Dreaming about making money from your craft business is one thing. Actually doing it is another. So many creative people are stuck with the idea of monetizing their craft but don’t get past the hoops of effectively promoting their business. So how does one curate a viable marketing strategy that works?
When you’re running a small business, you’re most likely left to figure out things on your own. Add that to the fact that you’re also in charge of all aspects of the business, not just marketing.
Nevertheless, just because you’re doing everything yourself does not mean you can’t be good at it. On the contrary, this gives you free rein to experiment with various strategies that best help you achieve the goals you’ve set yourself up to.
This article introduces you to some proven and tested strategies that can help you one-up your marketing game and start establishing your brand out there.
Sell in Online Marketing Platforms
Perhaps the easiest and quickest way to market your own crafts is to do it online. With the increasing popularity of DIY projects, more sites aim to accommodate its customer base in a unified online platform that makes buying and selling a breeze. Just follow a few steps for registration, and you’re set up. Most of these sites are free too, so it’s not only time efficient but also cost-effective.
A few good practices to make sure you establish a good shop image online include (a) using proper keywords to help your customers find you easily in searches, (b) posting beautiful and honest product photos, and (c) providing enough information for your clients to make sure they encounter no problems should they decide to purchase your items. A bad buying experience usually sours a buyer’s perception of your shop, no matter how good the quality of your products is, so go for a good first impression.
Online marketing is a great platform for both selling to customers and maintaining exposure. But the secret to successful online marketing is consistency. You must be responsive to customer queries and ensure your inventory is enough to make a decent listing. Most importantly, you need to make sure you deliver what you promise your customers to have.
In this post, Small Biz Trends lists 25 online platforms that are great starting points to launch your business online.
Pin Your Way to Fame
If there’s a mother site of all things crafters love, it would be Pinterest. With 250 million active users in 2018, it’s a popular go-to for everything DIY and crafty. It’s where most crafters draw inspiration and ideas from and is also a great place to expose your products and route traffic to your shop.
When setting up a board, think about what your customers would want to see. Your posts don’t have to be exclusively about your products. Capture your customer’s attention by posting interesting and novel products that are related to your own.
Inspire by sharing a work in progress or a photo of you at work. Or inform people by using infographics such as those that tell the many ways they can use your product. A feature photo of one of your clients using the product is a great move as well.
Use high-quality craft supplies to create the perfect props or background for your products and to create a compelling visual experience for your customers. Avoid posting photos of products similar to what you’re selling.
Sell in Your Own E-commerce Platform
Have you been consistently making profit from selling your crafts on the side for years and figured it’s time to roll it full-time? Do you have a full inventory and want to look professional to your customers? Then building your own e-commerce website is a good marketing move.
Unlike with online marketing platforms where multiple entrepreneurs are catered to, an e-commerce website offers a platform that is exclusive to your products. Here, you can market and sell to your own accord with liberty to tweak whatever it is you see necessary to establish the image you want your business to make.
An e-commerce website is also equipped with tools you need to manage almost all areas of your business: it lets you track your orders, offer deals, manage keywords, and use the market analytics tool to see if your marketing strategies are working, on top of merely helping you receive orders.
Selling your crafts has never been easier with an e-commerce website. If you’re looking to get started, Website Builder has rounded up the best e-commerce website builder platforms in this post with details of their ratings per category and their available plans.
Establish a Solid Social Media Presence
As an entrepreneur in the age of the internet, establishing a solid social media footing should be one of your priorities. Because billions of users flock to social media sites every minute, the limit to getting yourself seen is only a matter of knowing how to attract attention. While there’s no surefire way of getting the exact results you want, these tips may help.
Talk in the language of your audience. If you’re selling to mothers, talk about the common issues of motherhood, ask their opinions, and find ways to engage. Customers like it when they are heard, and it’s not just mothers who value that kind of treatment.
Most importantly, keep your postings consistent. There are apps that you can use to manage multiple postings at once. It may also help to plan and schedule them ahead so you don’t have to be anxious about what to post next all the time.
Pitch Your Products to Influencers
Sometimes, to get your products out there, all you really ever need is to just go ahead and do it. While marketing online gets half the work done, finding connections and establishing partnerships is one of the most important moves you will eventually have to make if you want to keep growing.
One way to do this is to reach out to bloggers and influencers to see if they are interested to promote your products on their line. This is especially helpful before holidays or particular calendar events when your products become relevant and timely (e.g. Valentine’s Day, Christmas).
It doesn’t have to be about the products itself. You can also share your experience and your story where they may find value.
Final Word
Success in your own craft business requires grit and a good amount of dedication. While the learning curve may be steep, the difficulties you’ll encounter are necessary to help you grow as an entrepreneur. Make sure you take the first step right.
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