Look, I’m gonna tell you something. And I need you to really hear me, okay? Because this is important, and I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately. Probably too much. That’s kind my thing.
You’re an artist. A creative. You make things. And somewhere along the line, someone convinced you that you also need to be a social media manager, a content strategist, a graphic designer, a video editor, and a goddamn data analyst. And now you’re sitting there at 11:47 on a Tuesday night, staring at a spreadsheet of social media tools, and you wanna know what? You wanna know the truth? You’re not choosing a tool. You’re avoiding making your art. And I get it. I really do. I’ve been avoiding things my entire life. It’s basically my brand.
I was reading this thing the other day, and they were talking about how Monday morning you’re frantically searching for that image you saved somewhere . And I thought, “Oh god, that’s me. That’s literally me. I am that person.” Except instead of an image, it’s usually my car keys. Or my sense of self-worth. Same energy.
So here’s what we’re gonna do. We’re gonna sit down, maybe pour something strong, and figure out how to choose a marketing tool without losing whatever’s left of your creative soul.
The Problem: You’re Doing It Wrong
Okay, that sounds harsh. Let me rephrase: We’re doing it wrong. All of us. Because here’s the thing about being a creative person in 2026, the algorithm doesn’t care that you have a studio practice. It doesn’t care that you spent 14 hours getting that texture just right. It wants content. It wants more. It wants it now.
I was reading this piece from Downtown Music, and they said something that actually stopped my endless scrolling for a second: “Consistency matters more than virality” . Not “be amazing.” Not “change the world.” Consistency. Showing up. Being present. Just. Show. Up.
Which is basically the opposite of what every tortured artist throughout history has ever wanted to hear. We want to be geniuses! We want to be discovered! We don’t want to post three times a week like we’re some kind of content vending machine.
But here we are. So let’s figure this out.
Step One: Ask Yourself the Hard Questions
Before you even look at a tool, you need to get honest with yourself. And I mean brutally honest. Like, therapy honest.
What platforms are you actually on?
Not “what platforms do you wish you were on.” Not “what platforms your friend Karen says you should be on because her cousin’s neighbor’s dog went viral on TikTok.” What platforms do you actually use?
What’s your actual goal?
Are you trying to sell prints? Get commission work? Build a community? Justify your existence to your parents who still don’t understand why you became an artist?
Your goal determines everything. If you’re a photographer trying to book commercial clients, your tool needs are completely different from someone selling paintings on Etsy .
What can you actually afford?
And I don’t just mean money. I mean time. I mean emotional bandwidth. I mean the part of your brain that could be solving creative problems but is instead figuring out why your scheduled post didn’t go live.
I was reading Magnetic Magazine, yeah, I read music production blogs too, I’m very well-rounded, it’s exhausting, and this producer named Will Vance said something that hit me: “Social media was always the thing that slipped when things got busy” . Yes. Yes. That is the sentence. That is the whole experience.
Step Two: Understand What You Actually Need
Okay, so here’s where we get into the tools. But I’m not just gonna throw a list at you. That’s what everyone does. “Here are 47 tools, good luck, bye!” No. We’re gonna think about what kind of artist you are and match you with the right thing.
If you’re a solo artist just trying to stay sane
You need something simple. Something that doesn’t require a user manual and a support group.
Buffer is your friend . It’s the least annoying tool I’ve ever used. You schedule stuff, it posts, you move on with your life. It’s like the IKEA of social media tools, simple, functional, and you won’t hate yourself for using it.
The free version lets you manage three profiles and schedule thirty posts a month . That’s enough. That’s plenty. That’s more than you’re doing now, probably.
If you’re visual and you know it
Look, some of you are making beautiful things. Your art deserves to be seen in context. You need to think about your feed like a gallery wall.
Later is what you want . You can drag and drop and see how everything looks together. It’s like planning an exhibition, except nobody has to wear a mask and pretend to like the wine at the opening.
Planoly is similar, clean, simple, focused on Instagram . Will Vance from that Magnetic piece said it “supported a calmer approach to posting simply because it favors clarity over depth” . And I thought, “Calm? Clarity? In social media? Is that allowed?”
If you’re managing multiple projects or, god forbid, other people
Maybe you’ve got a label. Maybe you’re managing other artists. Maybe you’ve made some questionable life choices. I don’t know your situation.
Hootsuite is the enterprise option . It does everything. It’s also overwhelming and expensive. If you’re a solo artist, stay away. It’s like buying a semi truck to get groceries.
If you need help making stuff look good
Because not all of us are designers. I’m a writer. I make words. Visual stuff is not my thing.
