AAnnie's Action AI← Back to Annie's home page
Marketing for tattoo artists & shops

Four kinds of tattoo work.
Four different kinds of client.

A collector planning a sleeve, a first-timer picking off the wall, a couple after matching fine-line pieces and a regular due for a touch-up all find their artist in different places. Annie's knows where each of them looks, and has built tools for artists and shops like yours.

Custom & large-scale · Walk-ins & flash · Fine-line & minimalist · Piercing, touch-ups & removal

Get the free business plan
HOPE
Four kinds of tattoo work

Who's buying your kind of work.

The same shop can start a back piece at noon and do three walk-ins before close. The people paying for that work don't look in the same places.

Custom & large-scale

Sleeves, back pieces, chest pieces and cover-ups, done over several sessions.

  • Collectors who follow an artist's style
  • People who save designs on Instagram and Pinterest for months
  • Convention crowds looking for their next artist
  • Clients who want an old tattoo covered
  • Past clients coming back to add on
  • Referrals from the artist's other clients

Walk-ins & flash

Smaller pieces from the wall or the artist's flash sheet, often same day.

  • First-timers who aren't sure where to start
  • Groups celebrating a birthday or a big day
  • Adults near colleges and military bases
  • Travelers and people in town for events
  • Anyone who saw a flash drop on your page
  • Google Maps searches for "tattoo near me"

Fine-line & minimalist

Small, delicate work: script, florals, tiny symbols, matching pieces.

  • Younger adults finding artists on TikTok and Pinterest
  • Friends, couples and families getting matching pieces
  • People marking a birth, a loss or a milestone
  • Clients who book from a saved photo
  • Wedding parties and graduation groups
  • Instagram saves and shares

Piercing, touch-ups & removal

Piercings, jewelry changes, touch-ups, and fading or removing old work.

  • Locals who come back every few months
  • Past clients due for a touch-up
  • People who regret an old tattoo
  • Clients prepping skin for a cover-up
  • Salons, spas and barbers nearby who can refer
  • Google, Nextdoor and local Facebook groups
Be honest

Are you doing these 10 things to market your tattoo shop?

Tap each one you're already doing.

0 of 10

Tap the ones you're already doing.

Get help with the rest

Step-by-step how-tos for all ten are in the tattoo playbook.

Take these, they're free

Tools we built for tattoo artists like you.

Read them, use them, keep them. If something on the list doesn't make sense, that's what we're here for.

Business plan

The tattoo shop business plan

Who you serve, what to offer, how to set your rate, minimums and deposits, a 90-day launch plan, and the numbers to watch every week.

You may need a free Annie's account to open this.
Open the business plan
Social media

30-day social media program

A post for every day: healed work, time-lapses, flash drops, artist intros and aftercare, with what to say and where to post it.

You may need a free Annie's account to open this.
Open the 30-day program
Customers

Where your clients are

Platforms, local partners, conventions, directories and groups, sorted by the kind of tattoo work you do.

You may need a free Annie's account to open this.
Open the list

See the full tattoo playbook: 19 guides

Guerrilla marketing

Low cost, high impact: how leaders in your industry get business.

These are some of the ways the best shops fill their books without a big advertising budget.

IDEA 1

Friday the 13th flash day

A shop tradition: fill a wall with small original flash at one low set price and tattoo first come, first served on every Friday the 13th. Post the sheet a week ahead and let the line form.

Cost: flash sheets, extra supplies, and the artists' day.

Why it works: first-timers who get a small piece often come back for a big one, and the day gives everyone a reason to talk about your shop.

How to do it, step by step →

IDEA 2

Charity flash day

Run a flash day where the money goes to a local cause: an animal shelter, a cancer fund, a veterans group. The charity tells its own list, and the designs can match the cause.

Cost: one day's revenue and a sheet of themed designs.

Why it works: it puts your shop in front of people who'd never walk into a tattoo shop, and gives local news a reason to come by.

How to do it, step by step →

IDEA 3

Host a guest artist

Bring in a known artist from another city for a few days. Both of you post the dates, and their followers book chairs in your shop.

Cost: an open chair and a split of the guest's work.

Why it works: collectors travel for artists they follow, and they find your house artists while they're there.

How to do it, step by step →

We have many, many more. Work with one of our consultants at marketinghope.com and they'll help Annie's build systems like this for you to bring in new business.

Talk to a consultant
What Annie's does

You do the art. We handle the marketing.

A website that shows your portfolio

Healed work sorted by artist and style, online consult booking with deposits, and a form that takes a reference photo.

Social media from the chair

We turn your photos and time-lapses into posts, captions and a calendar built around flash drops and the seasons.

Found where clients look

Google, AI assistants, Instagram, TikTok and directories, all with the same facts about your shop.

Need help with any of this?

Tell us what you tattoo. We'll show you who's looking for you.

Most artists are great at the chair and short on time for everything else. Talk to a human at Annie's.

Book 15 minutes