How To Create a Marketing Plan for your Craft Business

The sales channel you focus on will determine the marketing channels and methods you use. Online marketing channels and methods are more effective in driving traffic to a website or online marketplace than a flyer will be, since the flyer reaches people when they’re not at a computer or ready to online shop.

Who you’re selling to will also have an impact on the marketing channels and methods you choose.

People in their 20s may check Instagram several times a day but never pick up a newspaper. Paying for a newspaper ad or pitching press releases to newspaper editors would be an ineffective marketing channel/method for a business targeting customers in their 20s.

What you sell will determine where and how you market. Pinterest’s audience is mainly women so products for men may not garner as much attention, just as risqué art wouldn’t fit in at a mom & tots craft show.

Your product’s USP and brand will also guide your marketing efforts.

A vendor selling eco-friendly, organic laundry detergent will want to find magazines, Facebook groups, blogs, etc. with a focus on the environment.

USP and brand will also influence the look and message of your marketing to attract the right people and add meaning.

 

STEP 1 – Choose marketing channels

Marketing channels are where you reach potential customers.

Brainstorm where visitors might come from, keeping your sales channel in mind. If you’re using an online sales channel such as Etsy, you’ll want to focus on using online marketing channels.

Here are some examples of the places you may be able to reach your target market:

Online

• Search Engines
• Social Media platforms
• Blogs
• Emails
• Websites

Offline

• Events
• Media (e.g. TV, radio, newspapers, magazines)
• Businesses (shops and businesses you cross-promote with or who carry your products)
• Public (e.g. postcards handed out, posters hung, etc.)

 

List the marketing channels that are a fit based on your target market, your products, and your chosen sales channels.

Once you decide on general marketing channels, list specific marketing channels based on your niche market’s passions and problems. For example: 

• Social Media
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
• Events
  • Refresh Market
  • The Shift Holiday Remix Craft Market
  • Murrayville Holiday Market
• Media
  • Om Yoga Magazine
  • Mantra Yoga & Health Magazine
  • Conscious Living Magazine

 

STEP 2 – Determine marketing methods

For each specific marketing channel, list the methods you can use to attract people, keep them interested and promote your products. For example:

Online

• Search Engine
  • S.E.O (search engine optimization)
  • Google Adwords/paid ads
  • Local search
• Social Media
  • Follow other accounts
  • Post content
  • Create videos
  • Comment
  • Run contests
• Blog (setting up your blog)
  • Articles
  • Guest posts
• Email
  • Newsletters
  • Cold emailing
  • Email signature
• Websites/Blogs (other’s websites & blogs)
  • Referrals
  • Affiliates
  • Features/spotlights
  • Guest posts
  • Cross-promotion
  • Banner ads
  • Pay per click

Offline

• Events
  • Set up a sales booth (craft shows can be a sales channel and a marketing channel)
  • Networking
  • Sponsorship
  • Speaking
• Media
  • Magazine feature
  • TV or radio interview
  • Newspaper story
  • Advertisements
• Businesses (who carry your products or agree to cross-promote)
  • Business cards
  • Postcards
  • Product tags
  • Product packaging
• Public
  • Guerilla marketing
  • Posters
  • Business cards
  • Flyers

 

For each marketing channel you plan to use, list all the ways you can promote your products on those channels.

 

Step 3 – Create a schedule

Everything won’t be set up in a day and marketing is not a task you check off your list and forget about.

Make a list of tasks you must complete to get set up. For example:

• Sign up for Facebook
• Set up a blog
• Join an email marketing service
• Etc.

Then make a list of planning required. For example:

• Plan posting schedule and content
• Plan article topics
• Plan topics for weekly newsletters
• Etc.

Also, consider how frequently you’ll need to complete each marketing task and the cost. You may not be spending money on a task, but you’ll be spending time on it. That time needs to be accounted for in your schedule, and you need to consider the wages you should be paid for that time.

You may want to create a spreadsheet detailing the marketing channel, marketing method, frequency, and cost.