Canva is the answer . It’s free-ish. It has templates for everything. You can make something that looks professional even if your design skills peaked with refrigerator art in second grade.
CapCut is for video . It’s what everyone’s using for Reels and TikToks. It’s free, it’s easy, and it’ll make your phone footage look like you knew what you were doing. You didn’t. But nobody has to know.
Step Three: The Stuff Nobody Tells You
Okay, here’s where we get real. Deeper than the tools. Because the tools aren’t really the problem, are they? The problem is the existential dread of putting yourself out there. The problem is making art in a world that wants content. The problem is waking up every day and deciding to be vulnerable in public.
Document your process, not just your product
This was in that Chase Jarvis piece and it actually made me stop and think . People don’t just want to see the finished thing. They want to see how you got there. The sketches. The mistakes. The moment you almost gave up.
I do this all the time. I just… write. About what’s going on. About my dogs. About the weird thoughts at 3 AM. And somehow that connects with people more than the polished work.
You’re an artist. Show us the studio. Show us the mess. Show us the version that didn’t work. That’s where we’ll find you.
Steal from your past self
This is something I learned the hard way. You don’t have to create new content every single day. You really don’t.
If you’re touring, record two minutes in every city . If you’re in the studio, take photos of the gear, the coffee cups, the frustrated faces. One day of capturing can fuel weeks of posting.
Know when to stop
Here’s the thing nobody in marketing will tell you: you don’t have to be on everything. You really don’t.
I’ve been writing about and lecturing in digital marketing since 2014. That’s a long time to talk about marketing. And you know what I’ve learned? The only way to sustain anything is to find a rhythm you can actually maintain . Not the rhythm you wish you could maintain. Not the rhythm your friend with three assistants maintains. The rhythm you can maintain.
Step Four: Some Actual Recommendations Because You’re Still Reading
Okay, fine. You want me to tell you what to use. Here. Here’s my list. Use it or don’t. I’m not your mother.
For scheduling when you’re busy: Buffer . Free, simple, doesn’t demand your soul.
For visual planning: Later . See how your feed looks before you commit.
For making stuff look good: Canva . Even if you can’t design, you can design.
For writing when the words won’t come: ChatGPT. I know, I know, AI is gonna replace us all. But for getting past a blank page? It’s fine. Use it. The purists can judge you from their offline cabins.
For actually understanding what works: Metricool . If you’re gonna do this, do it with your eyes open. See what’s working. Do more of that.
The Truth (Because That’s What We Do Here)
I’ve been doing my thing for decades. Decades. And you know what I’ve learned about marketing myself? About putting work out into the world?
It’s not about the tools.
It’s about showing up as yourself. Consistently. Imperfectly. Honestly.
That’s what you’re doing with your art, right? Making darkness light? Making sense of things? Connecting? Doing the work. Doing. The. Work.
So pick a tool. Any tool. Pick the one that gets out of your way and lets you do that. Because the world doesn’t need another perfectly curated Instagram feed. The world needs your voice. Your vision. Your weird, beautiful, complicated self.
Now get out of here. Go make something.
I post here on my blog twice a week at least, with strategies & advice for the creatives who hate to market, or the creatives who just want to market effectively. It’s ideas, tools, strategies to make you a successful marketer so you can spend more time being creative. That’s what we need right now: less marketers and more creatives. You can subscribe to the blog and get notifications (that magic box below – no spam, guaranteed), and/or you can do me a solid and buy me a coffee for being here for over two years giving away my pearls of wisdom in service to the creative community.
You know, I used to think putting stuff out there into the void of the feeds was enough. You post a thing, a few likes roll in, it disappears. It’s like screaming into a hurricane. But this newsletter thing, it’s different. It’s not just me blasting my thoughts at you while you’re half-paying attention, scrolling past a picture of a sandwich someone ate in 2014.
This is a conversation. It’s me sitting down, taking a breath, and actually digging into the weird, terrifying, and hilarious mess of it all without worrying about the algorithm gods striking me down for going long. It’s more in-depth, it’s unhinged, it’s the stuff I’m actually thinking about at 3 a.m. that doesn’t fit into a tidy little box. So yeah, this link will take you to the sign-up page. It’s not spam, it’s just two people connecting over the fact that we’re all hurtling through space on a rock and trying to make some sense of it. But with marketing.
If you want to totally revitalise or kick start your marketing, then why not consider my book Digital Marketing for Creatives, it’s an honest approach to marketing that will get you marketing more effectively so you can spend more time creating.
Digital Marketing for Creatives 
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