Handmade product creators are an incredibly talented crowd when they deal with the creative side of the business. However, they sometimes underperform in marketing. Many of them often mention that they aren’t great at selling things.
We should say that selling handmade items is a niche that needs specific know-how. Still, it’s manageable if you get the gist. Most importantly, the type of marketing needed incorporates creativity with the tactics, so it shouldn’t be too tough to get it right.
This article will go through the most efficient strategies you can use to sell all your unique handmade creations.
Word-Of-Mouth
Relationships are everything in crafts. Anything from the creator’s standing in the ‘handmade community’ to what the buyers say about the products falls under this category.
Creativity is the starting point for any maker, but consistency and precision are the qualities that bring the product together. To get people talking about your creations, first, make your products talk to the person.
Your goal here is to activate the feedback loop among your buyers. If you do it correctly, the reach of your brand will grow exponentially.
The key is to get one buyer to reference two people to your website or marketplace.
Ideally, the product should travel through the following groups:
- Inner circle – friends, family, and acquaintances
- Buyer’s circle – get the customers to fall in love with the product so that they talk about it everywhere
- Community – with a few brand evangelists, your work will be able to consolidate a passionate fan-base of returning customers
Social Media
Although ‘word-of-mouth’ is typical for handmade products, you also need other marketing strategies to achieve higher sales volumes. Social media is the second essential channel to nurture.
Organic Reach
The sheer number of social media platforms might confuse a newbie. However, you don’t need too much marketing knowledge to deduce where your buyers are.
Each niche has a concentrated number of its audience members in some space, so it’s not too challenging to find them if you look hard enough.
In the social media setting, the first association of ‘arts and crafts’ is Pinterest.
The channel’s visual component is convenient for showcasing your creations. At the same time, its link-based nature is ideal for generating traffic to your website or marketplace.
An article from the Click Intelligence blog mentions that 96% of Pinterest users research the platform before making any purchases.
Pinterest and Instagram have quite a lot of similarities. However, raising awareness is the goal this channel reaches better. It has a more diverse audience and a more robust influencer community.
Facebook’s strong suit in boosting arts and crafts business is its ability to assist your community aspirations.
One of the best ways to use Facebook organically is to have a group where you post interesting facts about your niche, do opinion polls, and start discussions.
Paid Ads
This category is a little bit technical. Hiring a professional in the beginning can be beneficial for reaching your targets. Once you have your advertising strategy set up on Facebook and Instagram, you’ll get a lot of traffic for a reasonable budget.
Depending on your goals, location, and niche, the spent amount can vary. Still, it gets you a lot of followers that are interested in your craft.
Stay Creative
Putting together a handmade product business is an innovative process at every step of the journey. Even the marketing aspect might need a boost from it.
Once you’re down with the technical stuff, there’s room for getting the creative juices flowing again.
Writing about your crafts in a blog and making tutorials can add credibility and expert power to your brand. Giving back to the community is another factor you should think about. Put together tips for beginner craftspeople and organize giveaways for the best fans to ‘sell without selling.’
Most handmade product enthusiasts love the craft itself or want to support the particular creator. Having a Patreon account or a ‘Donation’ button on your site might be the monetization component you truly needed.
Don’t overlook opportunities. Research your audience and use your creativity to turn your passion into profit.