Arts Marketing Guide to Images

One important element of creating content for marketing is incorporating images. Images are used in emails, social media posts, on websites, and in print materials. 

Storytelling

Your images should tell the story that your marketing is trying to tell about the event, product or service you are trying to sell. If you are selling tickets to a musical, a picture of the actors in costume in action is much more interesting to your viewer than a picture of the set or just the logo. If you are promoting a gallery event, an image of people talking about a piece would be more interesting than an empty gallery photo. For classes, it is probably best to include images of people attending an art class at the studio. The best marketing images tell stories using color and action. A good rule of thumb for arts organizations is to include images whenever possible of audiences interacting with art.  

Image Resolution

Often for both digital and print media it is important to have images that are “high resolution.” High resolution images ensure that they are clearly visible online or printed. This is typically measured in pixels per inch. On screen anything 72 pixels per inch or more is fine. For print, an image needs to be 300 pixels per inch. Read more about image resolution from this article by Hullabaloo. 

Stock Images

While using your own images is almost always a better choice, you may occasionally need a stock image or icon. When using images that are not your own it is important to consider issues of ownership and copyright. There are tons of free websites that offer high quality stock images for free or for a small download fee. One great source for free images is unsplash.com. For a mix of high quality free and paid images, visit shutterstock.com or istockphoto.com. You can also use images on google, and search by size or resolution. When using free images try your best to give credit to the artist or photographer. 

For more information on how to pick great images for your content read some of these articles.

Forbes, “Your Guide to Using Images in Your Content Marketing Strategy”

Convince and Convert, “A Marketer’s Guide to Selecting the Best Images for Your Content.”