5 Ways to Market Handmade Holiday Products

If you’ve created holiday-themed products, you have limited time to sell them. Which means you must work hard to market them.

This article focuses on marketing channels and marketing methods…NOT sales channels.

You can create listings on Etsy, add new products to your website, sell at a craft show, etc. But those are your sales channels. For a list of sales channels you can sell your products through, check out:

• • Where to Sell Handmade Online (Besides Etsy)
  • Where to Sell Handmade Crafts Locally (Top 20 Places & Ones you Haven’t Thought of)

To get potential customers to your sales channels so you can sell your products, you must market your business and its products. Here are 5 ideas:

1) Reach out to local media

If your products or business have a unique angle, sending a press release may get you featured in a local newspaper or on a local TV or radio show.

The media is looking for a story, not an announcement or advertisement.

>> “Suzy is selling jewelry you can buy as gifts” is not a headline I would click on or stick around to hear about after a commercial break.

>> “Give a necklace this Christmas & save a cat’s life” gets me wondering; how can I save a cat’s life? The answer may be that a business is partnering with a local cat shelter and donating a portion of sales to it. It’s an interesting story that also promotes a product.

Have a look at the types of stories covered in your local newspaper, on the radio or TV to see if it sparks ideas for your own press release.

If you’re hoping to be featured in a magazine, you must work months in advance. 

You may also look into how you can get your products featured on the home page of a platform such as Etsy, featured by a local influencer, or written about on your favorite blog or website.

Choose the platform you’d like to be featured on and use their past feature articles/interviews to guide you in the right direction for your press release angle, photos, etc. 

2) Place ads strategically

Think niche when looking for places to advertise.

Where are you most likely to reach your target audience?

Some advertising platforms will allow you to target a specific group of people. You may be able to choose the gender, age, location, etc. of the audience your ad is shown to, which can help it reach the right people and perform better.

Think about where your target audience is gathering.

Let’s say I make hair accessories for people with red hair (I use colors that look great with red hair, my models have red hair, my branding appeals to redheads, etc.).

If I place an ad for the accessories on a general fashion blog, it’s going to have a lot of competition, only reach a small percentage of people who are a true fit for the product, and the ad is likely to be ignored.

But if I place an ad on HowToBeARedhead.com, RedheadRevolution.us, JustforRedheads.com, etc. (yes, those are real sites) my ad will have less competition, stand out to website visitors, and get more clicks.

If you’re planning to spend money on ads, get specific and be strategic. Paying for advertising on any ol’ platform won’t give you results. Know your target market, create an ad for them, and place it where they’re most likely to notice it.

3) Reach out to retailers 

Consumers aren’t the only ones looking for holiday products; retailers need to fill their stores with gift-worthy items too. 

If you’ve priced your products properly and have the profit margins to sell wholesale, consider marketing your holiday products to local retailers. 

Curate a collection of products that will look good together in a retail store and are ideal for gift-giving. Put together a simple digital lookbook and start reaching out to retailers.

4) Send helpful emails

Businesses big and small will be filling inboxes with promotional emails.

Although you should use your business’s newsletter to sell, if the subject line doesn’t get recipients to open the email, you don’t have the opportunity to make a sale.

And promotional emails (e.g. “check out my newest items”) tend to be ignored more than non-promotional emails (e.g. “10 budget-friendly Christmas activities for the family”). 

Instead of sending emails about the latest product your subscribers can buy, think about what your newsletter’s target market will find truly helpful. 

That might be:

• Gift guides for specific people (“my top 10 gifts for hard-to-buy-for dads”) 
• Local family-friendly events you recommend
• Eco-friendly gift-wrapping ideas
• Tips for saving money during the holidays
• Decorating tips
• Sharing a personal story about your holiday plans or traditions
• Etc.

Not every email should be promotional (if you want more people to open your emails). You should be sending a mix of:

• Promotional emails (12 Types of Promotional Emails to Send to your Newsletter List)
• Non-promotional (13 Non-Promotional Emails to Send to your Newsletter List)

Start with a topic you think your subscribers will be interested in reading about and then see if you can sneak a promotional message in there. 

For example, an email sharing eco-friendly gift-wrapping ideas may show your best-selling item being wrapped and link to the product listing. 

If you’re selling at holiday craft shows, be sure to gather email addresses! (How to Grow your Newsletter at a Craft Show (free printable signup forms))

Once you have a few subscribers you can start sending newsletters (which are more likely to be seen than your social media posts).

5) Write a blog article

If you have a blog, write an article for it. If you don’t have a blog, reach out to a blogger who targets a similar audience as you, and ask if you can write an article for them.

Bloggers tend to get a LOT of requests for guest posts (and speaking from experience, most requests have nothing to do with the topic of the blog they’re pitching to). 

So be sure to personalize your email so they know you’re familiar with them and their blog. And pitch something relevant that they and their readers will find valuable. 

A blog post should almost always be focused on how you can provide value to readers. What type of information can you share to make their life better, easier, happier, etc.? Once you have that determined, find a way to weave in a product mention so it feels natural.

Get creative, put the reader first, and make use of the Trojan Horse Strategy so that an article is informative AND it helps promote your products.

Finally understand why your hard work isn't resulting in more sales

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Erin (Creator of Made Urban)

Hey, I’m Erin 🙂 I write about small business and craft show techniques I’ve learned from being a small business owner for almost 2 decades, selling at dozens of craft shows, and earning a diploma in Visual Communication Design. I hope you find my advice helpful!