In this article we explore the emergence of AI and what it means for arts and culture marketing.
We showcase three excellent examples of making social media work and give you five take aways from which you can apply the insights to your own work. But first, let’s put it all in context…
AI disruption
There is a sense of panic around the topic of AI. Unlike the slow creep of the internet, it’s engulfing every area of our lives and very quickly. The creative sector is at once embracing AI as a new toy – just see this collection of applications and uses in the Art Newspaper which includes stories about the AI authentication of works, a painting by AI robot Ai-Da, the robotic brainchild of British gallerist Aidan Meller sold for £1m at Sotheby’s and an auction of AI work at Christie’s. But it is also being hit especially hard as AI hoovers up everyone’s work for training generative AI. This particular form of cleaning up is done by using unlicensed creative works which is why the creative sector is so very appalled and vocal about the threats of AI. The idea of arts and culture being the subject of machine learning, or some might call it daylight robbery, is that one day you too could write your own novel in the style of Dickens or create a masterpiece in the style of Monet by writing a simple prompt. For living artists with copyrighted work this is anathema – and the rules and regulations have yet to keep step with this particular progress.
Art has long been both fascinated and appalled by technological developments. From the printing press, to sound recording, photography and film, the threat of bootlegging and plagiarism has never been too far from the zeitgeist. When music moved on from acoustic to electric guitars there was an outcry, and then electronica and sampling caused further outrage. Most art does have a ‘beg, borrow or steal’ element to it by the remixing of ideas – it’s how things evolve – but the sticking points here are man versus machine and technology behemoth versus artist.
At CogX last year there was a talk about how AI in the film industry will permeate everything and empower creatives to use generative AI to save time for creative ideation. This made perfect sense in the context of global film distribution where AI can be used to create near perfectly lip-synched language dubbing, opening up many films to a much larger audience but when it comes to arts and culture which is reliant on venues and ticket sales, I beg to differ.
How will this affect the marketing functions which serve the creative sector?
It’s no secret arts and culture has found social media challenging – from censorship of nudes, to silencing of music from live stream events – some interesting examples have emerged from the shock of the old in the new. My favourite is the Vienna Tourist board opening up an OnlyFans account ‘in protest against platforms’ ongoing censorship of its art museums and galleries’.
Yet here we are in the no holds barred world of AI. While we should expect similar challenges, the world has changed over the last 15 years during which social media emerged. Since lockdown, when the arts was shuttered and relied heavily on social media to reach out and connect with audiences, content has been a driving force in marketing. With reduced budgets and bigger overheads, clearly there is a need to automate marketing and create cheaper content which is where AI comes in – or does it?
My point is – while AI will no doubt present new challenges, there are always ways to come up with a highly creative and inexpensive solution.
We have plenty of evidence it is possible to make quality content and keep overheads down.
Here are three great examples:
1. Original Archive Material at the V&A museum
In a world of AI, organic content is king and for museums and galleries, there is no shortage of source material. Take this great post from the V&A featuring the work of the often copied, but never bettered, arts and crafts movement leader William Morris.
This post is simplicity itself and works well because:
- A carefully curated collection of seven instantly recognisable Morris prints on Instagram delights audiences
- Rather than relying on any awareness day, it’s designed to celebrate Spring – something we can all agree on!
- No hard sell but a more than tenuous link to London Craft Week 2025
- No fuss – no over technification – and it has garnered over 11,000 likes from its 1.9million followers.
View this post on Instagram
2. Expert Opinions Count for a lot at Tate Britain
Another great example of non-AI organic content which leverages expert opinion and insider knowledge is this great short video by the Tate featuring art historian Alice Loxton.
This works well because:
- The video has simple production values – the camera is a little bit shaky at times, the camera angle is not perfect so it feels very human, or even something you would film yourself, however there are some graphics there is some musical accompaniment.
- The story is based around the Turner’s 250th birthday so is very timely, with no hard sell as it’s free to see paintings at Tate Britain.
- An authentic and credible person speaking to camera is engaging and informative and definitely something which cannot be imitated.
- Again this has managed to receive over 15k likes for an account with 4m+ followers – and reminds us in the cost of living crisis we can still see amazing culture in London for free.
View this post on Instagram
3. Hidden depths – behind the scenes at the Guildhall Art Gallery
Arts venues are very event driven and social media is a great way to build anticipation. The Guildhall Art Gallery posted a very short and cleverly put together teaser video about a painting which has not been on show for 20 years in anticipation of its upcoming show.
This works well because:
- This gives viewers a money can’t buy glimpse of the behind the scenes at a museum.
- For art lovers, these are hallowed spaces and there’s a sense of privilege in seeing what happens behind the façade of the gallery.
- It’s also very reassuring, in a world of pop ups and projections and other such artistic ephemera, that there is a plethora of historic art housed safely in the Guildhall collection.
View this post on Instagram
How to make organic social media work for your arts and culture organisation:
Really good social media looks effortless – that’s because it has strategic thinking behind it and is rooted in the brand, culture and audience. And that’s not all, keeping ideas simple and executing well are also highly important. This does not need a legion of tools to do so either.
Therefore creating organic social media marketing content for arts and culture in the age of AI is much less complex and much easier than you think it might be. Here are some ways you can make an impression:
- You know what makes your audience tick. Play to the crowd with content curation – give them what they love and then more of what they love.
- Use themes and simple story telling with a good narrative and your audience will be all eyes and ears. If florals are on trend – maximise the moment.
- Leverage the behind the scenes and archives – the audience loves nothing better than to go to a new dimension or time travel with you.
- Wheel out the experts whenever you can – the curators, the historians, the artists themselves – people who deliver your stories with passionate interest.
- Build anticipation with teaser stories and give them a taste of what’s to come and then keep reminding them.
If you’d like to meet us to talk about how we can help you make your social media cut through the noise, please do get in touch eva@homeofsocial.com.
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