How to Market Yourself to Your Customers
Leave your thoughtsStay in Touch with Your Biggest Fans
Customers who have bought from you before are the most likely to buy again—so keep track of them! If you don’t use computer-generated invoices that record your customers’ information, keep a visitors’ log with space for customers to write their name, street address, and email. Be sure to record what the customer purchased. Follow up with a thank-you note and suggest complementary pieces. Develop a mailing list and send postcards or emails of your latest creations around the winter holidays, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Valentine’s Day, and graduation.
Leverage Referrals
New customers are highly likely to trust recommendations from friends and family. Create a referral program that rewards your fans and new customers they refer to you. Offer a discount or some other incentive to both parties. Get creative with it. If one of your raving fans sends you three new customers, offer that person a free gift like a piece of your artwork!
Give a Piece More Context and Give it More Value
Make your creations more meaningful and memorable by including a document with each item containing a short description of it, any special processes you use, the origin of or meaning behind your materials, or any special symbols on the piece. Relate your heritage, family story, or anything distinctive about how you learned your craft. Tell the customer how to care for the artwork. Include your contact information, web address, and answers to frequently asked questions. You could also try giving away a promotional item that helps the customer keep in touch with you. For example, a jewelry polishing cloth can be printed with your logo and contact info.
Cast a Wider Net with the Internet and Social Media
The internet and social media are great ways to widen your customer base, especially with the cancellation of so many shows around the country. Many artisans use Etsy to sell their handmade items in the US and around the globe. Etsy takes care of the advertising, payment processing, and site maintenance while exposing your work to hundreds of thousands of potential customers. Some of the other e-commerce platforms voted in the top 5 by sellers at ecommmercebytes.com are Amazon (higher fees), Bonanza (high-end products), and eBay. Pinterest is gaining momentum as a means for discovering and exploring visual content. Some artisans stick to these sites. Others use them to build a customer base, then eventually refer these customers to their own websites. Do your homework and see which site and approach work best for you. For more insight, check out this article on Choosing the Best eCommerce Platform for Your Handmade Business. https://dbdc.us/articles/choosing-the-best-ecommerce-platform-for-your-business/
You can also create a web presence on social media sites like Twitter and Instagram. Instagram is gaining ground as one of most popular venues for artists. If you can get enough followers, you can leverage that fame into free marketing for all your new art and events. Here is a recent helpful article with 9 Steps for Successfully Selling on Instagram: https://www.bigcommerce.com/blog/how-to-sell-on-instagram/#why-sell-on-instagram
