To get the most out of art ads on Pinterest and TikTok, artists need an integrated approach that combines both paid and organic methods.
Art lovers are already on Pinterest looking for ideas to be inspired, making it the ideal place to showcase one’s art and build connections.
As a well-curated pin can provide lasting exposure, TikTok’s fun and fast-paced videos drive quick virality, which enables artists to reach younger audiences.
Ad placements on both platforms can give artists the visibility that can funnel traffic to their sites and increase sales.
A consistent posting schedule coupled with targeted advertising will enable artists to establish a brand that can effectively convert followers into customers.
So, how do we achieve this?
Understanding the Power of Visual Ads for Art Promotion
Visuals are everything when it comes to promoting art.
I mean, art is visual, mostly.
So, visuals allow artists to connect with their audience on a deeper level, making their work more memorable and engaging.
With every society rapidly advancing digitally, a great image or video can stop someone in their tracks and invite them to learn more.
Pinterest and TikTok are fantastic platforms for art ads because they’re all about visuals.
Pinterest acts as a digital mood board, where users can encounter and discover new things.
Its features, such as pins and boards, allow art to be displayed beautifully and preserved over time.
TikTok, on the other hand, is an entirely different medium defined by short, imaginative videos.
This helps art go viral and allows artists to authentically and in a fun way share their stories.
Furthermore, organic and paid promotion strategies combined work best.
Mostly, building a community and trust through organic content, such as sharing the creative process or behind-the-scenes materials, is invaluable.
Paid promotions, however, are useful for reaching a broader audience and directing people to your online portfolio or shop.
A combination of both approaches can result in heightened visibility, increased audience size, and ultimately, more sales.
Why TikTok and Pinterest are Ideal for Art Ads
Unlike other social media platforms, Pinterest is curated around visuals, which makes it an ideal hub for artists to showcase their work.
Because Pinterest is search-driven, your work can benefit from traffic for a considerable period.
Users can find what they need through curated boards and quality images, which means your art has an opportunity to be seen over time.
You can also advertise through Promoted Pins and Shopping Ads on Pinterest.
These ads are unobtrusive, allowing people to organically discover your art while seamlessly navigating Pinterest.
The main goal is achieving a frictionless browsing experience while capturing potential clients.
TikTok
The Creative Video Playground TikTok is a business scope that is expanding quickly, especially among younger demographics.
The primary emphasis on short, catchy videos that have a high chance of going viral makes it an ideal platform for artists.
You can post videos of your art being created, from time-lapses of the painting to behind-the-scenes looks at the process, which always do exceptionally well on TikTok.
It’s important to make sure your videos are fun, engaging, and authentic because TikTok’s algorithm tends to promote those types of content, and you would want to take full advantage of the exposure the app can offer.
You can try escalating brand awareness or engagement using In-Feed Ads, TopView, and even Branded Hashtag Challenges while following TikTok’s quintessential spirit of creativity.
What Kind of Art Content Works on Pinterest and TikTok?
Stunning artwork photographs, collections, and boards categorized around a theme perform pretty well on Pinterest.
Since people are actively looking for such things, your art will fit right in seamlessly.
On TikTok, short clips showcasing the different stages of creating the piece, telling the story behind the piece, or even showing a reveal work quite well.
With its emphasis on fun and trending content, adding music or doing popular trends will greatly increase the reach your artwork gets.
Understanding the Audience
Pinterest attracts a broad range of users, but it tends to lean slightly towards women who are looking for inspiration, planning projects, or making purchases.
TikTok’s audience, in comparison, is comparatively younger, teeming with Gen Z and Millennials browsing for leisure and creative content.
Both Pinterest and TikTok provide useful tools for reaching your target audience.
Pinterest allows users to utilize keywords and interests, while TikTok allows users to target by demographics, behavior, and interests.
How to Create Effective Art Ads on Pinterest
Increased exposure and greater visibility for your work are two main benefits that come with running art ads on Pinterest.