CHANNEL	METHOD	FREQUENCY	COST / TIME
Facebook	Follow other accounts	Once a week	1 hour
	Posts links to blog articles	2x / week	15 mins to post
	Facebook live	Once a week	30-minute videos
	Commenting	Reply to comment within a few hours	5 mins to comment
Holiday Craft Market Downtown	Newsletter signup at the event	December 2nd	$150 for the table 2-day event
	Hand out postcards & business cards	December 2nd	set up / take down 2months for stock prep
Om Yoga Magazine	Write & send press release- holiday issue	Send press release in September	3 hours to write 1 hour to draft email & send

 

Then schedule marketing tasks into your calendar. It helps to be consistent with what you do on which day.

For example, plan that every Monday you’ll schedule your social media posts and every Tuesday you’ll send a newsletter to your subscribers.

If you don’t plan and schedule marketing tasks, they’re easily pushed aside in favour of creating and selling. But if you let marketing slide, you won’t attract new shoppers or retain existing customers to purchase those products.

 

Step 4 – Marketing messages

Many small businesses make the mistake of thinking marketing is just about sharing their products. You may have already discovered that simply posting a photo of your latest creation to social media doesn’t generate many sales.

Too many marketing messages are about the business.

If you want your marketing to be effective, it can’t be about your business; it must be about your target market.

What does your target market want to see/read/hear and when?

Do you care if a business has created a new product? Not really. So “new products”, “check out my latest listing”, “just finished making dozens of these”, etc. probably aren’t interesting to your target market either.

When a business presents a product in a way that explains how it can make you look/feel/be better, then you care.

You need to get into your target market’s head and understand the ultimate benefit they’re after. 

For example, someone isn’t buying a pair of earrings for the sake of having another pair. They might want a new pair of earrings to create a specific look. If you know your target market, you’ll know exactly what that look is (e.g. modern, boho, on-trend, punk, etc.), or the other benefit they’re after (e.g. be ahead of a trend, add a touch of blue to their wedding outfit, earrings that can go from the gym, into the shower, then to work, etc.)

Instead of a marketing message being:

A picture of a pair of earrings on a plain background with the caption: “Check out my newest pair of earrings! I’m in love with them.” (which is all about the business and the business owner).

The marketing message might be:

A collage of photos showing the earrings being worn by someone in a lace sundress, with the sun shining behind them, loose waves in their hair, and a festival hat. The caption might read: “The perfect earrings for that beautiful boho summer vibe.” 

The second image and caption help the consumer imagine the look they can create with the earrings, when they might wear them, what they might wear them with, how they’ll feel, etc.

Marketing messages also need to add value. People will lose interest if every post, re-pin, newsletter, blog, networking conversation, etc. promotes and tries to sell your product.

Try to make 80% of your marketing efforts non-promotional and 20% promotional.

>> A non-promotional marketing post for a bohemian-style jewelry business might be sharing a link to a blog post that shares the latest trends in bohemian fashion (and links to a pair of their earrings that follow a trend), sharing a list of the best music festivals to attend this month (and including a picture of a music-festival outfit that includes their earrings), creating a gift-guide (with one or two of the items being a piece of their jewelry), etc.

>> A promotional marketing post might be sharing a photo of a product and linking to where it can be purchased, mentioning a sale that’s running, listing the craft shows followers can find them at this month, etc.

Here’s how you can add value to your marketing messages, while still (subtly) promoting your business/brand/products: How To Use the Trojan Horse Strategy to Sell your Handmade Products

Step 5 – Track conversion rates & ROI

It’s important to know what’s working and what’s not when it comes to marketing. You don’t want to spend 10 hours a month on Facebook if your Facebook efforts aren’t helping you generate any sales. You’d want to reduce your hours and/or change up the method you’re using on that channel.

Tracking numbers that allow you to calculate conversion rates and ROI (return on investment) will help you constantly improve your marketing and make your efforts more effective.

This article explains what type of conversions and investments you can/should track, the numbers you need to gather, and how to calculate conversion rates and ROI:

3 Metrics to Review Each Month for your Craft Business (Worksheet included)

Each month, use those calculations to determine which marketing channels, methods, and messages should be repeated and used more, and which should be used less and get less of your time.

 

 

I hope this article helps you create an effective marketing plan for your craft business. Please let me know in the comment section if you have any questions!