How to Set Up Email Automation for Your Art Newsletter: A Step-by-Step Guide
Are you tired of spending hours drafting and sending individual emails to your art followers? What if you could automate the entire process, leaving you more time to focus on what truly matters—your art?
Imagine having a personal assistant that takes care of all your email marketing, sending beautiful newsletters, updates, and promotions to your subscribers on autopilot. Sounds like a dream, right? But with email automation, this can become your reality.
In this post, I’m going to walk you through the exact steps I used to set up a seamless email automation.
You’ll learn how to create a simple welcome sequence, automate follow-ups, and test everything before going live—so you can start focusing on what you do best: creating!
Ready to dive in?
Let's get started!
Understanding Email Automation for Art Newsletter
You’ve probably heard it a hundred times: "Consistency is key" when it comes to growing your audience and promoting your art.
But as an artist, you don’t always have the luxury of time. Between creating your next masterpiece, planning exhibitions, and managing your online presence, there’s barely enough hours in the day. That’s where email automation comes in.
Email automation lets you connect with your audience on autopilot.
Once you set it up, it works behind the scenes, sending the right message to the right person at the right time—without you needing to manually click "send" each time. It’s like having a personal assistant for your email marketing.
Here’s a simple example:
Imagine someone subscribes to your newsletter. A few seconds later, they receive a welcome email, thanking them for joining and offering them an exclusive sneak peek of your latest painting. They’re instantly excited to be part of your community—and you’ve set the stage for future engagement.
Tips for Getting Started:
Choose an email platform like AWeber, Moosend, or GetResponse. They’re easy to use and offer free trials, so you can experiment and find what works for you.
Make sure you understand the key benefits of email automation: saving time, building stronger connections with your audience, and driving sales without extra effort.
You might also like: 10 Must-Read Art Books to Fuel Your Creative Journey and Build a Successful Career
Choosing the Right Email Platform for your Art Newsletter
The right email platform will serve as the backbone of your automation. But with so many options out there, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. Do you need something super advanced, or will a simple system do?
Simplicity is often better.
As an artist, you don’t need the most complicated software with endless features. What you need is something intuitive that handles your basic needs: easy-to-create email templates, automation workflows, and clear performance metrics.
Platforms like AWeber, Moosend, or GetResponse provide the essential features needed to run an effective email campaign. These tools are designed for non-tech-savvy users, so you can spend more time creating and less time worrying about the technical side of things. They all provide drag-and-drop email builders, so you can design beautiful newsletters without needing coding skills.
Moreover, these platforms have analytics tools that show you how well your emails are doing.
For example, you can see which art pieces are getting the most attention, which email subject lines are driving more opens, and even how many subscribers are clicking your links to buy prints or book commissions.
Tips for Choosing the Right Platform:
Test out platforms like AWeber, Moosend, or GetResponse. Most of them offer free trials, so you can take them for a spin and see which one feels the easiest and most effective for your needs.
Check for features like easy email creation, automation workflows, and performance tracking. These are essential for building an email campaign that works for your art business.
Creating a Simple Welcome Sequence for Art Subscribers
Once you’ve chosen your platform and set it up, it’s time to create your first automated sequence.
A welcome sequence is your chance to make a great first impression. This is where you introduce yourself, share your art, and set expectations for your future emails.
Your first email should be friendly and welcoming. Let your new subscriber know who you are and what they can expect from your newsletters.
This is the perfect opportunity to share a bit of your story.
Maybe you’re a painter inspired by nature, or a sculptor fascinated by human emotion. Let them know what drives your art.
Pro Tip: A great way to hook your subscribers is by offering them something valuable right away. How about a free downloadable art print or a discount on your next gallery show? This makes them feel appreciated and creates a deeper connection.
For example, your welcome email might say:
"Welcome to my artistic world! As a thank-you for joining my newsletter, I’d like to offer you a free downloadable art print of my latest piece, 'Abstract Sunset'. Click here to download it now. And stay tuned for more updates on my upcoming exhibitions!"