Check out this guide on Pinterest Ads to get you pointed in the right direction.
1. Set Up a Pinterest Business Account
The first step you need to take is to sign up for a Pinterest business account.
If you have a personal account, you can switch it to a business one at no cost.
With a business account, you get access to useful tools like the Ads Manager, Pinterest analytics, and other ad features relevant to your account.
2. Set Up Your Campaign and Ad Groups
Log in to your account and locate the Ads Manager under your Business Account.
Click on “Create Campaign”.
You also need to select a campaign goal.
For artworks, “Traffic” and “Conversions” are excellent options.
Traffic is useful for directing prospective clients to your art portfolio or shop, while conversions are geared towards changing those clients into actual buyers.
Give the campaign a name and date it, then set a budget for it.
You may set the budget to daily or total; if you’re just getting started with ads, I recommend automatic bidding—Pinterest will manage both budget and bids.
Interestingly, it is possible to create multiple “ad groups” within one campaign.
This enables you to target different demographics or test different versions of your ads.
3. Create Amazing Vertical Advertisements
As a visual platform, Pinterest places a lot of value on aesthetics and imagery.
Utilize quality and vertical images to capture as much space in people’s feeds.
Pinterest suggests using a 2:3 ratio for images; 1000 x 1500 px will suffice.
Make sure that the main subjects of your images are the artworks you are showcasing and that there is very little negative space around them.
While it is acceptable to use small branding elements such as a logo or brand colors, avoid cluttering the image.
Text should be straightforward and concise if you wish to add it.
Professional designing tools like Canva and Adobe Spark can be used to create advertisements, even when you are not a designer.
Don’t forget to add keywords into the ad copy because they’ll make it easier for potential customers to search and come across your art.
4. Set Your Budget and Bidding
If this is your first time testing out advertisements, my advice is to start with a lower budget.
Pinterest allows you to either use automatic bidding (where Pinterest manages your budget) or manual bidding (where you specify a maximum cost for clicks or impressions).
For beginners, automatic bidding is often the way to go.
It helps you get started with less risk and allows Pinterest to optimize your budget.
Make sure to monitor the campaign performance. You may need to adjust your budget or bids your campaign performs.
5. Choose Your Target Audience
Now, it’s time to tell Pinterest who you want to reach. Pinterest lets you target based on:
Keywords: Use search terms related to your art style, themes, or materials to help the right people find your ads.
Interests: Choose categories like art, design, or home décor that match your work.
Demographics: Narrow down your audience by age, gender, location, and even the device they’re using.
Custom Audiences: If you already have a website or customer list, you can upload it to target those who have already interacted with your art.
6. Launch and Track Your Campaign
Once your ads are ready, pick the Pins you want to promote from your boards, or create brand-new Pins just for this campaign.
Double-check that the links on your ads send users to the right page—like your online shop or portfolio.
Now, hit “Launch” and watch your campaign take off.
Pinterest’s analytics tools let you track how many people are seeing, clicking, and engaging with your ads.
Keep an eye on these numbers, and experiment with different images, keywords, and audience targeting to improve your results over time.
How to Create Effective Art Ads on TikTok
1. Set Up Your TikTok Ads Account
First, you’ll need to sign up for a TikTok Ads Manager account.
Go to TikTok For Business, fill in your business details, and wait for approval.
Once you’re approved, log into the TikTok Ads Manager dashboard.
Click on Create Campaign and choose your goal.
Do you want to drive traffic to your website? Boost sales? Or just get more people to watch your art videos? Pick the option that fits your goal.
Then, set a budget for your campaign—whether it’s a daily amount or a total for the entire campaign.
Don’t forget to give your campaign a name so you can easily find it later!
2. Pick the Right Ad Format
TikTok offers several ad formats.
Here’s a quick rundown of the best ones for promoting your art:
In-Feed Ads: These ads show up in the For You feed and look like regular TikTok videos. They’re perfect for showing off your artwork in a fun, creative way.
