Why do people follow artists on Instagram? The third part of the survey results on personal branding for artists.

Let’s start with the good news: you don’t have to offer prize games to be interesting for fans and followers.

Most important reason: the work itself, i.e. the music, the artwork, etc. Conclusion: to be interesting, the work itself must be interesting to followers.

No surprise is the number 3, interest in the artist’s personal life. Number 4 isn’t a surprise as well. Instagram thrives on giving other people a glimpse into your life.

Number 5 is occupied by a positive outlook on life with a good dash of humor. This result is quite surprising, because you can overdo it with humor to such an extent that you make a clown out of yourself, and your seriousness as an artist suffers as a result. Therefore, one should think very carefully in what way one uses this stylistic device.

No surprise is the place number 6, but number 7 is. We personally thought that artists also have a role model function in a certain way, this seems to play a rather subordinate role.

Also a surprise were the places 8 and 9, because one would think that just surprising and creative ideas and standing out from the mainstream are really important for artists.

English Translation of the questions:

1. I am a fan of the artist (I am a fan of his/her music, books, exhibitions, etc.)
2. I am interested in his/her personal life (How does he/she live? What hobbies does he/she have? How does he/she spend the day? etc.)
3. She/he provides information about her/his future events/exhibitions/concerts/readings, etc.
4. I would like to know more about her/his activities
5. She/he is simply likeable, interesting, fascinating to me as a person
6. She/he stands out from the mainstream, is something special in my opinion
7. She/he has surprising and creative ideas
8. She/he posts great, beautiful photos/videos of herself/himself
9. She/he offers prize games
   14.She/he belongs to my circle of friends
10. I follow her/him out of solidarity among artists
11. I do something similar to the artist (play music myself, paint myself, DJ myself, …)
12. She/he shares helpful information about her/his work or the creative process
13. I like his/her interaction with his/her followers
14. I get inspired by her/him

That’s it for today. There will be more next week.

Stay tuned

More about Personal Branding…

• Personal Branding: Coaching. Part 4
• Personal Branding: Coaching. Part 3
• Personal Branding: Coaching. Part 2
• Personal Branding: Coaching
• Personal branding for the visual arts: the importance of the artistic work.
• Personal Branding for the Visual Arts.
• 4 questions that will make your personal branding project go down the drain.
• Personal Branding, a journey?
• Personal Branding for musicians.
• Personal Branding for Artists – the entire study.