Why people book a tattoo. And why this knowledge is so crucial for you.
Why this matters more than it sounds
Content strategy, client conversations, pricing and the structure of your offer are the topics artists think about when they want to develop their business. All four share the same foundation, though: you need to know why clients book with you. That doesn't mean what they write in the inquiry, but what is really behind it.
If you don't know, you're optimizing on guesswork. You make content that might land, set prices that might fit and have conversations that might touch the right thing. Sometimes that goes well, but often it doesn't, and you don't even notice what went wrong.
That's why this article isn't a side topic. What's in here comes back in almost everything that follows.
Motive 1: Memory and tribute
Many people get a tattoo to carry someone or something with them permanently. That can be a loved one who has passed away, their own children, a milestone or a phase of life.
In the 2023 Pew Research survey, 69% name this as a main motive, in AARP 2024 it's 44%. The difference is mostly explained by the age structure of the respondents: older people cite memory motives significantly more often.
This client usually knows what they want before they get in touch with you, and the subject is often emotionally charged. They don't book because of your Instagram aesthetic but because they trust you.
Motive 2: Self-expression and identity
With this motive, the tattoo shows who someone is or wants to be, meaning their values, their personality and their beliefs.
In the 2023 Cureus study (peer-reviewed, n=3,033), 62% name self-expression as a central motive. When the question was more open, with no preset answer options, identity even ranked first. This motive is especially strong among clients under 30.
This is about the collector, the artist-hopper and everyone who doesn't just like your style but also wants to say something about themselves through it. Clients like this often know your older work and book when they identify with you as a person, not just with your motifs.
Motive 3: Fun and aesthetics
Not every tattoo carries a deep meaning. In a peer-reviewed study, 42% name fun as a main motive, and that number is probably on the low side: in many studies fun isn't even offered as an answer option, and what isn't asked isn't reported.
Typical for this motive is the flash buyer, the walk-in or the collector on their fifteenth tattoo who simply wants something that looks good. They don't research for weeks. They look at your flash sheet and ask whether anything is still free next week.
What changes when you know this
So you're not dealing with a single target group but with three fundamentally different client types. They communicate differently, decide differently and each need something different from you.
| Motive | Client type | What moves them | Content | Communication | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Memory and tribute | Memorial client | Trust, process, care | Healing, before/after, your conversations with clients | Calm and empathetic, no pressure | Rather secondary, they pay when they trust you |
| Self-expression and identity | Collector / follower | Clear style, the artist's personality | Depth in your portfolio, your own viewpoints, behind-the-scenes | On equal footing, with a conversation about style | Secondary when the style fits |
| Fun and aesthetics | Flash buyer / walk-in | Availability, simplicity, price | Flash sheets, open slots, clear prices | Short, direct and uncomplicated | Important, often the first filter |
The consequences reach far beyond Instagram.
Content: If you only make emotionally deep content, you lose the flash buyers. If you only show aesthetics, you don't reach the memorial clients.
Client conversation: A memorial client needs time and space. Confronting a flash buyer with long consultations, on the other hand, frustrates them. Many bad first conversations happen because artist and client have different motives and neither of them notices.
Pricing: For the memorial client, price is often secondary, for the client who is after fun and aesthetics, it's the first filter. The same deposit model therefore hits these two groups in completely different ways.
What doesn't work
If you only make emotional, deep content, you speak to memory and identity clients but lose the clients who are after fun and aesthetics. That looks like a deliberate decision for a niche, but most of the time it isn't. Often the artist doesn't even know they're overlooking a whole group, even though flash buyers and aesthetically motivated clients make up a large share of booking inquiries for many artists.
The reverse is just as true: if you only post flash, you lose clients who want to build trust first, meaning regulars, collectors and memorial clients. They often watch your account for three weeks before they write, and if they find nothing in that time that builds trust, they end up not writing at all.
What you can try this week
Take your last ten booking inquiries, not your last posts, the inquiries. Go through them one by one and ask yourself for each: which motive could be behind it? Memory, identity or fun?
If you can't tell, ask in the next first conversation, and not directly ("Why do you want this tattoo?") but indirectly: "Is there a story behind it, or have you had the motif in mind for a while?" The answer usually tells you more about your client than any booking form.
Sources
- Pew Research Center (2023): Tattoos in America, Pew Research Center
- AARP (2024): Tattoo Survey, AARP Survey
- Cureus (2023): Motivations for Tattooing (peer-reviewed, n=3,033), Cureus study