5 Ways to Make Your Art Go Viral

Art has always been a way for creatives to express themselves and share their vision with others. However, the internet has revolutionized the way art is shared and consumed. In today’s age, all it takes is just a few clicks, and artists can now reach a global audience and showcase their work to millions of people! This has led to a new era of art, where artists can gain widespread recognition and even make a career out of their passion.

But with so much competition online, it can be challenging for artists to stand out and make their art go viral. That’s where strategic planning and a strong online presence come in. By utilizing social media, creating shareable content, tapping into current trends, submitting your work to online galleries and publications, and engaging with your audience, you can increase your visibility and reach a wider audience.

Going viral on the internet can lead to more than just recognition and exposure. It can also lead to sales, commissions, and even collaborations with other artists and brands! So if you’re an artist looking to make a name for yourself in the digital world, it’s worth investing the time and effort to make your art go viral. Let’s go through a few ways you can do so.

1. Social Media is Your Best Friend

Social media is one of the most powerful tools you can use to promote your art. Platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube allow you to reach a global audience quickly and easily at just the push of a button. To make the most of social media, make sure to create high-quality content that is visually appealing and engaging, but ensure it’s content that you can create regularly. This could include sharing their finished artwork, work-in-progress shots, and behind-the-scenes glimpses into your creative process. One of the biggest ways to ensure success on social media is consistency, you should be posting at least daily and showcasing your art in a fun and memorable way. Also, using relevant hashtags is important for helping your content reach a wider audience. Artists should research and use hashtags that are relevant to their style, medium, and subject matter.

Collaborating with other artists and influencers can also help increase your visibility on social media. By sharing each other’s work, artists can reach each other’s followers and gain new fans. There are so many examples of artists who built their careers around their art, one example is illustrator and muralist Christina Mrozik. She has built a large following on Instagram by sharing her intricate and detailed illustrations and has even received commissions from companies like Nike and Adidas.

2. Create Shareable Content

Creating content that is easy to share is a great way to increase the chances of your art going viral. People love to share things that they find interesting, inspiring, or humorous on social media, and the more shares you can get of your work, the more likely it is to go viral. Artists should consider creating time-lapse videos of their artwork, showcasing their creative process, or creating meme-worthy content that people will want to send to their friends! Whatever it is you choose to do, make sure you stick with it and give it some time to catch on. Although overnight success is a definite possibility online, it’s more than likely it’ll be a slow burn for a while until one day you create the video or post that blows up!

One example of humourous artwork that went viral was the ‘Little Miss’ trend on Instagram. From seemingly one day to the next, people across the world’s IG stories were bombarded with shares of memes from an account sharing relatable content utilizing artwork from the Mr. Men book series. This led to not only an uptick in their following but also clothing being made for people to purchase as well as it entering the vernacular of certain social circles as a way to refer to someone, i.e. “little miss always late to the party.”

3. Tap into Current Trends and Events

Creating art that is relevant to current events and trends can help your work gain traction online, and is probably the only way to ensure your content feels fresh and relatable. Keeping an eye on what’s trending in pop culture, news, and social media can help artists create content that taps into those conversations. If you choose to be present on apps like TikTok and Instagram, research will be a big part of making your art go viral. Whether it’s researching trending audios, hashtags, looking into the newest trends, or just looking into similar creators to see what works – it’s rare that success online is blind luck. By creating artwork that is timely and relevant, you can reach a wider audience and increase your chances of going viral.

One way you could go about this is by keeping up to date on trending shows, performers, or songs and then using your preferred method of creation to recreate these things in your style. This is a great way to ensure relevancy, as you already know the content is trending and people are interested in the subject!

4. Submit Your Work to Online Galleries and Publications

Submitting your work to online galleries and publications is a great way to gain exposure and reach a wider audience, especially if you’re looking to build your following outside of social media. There are so many online galleries and publications that feature emerging artists, and submitting your work to these platforms can help increase your visibility and lead to more opportunities, which in turn can have an extremely helpful effect on getting your art to go viral.

Before submitting your work, make sure to research the submission guidelines and follow them carefully. This will increase your chances of being accepted and featured. Consider submitting your artwork to art websites like our own, which you can do easily by submitting this form.

5. Engage With Your Audience

What might seem like a given or maybe to some, not necessary, is probably our most important tip of all – making sure you interact with the people who show love to your art. Engaging with your audience is essential to building a strong connection with your fans and followers, and without doing this, it will be almost impossible to get the level of visibility necessary to go viral. This entails responding to comments and messages, asking for feedback, and sharing behind-the-scenes glimpses of your creative process to in turn help build a loyal fanbase.

The more you engage with your followers, the more likely it is that your art will go viral. Your followers are more likely to share your work with their own networks f they feel a connection to you and your art, and there’s no way to build that connection without being consistent with how you communicate with your followers. And don’t just draw the line at replying to comments! You can encourage even more interaction by posting questions to your stories or making videos asking for viewers’ thoughts on your art! One artist who has successfully built a strong connection with her audience is illustrator and comic artist Sarah Andersen. She regularly engages with her followers on social media and shares relatable and humorous comics that have gained a large following and led to collaborations with brands like L’Oreal and HBO.

Final Thoughts

At the end of the day, making your art go viral on the internet takes effort and strategic planning. By utilizing social media platforms, creating shareable content, tapping into current trends, submitting your work to online galleries and publications, and engaging with your audience, you can increase your visibility and reach a wider audience. Remember to stay true to your artistic vision and keep creating high-quality work that resonates with your audience and you’ll definitely be on your way to becoming the next big thing!