Tips for Crafting Your Welcome Email:
Introduce yourself and share your artistic journey.
Offer a freebie or discount to make your subscribers feel special.
Keep it friendly and personal—think of it as inviting someone into your creative space.
Automating Follow-Up Emails for Engaged Art Lovers
A welcome email is just the beginning.
You want to keep your audience engaged, excited, and ready to learn more about your work. That’s where follow-up emails come in.
Automated follow-up emails are your chance to build a relationship with your subscribers. Each email can serve a different purpose, but the goal is to guide them deeper into your world. You might want to share your creative process, offer a sneak peek of a new art collection, or announce a limited-time discount on a print.
Here’s how you might structure a simple follow-up sequence:
Email 1: Share a behind-the-scenes look at how you create your art. Maybe include a time-lapse video of a painting coming together, or a snapshot of your workspace.
Email 2: Showcase your best-selling art pieces. Explain the inspiration behind them and why they’re popular.
Email 3: Offer a time-sensitive promotion for an upcoming art show or a special discount on your online store.
The key to successful follow-up emails is to keep them interesting, relevant, and engaging. After all, your subscribers are interested in your journey as an artist, not just the art you sell.
Tips for Follow-Up Emails:
Keep your emails consistent—plan for one to two follow-up emails per week.
Vary the content: mix behind-the-scenes stories with art promotions.
Use personalized subject lines to increase open rates (e.g., "A Sneak Peek at My New Collection Just for You!").
Testing Your Art Email Automation
Before you launch your email campaign, you’ll want to test everything to make sure it’s working smoothly.
Nothing is more frustrating than sending an email to hundreds of subscribers only to realize there’s a broken link or a typo in the subject line.
Most email platforms allow you to send test emails to yourself before you hit send. This gives you the chance to double-check everything:
Do the images display properly?
Are the links clickable?
Do the emails look good on both desktop and mobile?
You might also want to test your email’s performance with a small segment of your audience first. Send out the email to just a handful of people and see how they respond. This will help you tweak the email before sending it to your full list.
Tips for Testing Your Emails:
Send test emails to yourself and a friend to catch any mistakes.
Test on both desktop and mobile to make sure everything looks great.
Use A/B testing to see which subject lines or email copy get the best results.
Tracking Your Email Performance and Adjusting Strategies
Once your emails are up and running, it’s time to track how they’re performing. While email automation does a lot of the heavy lifting for you, it’s crucial to analyse the results so you can fine-tune your strategy.
Platforms like AWeber, Moosend, or GetResponse. (yes I’ve tested them all!) provide detailed analytics, showing you metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and subscriber engagement. By regularly reviewing these numbers, you’ll know which emails are working and which ones need improvement.
For instance, if you notice that a particular email gets a high click-through rate, that’s a sign that your audience is interested in that type of content. You can then create similar emails in the future to keep that momentum going.
Personally, I check my email performance metrics once a week. This routine allows me to stay on top of what’s working and make quick adjustments if needed. Maybe I’ll tweak the subject line, change up the content, or offer a new incentive to boost engagement.
Tips for Tracking and Adjusting:
Set aside time each week to review your email metrics.
Pay attention to open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates.
Use the data to tweak future emails and improve engagement.
Your Art, Your Audience, On Autopilot
With the right email automation system in place, you’ll free up time to focus on your craft while still engaging and nurturing your audience. Automation doesn’t just make life easier—it empowers you to create a deeper connection with your followers, helping turn them into loyal fans and supporters of your work.
Take the first step today by signing up for a free trial of AWeber, Moosend, or GetResponse and start experimenting with the email sequences that will best serve your art business.
Test, tweak, and track your results—success doesn’t happen overnight, but with persistence, your art and your message will reach new heights.
So, what are you waiting for?
Dive into the world of email automation and let your creative journey take flight!
You’ve got this!
What next?
Next, sign up for our Artist Interviews Series for extra exposure and the chance to showcase your work to a wider audience. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to connect with fellow artists and gain visibility in the art community!