’t do it to get immediate sales, though. I do it to reach more people, in turn getting more fans who follow my work. They might turn into art collectors in the future. So, I see it as one of many investments I put into the art business.💙

Greetings Rafi and Klee,
My name is Barry Farley and I am a disabled USAF Veteran with ALS. I have to use a tobiidynavox Eye Gaze computer to create my Abstract & Figurative Expressionist artwork. (Which means I have to use only my eyes to create my art). What are your thoughts about people with mental and physical handicaps using or exploiting them to get views, subscribers and/or art sales? I have mentioned that I use only my eyes to create my art a few times, but only after establishing myself as just an artist. Thank you for all that you do for the artist community and being the voice of truth in an already convoluted career field.

Btw, huge fan of you, your wife, your videos, and style of cinematography!

Best Wishes,
Barry Farley
Abstract & Figurative Expressionist
Barry Farley Visual Arts

Have you done paid ads for your t-shirt artwork? I could see some of those doing well. I've had some luck on paid ads for prints of a couple paintings but mostly wasted money. Now I just advertise those specific ones. Second question: Is the audio book going to come out at the same time, and are you going to be the one reading it?

I adore Klee so much and her Kleeisms. :) I hope you both feel better soon. I have tried paid ads but they didn't really work out well for me so I stopped. - Heidi

You make very informative and good points, I always love your advice. Advertising needs to be well thought out and you need to know what your target audience is and what your objective is (obvious I know but you’d be amazed how this is treated with very little thought). I used to work for a mail order company before the internet. Advertising is always a costly business and has never changed regardless of how you do it. When we used to advertise in the main tabloid papers getting a return of a half of percent (yes 0.5%!) was considered fabulous. Mailing campaigns were the same. The same is true with any advertising, you have to have the reach to have any significant return. Once we had the customer we would target them repeatedly with offers etc.

Congratulations on 20k!!! Happy Thanksgiving guys!! 🙂❤️

Do you notice as many art collectors now as back in the day . Do you think art is to mainstream because of the internet?

Yes!!!! Rocks n supernovas!!

I tried marketing on fb. Nothing happened but fb felt the need to keep taking money out until I called my paypal. So watch out for that. Happy thanksgiving to y’all as well

Hay the host monkey here lol. Art is individual and especially now because it’s changing the way we sell art. It’s not following a dark age guide anymore. All depends on the art project itself too. Hope you guys have a happy thanksgiving and be well :)!

And just like THAT (insert snapping fingers) he saves us $500!!! Thank you.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thank you for your great advice. Hope you both feel better soon. Congratulations on the 20 k subscribers 🍾 and a very Happy Thanksgiving to all of you x

Praying for you both to feel better...God Bless You Both Sorry you guys havent been feeling good.

That "rainstorm" guy with the amazing secret webinar to exclusive success ad? I saw it at the beginning of the video. LOL. I've listed to a few of those "Free webinars" and I totally agree, it's all the same about targeting ads.

Love the rocks!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!!!

my understanding would be don’t spend on ads if you aren’t earning the income from your art to cover the costs...

Thanks guys for making this video... I tried using ads on Etsy, Facebook and Instagram and it turned out to be a total waste of money. Never again. Watching your vids helps me feel alright for being different in the art world. Thank you!! Here's a question for you, do you guys have any experience using social media platforms that are "alternative" like Vero, Ello, etc? I've been learning about the way some of the bigger social media entities do their "business" and I don't really like it, it seems manipulative.

I recently decided to start a Facebook/Instagram page just to display my work that I would be creating anyway. Facebook offered a 10$ coupon for a post "boost". So, I figured why not. At least seeing the reach and demographics was interesting.
Oh, and thanks for making these videos. You guys are informative, and inspirational... And hilarious (sometimes).

Yes, excellent! I just have to smile at so many of your silly sayings, that are well silly ! Keep your chins and spirits up!

Question for Klee (or Rafi) - What would be a good way to start exploring jewelry making? Wires, crystals, beads, etc? Been experiencing / sensing things that seem to be directing me toward that path. I know I can just get supplies and dive in trial and error, but thought perhaps you might have a little guidance. Thanks again for all your videos and help!

Happy Thanksgiving. I'm grateful for your channel and your honesty.

I can't say I know about the ink to printer conversion... (lolz)
I DO know about going out for ink, and then stopping at Wally World to just have them print the couple of things out on my way back from getting a flat-top scanner, though.


AND I once set about to make meatloaf and ended up somehow turning it into a FANTASTIC lasagna... so there's that.


Just my experience, but starting out by word of mouth only takes a bit of hustle, and you don't actually have to pay for anything. There's little to nothing actually social about social media, BUT "alternative media" has allowed just about everyone to share some facet of their lives with more people than ever... AND apparently that's something to be marketable. People are interested... I'd hazard the guess that just setting stuff out there as a creative in the "alternative media" setting is as good or even better than all the targeting and ad's you can market.


Growing up with Cable TV, I've long been acutely aware of advertising and manipulations. I've come to regard them (since my early teens) as a manner through which the marketeers say "You do NOT know how to shop for yourself, so WE will shop for you!!! Buy a bunch of this crap you never thought you'd need because WE NEED MONEY!!!"
AND more often than not, the ad's do a better job of pissing me off than they could ever do at convincing me I actually want anything they're selling.


I might be in the minority here... BUT it's just an opinion, tossed up for whatever it's worth. ;o)

Wooohoooo 20+K subscribers !!! Congrats 👍👍🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩

Etsy really screwed us now with the new combining of promoted listings and google ads. They hurt me so bad over the last couple years with taking away our stand alone Paypal, forced free shipping [or have your listings throttled] and now the final nail in the coffin is that ads are now worthless and my ROI is only 1 to 1. Josh Silverman is destroying the platform as he did on eBay. Josh even sent an email to the investors bragging how he will basically force money out of us sellers by throttling our stuff if we don't pay up for seller services. I dread what they will do next year as I still have my eggs in one Etsy basket.

Great video, thanks!!

I am SUPER THANKFUL for you both!!

Yay! Great video. I didn't have the luck or budget with those ads. I think for the calander product makes sense though cause they're already customers/fans of the art.

Victory Auto Wreckers!!! YES!!!! Chicagoland shout out!!! 😂

Social media paid marketing is a black hole in which to pour your money