Social media for artists and makers: a practical guide for 2026

People buy art and handmade work because they connect with the person and the process as well as the object. Social media lets you show both, every week, and build a list of people ready to buy when you release new work.

Instagram suits finished pieces, studio stories and process Reels. Pinterest suits work people save for later: prints, ceramics, jewellery and home pieces, linked to your shop. TikTok suits making videos, from a blank canvas to a finished pot. Facebook helps with local markets, open studios and groups. If you have a studio people can visit, a Google Business Profile helps them find opening times.

Three or four posts a week is enough, and most of them can come from one making session. Film while you work, then photograph the finished piece properly.

• Monday: a finished piece, with size, materials, price and how to buy.
• Tuesday: work in progress. A sketch, a glaze test, a half-finished canvas.
• Wednesday: the story. Why you made it, where the idea came from.
• Thursday: process video, from start to finish in under a minute.
• Friday: where to find you. A market, an open studio, a shop restock.
• Stories through the week: the studio, materials arriving, packing orders.
• Before each new collection: a sneak peek, a release date and a reminder on the day.

Good photos sell work online more than anything else you post. You do not need expensive kit, just steady light and the same setup each time.

1. Shoot by a window in daylight, with no direct sun on the piece.
2. Use a plain background and keep it the same across your shop and feed.
3. Show scale: a print on a wall, a mug in a hand, a ring on a finger.
4. Photograph details close up: texture, brushwork, glaze, stitching.
5. Colour-check against the real piece, so buyers get what they saw.

In the UK, the government says you get copyright protection automatically, without applying or paying a fee, and that there is no register of copyright works. Marking your work with ©, your name and the year is optional and does not change the protection. For artistic works, copyright lasts 70 years after the creator's death.

If someone copies your work, you can report it. Pinterest says copyright owners can submit a report using its form, and that it can only remove identical copies of an image, so altered versions may need separate reports. Read each platform's terms too: the Intellectual Property Office notes that terms may allow a platform to use images you upload.

The same rules protect other artists. The IPO says the vast majority of images online are likely to be protected by copyright. Fan art of characters, work based on someone's photograph and reference images used too closely can all cause problems when you sell them.

• Keep dated files of sketches and work in progress as a record of your process.
• Add your handle in a corner of images, small enough not to spoil the piece.
• Ask before reposting another maker's work, and credit them when you do.
• Do not sell work based on someone else's photo without their permission.

Sources: GOV.UK: How copyright protects your work, checked 15 October 2026; GOV.UK: How long copyright lasts, checked 15 October 2026; Pinterest Help: Copyright, checked 15 October 2026; GOV.UK (Intellectual Property Office): Copyright notice, digital images, photographs and the internet, checked 15 October 2026

If you sell online in the UK, the government says customers can cancel up to 14 days after delivery, and that you must give clear information first, including your business name and address, the full price with taxes and delivery costs. Its refunds guidance lists personalised or custom-made items among goods where you only have to refund if they are faulty, so say clearly in posts which pieces are commissions.

Process videos often get music added in the app. Meta's guidelines say commercial use of music needs the appropriate licence, and TikTok says businesses should use its Commercial Music Library, which it describes as pre-cleared and free for businesses. The sound of your wheel, brush or loom is often more interesting anyway.

• Put the full price, size and delivery cost in every post that sells a piece.
• Make commission terms clear before you take a deposit.
• Use studio sound or licensed music in videos.

Sources: GOV.UK: Online and distance selling for businesses, checked 15 October 2026; GOV.UK: Accepting returns and giving refunds, the law, checked 15 October 2026; Meta: Music Guidelines, checked 15 October 2026; TikTok Ads help: Commercial Music Library, checked 15 October 2026

Artists and makers have natural peaks: Christmas, Mother's Day, Valentine's Day and Small Business Saturday. Plan new work and posting dates around them, with last order dates for delivery.

Disclosure: this guide is published by Zolyp, an AI social media manager. Zolyp plans a calendar around your content pillars, writes and designs each post, and schedules it to Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Business, X, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, and Threads. You start in review-everything mode, so nothing goes live without your approval. You can add your own photos of your work or pull from your brand gallery, and Pinterest is one of the platforms Zolyp publishes to. Plans start at $29/mo. Everything in this guide works just as well done by hand.

• Week 1: list new pieces, markets, open studios and last order dates.
• Week 2: film process videos during one making session.
• Week 3: photograph finished work and update your shop.
• Week 4: check which posts led to sales or enquiries, and repeat them.