TopView Ads: These ads appear when someone opens TikTok, so they get maximum visibility. If you want people to see your art first thing, this is a great option.
Branded Hashtag Challenges: If you want to get creative and get your followers involved, you can create a challenge around your artwork. It’s a great way to encourage user-generated content and get your art trending.
3. Design Eye-Catching Art Ads
To make your ad stand out, make sure it’s a vertical video (TikTok loves this format) and keep it between 15 to 60 seconds.
Focus on visual content that grabs attention—think time-lapses of your art process, behind-the-scenes footage, or even art tutorials.
Anything that gives people a peek into how you create.
Use trending music, fun effects, and captions to fit in with TikTok’s vibe. This will help your ad feel more natural and engaging.
And don’t forget to subtly include your artist name or logo so people know who you are, but make sure it doesn’t take attention away from your art.
4. Set Your Budget and Goals
Start with a small budget to test out different ideas and see what works.
Once you know what gets the best results, you can increase your budget to scale up.
TikTok offers two types of bidding:
Automatic Bidding: This helps TikTok deliver your ads to the right people, optimizing for the best results.
Manual Bidding: If you want more control over how much you spend per click or view, you can set this yourself.
Make sure your budget aligns with your campaign goal.
If you’re aiming for sales, you’ll need a higher budget.
For awareness or video views, you can start smaller.
5. Target the Right Audience
To make sure your ads reach the people who will care about your art, you can define your audience based on:
Demographics: Age, gender, location, and language.
Interests: Target users who like art, design, or creative content.
Behavior: Reach people who engage with art-related content or similar creators.
If you already have a list of website visitors or previous people who engaged with your content, you can use this to retarget them.
This helps you get more value from your ads!
6. Launch, Monitor, and Optimize
Once your ad is ready, upload it and add a catchy caption with a clear call to action (like “Visit my shop” or “Follow for more art”).
Before launching, preview your ad to make sure everything looks perfect.
After your ad is live, keep an eye on how it’s doing.
TikTok will show you key metrics like how many people saw your ad, clicked on it, and interacted with it.
If you want to improve your results even more, TikTok offers Smart Creative Ads, which automatically test different combinations of your ad creatives and calls to action to find out what works best.
Tips for Maximizing Art Ads Reach on Both Pinterest and TikTok
1. Combining Paid and Organic Strategies
Use paid ads on Pinterest and TikTok to boost your art visibility, but also post regularly to build trust with your audience.
Repurpose your best content as ads and start small to test before spending more.
2. Cross-Promoting Content
Share TikTok videos on Pinterest and link your profiles on both platforms.
This drives traffic and keeps your content consistent across the board.
3. Tracking Performance
Use Pinterest and TikTok Analytics to see what’s working.
Track engagement, views, and clicks, and adjust your strategy based on the insights.
4. Adjusting Campaigns
Pause ads that aren’t performing and boost the ones that are.
Test new visuals, captions, and budgets to find what resonates best with your audience.
5. Leverage Seasonal and Trend-Based Content
Create content around holidays, seasons, or trending topics to grab attention and stay relevant.
6. Engage with Your Community
Respond to comments and interact with followers on both platforms to build relationships and encourage sharing.
7. Maintain Consistency
Post regularly to stay visible and keep your audience engaged.
8. Create High-Quality, Authentic Content
Ensure your pins and videos are visually appealing and reflect your authentic art style. People love real, engaging content!
9. Optimize for Mobile
Make sure all your content looks great on mobile, as both platforms are mainly accessed through smartphones.
Conclusion
Running art ads on Pinterest and TikTok is a great way for artists to get noticed and grow their business.
Pinterest helps your art reach people with its visual search and pins that last, while TikTok’s fun, viral videos can get you in front of a wider audience quickly.
By combining paid ads with authentic posts and keeping an eye on how things are performing, you can keep growing and connecting with more people.
Whether you’re sharing your artwork, prints, or tutorials, mastering these platforms can help you build a loyal fan base, get more traffic, and increase sales in the fast-paced digital art world.