Instagram Reels & Stories: How Art Galleries Can Use Social Media to Their Advantage

8.25 seconds - the average attention span of humans!

In other words, that’s how long we can stay focused on a single object before distraction has our attention! Looking for a possible link between attention span and stories and reels?

Yes, there’s one! We simply admire anything simple, short, and sweet, and that is why we crave and consume Instagram like crazy! We are on social media 24/7 because of one simple reason — entertainment, and also, a great deal of a dopamine boost, the happiness hormone!

With reels incoming and incessant scrolling, time turns into the biggest myth! From the corporate sector to art galleries, none is alien to this social media frenzy, and that is why personal branding matters to them more than anything! While the virtual stage is set by online art galleries, stories and reels do more than perform!

Managing an online profile for a well-known art gallery is a serious business! From timely updates to designing eye-catching content on Instagram, social media managers need to be in the loop!

As the audience leans into the digitization of the marketplace at TERAVARNA, like any online art gallery, artists, collectors, and curators are taking advantage of online services without having to move an inch!

To cater to them, an online gallery must consistently step up and stay ahead to maximize success, exposure, and global recognition by fully optimizing the potential of Instagram Stories and Reels.

Why Should Your Art Gallery Be on Instagram?

A brand that dreams big earns big, but that is not the end of the tale! Before a business turns online, there must be enough clarity and a set intention as to “why” your art gallery needs to be on Instagram.

Is it all about following the footsteps of bigger brands and steering clear of the “fear of missing out?” Or is it all about offering the world something unique that helps your gallery stand out and invite traffic at the same time?

Connecting your individual needs with a bigger purpose will give you the “why” of any situation, and this universal rule applies to an art gallery as well. What do art lovers seek in the online presence of art galleries?

More than stories and reels serving as promotional tools, they can also assure the global audience that your online platform is a hallmark of authenticity! The question that still needs to be answered is: Why Instagram? Simply because this free software is almost at everyone’s fingertips! 

With the potential of reels going viral or getting trendy, there is a huge chance for businesses to capitalize on the features of Instagram! Besides, the social media platforms that have been at the top of the charts for quite some time are Instagram and Facebook!

So, that precisely explains why art gallery marketing is important and why your platform should be on Instagram nowadays! An online show that speaks directly to the audience through its online presence is no less than a magnet, attracting more and more traffic every day!

How Can Stories and Reels Maximize Visibility on Instagram?

Reels and stories have no superpowers! A lot of stuff goes into making them worthy of attention. Just like a business needs a sound plan to manifest it into a reality, making content that vibes with the population online needs some prior planning and strategy that can make algorithms work in your favor!

The discussion about “how to maximize visibility on Instagram” can go on, but here are some useful features that can help you solve the riddle behind optimizing your content so that, as a gallery, you are no longer in the shadows!

If you seek to increase online visibility or aim for art promotion, Instagram is a great tool that is also very intuitive and beginner-friendly!

How to Be More Visible with Instagram Reels?

Use Tags

As a Facebook or Instagram user, almost every one of us might be fairly familiar with what a hashtag and account tag are all about! Let’s understand these tags with simple examples from everyday life. Maybe you attended an event or a family get-together, and the next moment, you are tagged in a story or a reel. This is an example of an account tag!

On the other hand, while you are uploading a photo, you might use # (hashtag), but do you know the real purpose that both these functions serve? It helps people find you! Simple! So, when your close relations are tagging you on Instagram, you not only become discoverable to them but also to others who are on the same application.

Making your profile public will make your account more visible to a wider audience, and as an art gallery, you can make the most out of this feature. So, what you can do is ask artists to tag your art gallery in their profiles, but why should they be doing this, right?

One of the best art gallery promotion ideas is to motivate them a little by featuring them or their artworks in the story section.

As for hashtags, do you think we can randomly use one from a list of options that are displayed? Of course not! Here is an example for you to understand what hashtags to choose from. Let’s say, there are 30,000 hashtags for #artgallery, 1000 hashtags for #contemporary_art_gallery, and 80 tags for #artgalleryonline. Which one do you think you should choose and why?

Here, we have to strike a balance so that neither are we eclipsed by high-ranking artist galleries or content, nor are we any less visible to people on social media. So, the perfect option to go with is the 1000 one, but again, that depends on how successful you are as an art gallery.

If you are a very famous and prestigious platform, you can go with the first option, and if you are just taking baby steps and are new to the industry, you can definitely go with 80 tags and slowly build on the numbers eventually.

Tags are a very useful feature, thanks to social media channels like Instagram, which make these functionalities very convenient for art gallery marketing. Geotags might be new to many, or you might already have a basic understanding of these location-based tags.

Let’s conjure a scenario from TERAVARNA’s recent journey to the FOCUS Art fair in New York. How do we let our audience know that we have been to the prestigious fair? 1. Posts 2. Reels 3. Stories 4. Geotags. In fact, what any artist's gallery can do is tag the location along with a post or a video so that people who will be searching for that specific location will inevitably come across TERAVARNA’s recent journey!

This rule not only applies to attending fairs but also to organizing physical art exhibitions in a given destination.

Notify Recent Updates

Is your online gallery busy for an upcoming art competition or an online exhibition? If yes, how are you planning to increase online visibility? If you have been thinking lately of art gallery promotion ideas, sharing the latest news and events with your followers is a must-do!

Otherwise, how is the online world going to catch up with what is going on right now, and what they can look forward to the most? This simple rule not only applies to competitions but also to any announcements that deserve to be seen and heard by people online.

It also shows that, as a gallery, you are not invested in only art gallery marketing, but are also eager to share your online journey so far. It’s a way of letting people know that they are an indispensable part of the art community, and you believe in involving them in memorable moments and experiences.

Sometimes, when the online posts become monotonous, these current affairs are like a fresh breath of air that adds some energy and enthusiasm to the mundane. By sharing weekly events or the latest news, engagement from viewers and followers is likely to increase in the form of likes, comments, and shares.

Use Reader-Friendly Captions

Reels on Instagram might continue to play without any music or sound. It’s how Instagram operates, and you will be glad to know why. Imagine sitting at a public space or a library, let’s say, and you try having a glimpse at one of the reels, but you don’t want to lower the volume of the phone and want it muted at the same time.

That is exactly why Instagram follows a default muted autoplay, and it also remembers your last preferences so that it’s convenient for you to use the application, without having to modify the settings each time.

So, again, the question that you might feel like asking is - what does an art gallery have to do with this? Everything! Make your Insta stories and reels visually captivating, and do not miss out on captions or texts so that this default feature doesn’t stand in your way.

Additionally, people who have trouble hearing can easily get an idea of the content with just a glimpse! Your artwork website has a specific theme, and you can create visual content or use a font style that is consistent.

Of course, you are free to bring in new ideas and experiment when things get boring, but your online stories and reels shouldn’t look remote from the style that your art gallery has been following so far.

Overall, create anything catchy or minimal, make sure it aligns with your brand’s unique style.

Promote Your Services

Nowadays, you come across several brands on Instagram that might be way better than others because businesses are using Instagram to sell their products and services online. Since the competition is so high, the products are often high-quality.

As an art gallery, you must realize that a popular social media platform like Instagram is the best place to introduce merchandise, if that is what you have been planning for some time.

If you are creating quality content to promote your products or services, you will witness visible differences in your Instagram profile over time and the degree of engagement that art gallery marketing can bring.

That is why the social media platform needs to be optimized to invite sales of merchandise, as well as invite new initiatives like art promotion techniques. The social media team of your art gallery should come together and work on designing creatives that are not just visually attractive but also have the right kind of content to go with.

Go with crisp, catchy, and compelling descriptions that pair well with the reels and stories, and avoid using jargon or flowery language, as you have to cater to a wider audience that prefers something easy and attractive.

How to Become More Visible with Instagram Stories?

Swipe-Up Feature

If your art gallery has recently crossed the 10K followers milestone, it's time for some celebration. “Congratulations,” you have successfully unlocked the “swipe-up” feature on Instagram.

Now you can link your website, blogs, and other content along with your Instagram story without having to revisit to continuously update your profile bio section with the latest links.

With 13 K followers on Instagram, TERAVARNA Art Gallery has already become a member of the “Swipe-Up Feature” club! Moreover, if you are a verified user, you too can add a link to your story section via the Swipe Up feature! This is indeed a piece of good news for an art gallery that has been consistently serving engagement to its fans and followers.

Introduce Fun and Easy Art Quizzes

To enhance engagement from followers, you can involve them in various fun activities. The more you pique their curiosity, offer entertainment, and present high-quality content, the more viewers are likely to return to your profile.

Several other tools can amplify user engagement, like polls or questions, where Instagram users can vote or respond to fun art quizzes. 

Focus on offering value above all else, and since intention is everything, make sure you set the right one!

Track Online Art Gallery Performance with Instagram Analytics

Is tracking your online performance really necessary? We need a simple example to understand this!

Let’s say you are working towards a specific goal every day, and you have a planner where you note down your daily habits, chores, and activities. Unless you revisit old data where you have achieved a milestone, can you feel motivated enough to pursue your goals?

Will you be able to track those days when you dwindled your time away or felt distracted, leaving your work unfinished? Revisiting these days helps us keep track of the time that has passed and the progress we have made so far, helping us plan our future accordingly.

Similarly, analytics lets you keep track of data like posts, shares, promotions, and everything in between, but these are mere technicalities. Who is behind the scenes?

It’s the customer, the target audience! Ultimately, the main goal of social media analytics, let’s say for Instagram, is to understand the audience’s needs so that a brand or a gallery can offer value and engagement in real-time. What is progress without some competition?

Analytics is also helpful in tracking competitor performance and gives you ample insights into their progress and their weaknesses, so that you can make informed decisions by refining your business strategies. This, in turn, will help you increase online visibility, and you can successfully reach out to a wider audience.

Bottom Line:

Instagram Reels and Stories are mere tools that, if utilized and optimized in the right way, can create wonders! With the launch of new features, the possibilities of social media have become endless!

An art gallery can benefit from social media presence in diverse ways. By leveraging the features of Instagram, it can successfully announce upcoming competitions, exhibitions, feature winners, as well as launch or promote products online.

However, the picture is incomplete without social media analytics that will provide you with insights too valuable to miss out! Overall, whether it’s a brand or an art gallery, Instagram Reels and Stories can help you increase online visibility and make the most of it!