All images copyright Craft Council of Newfoundland & Labrador
Classy social media marketing
Lots of people talk about social media, but many don’t quite know what to do with it. Organizations and artists get a twitter account and it sits idle, or it’s used as a very bland billboard, with occasional announcements and little sense that they’re interested in talking to their customers.
Jennifer Barnable is someone who knows how to promote her organization and its talented membership through social media. She’s the Communications Director at the Craft Council of Newfoundland and Labrador, and she generously took time out of her hectic pre-Christmas event schedule to share her considerable expertise.
Image by Bradley Gordon
This is part two of a series dedicated to retail craft and art shows. Part one was about marketing, and how creatives can no longer depend on show organizers to connect with their customers. Today it’s about how one simple (and painfully common) mistake drives existing customers away.
Words you don’t ever want to hear
Dear exhibitor:
I spent nearly 10 minutes looking for a parking spot, then walked three stinking blocks in freezing drizzle. Then I see your vehicle parked less than 100 feet from the door (maybe next time you should take your decal off the window).
Then I get the unparalleled privilege of paying $7.50 for admission to the building, and to put the sprinkles on my soggy cupcake, when I finally find your booth, you don’t look up from the book you’re reading.
I can get better parking and deal with equally disinterested people at the mall.
Sincerely,
The customer who won’t be back
Do you really know where your customers are?
Customer traffic has dropped significantly at many retail craft shows and art fairs. Some of it has to do with poor marketing, some of it has to do with competition, but there’s another reason people walk away.
It also applies to high end shows and online selling.
The reason is multi-faceted, but very simple: the customer has been dropped from the equation.
Image by Gyorgy Kovacs
A view from the creative front line
I just spent four days in an athletic facility with air so dry you could load in on Thursday with a bunch of grapes, and load out on Sunday with raisins.
It was a Christmas craft retail show, and I was there with my other business (the one I don’t talk about, but that’s a story for another day).
Both Friday and Saturday traffic looked like a Sunday, which is to say customer numbers were down substantially.
There was the inevitable knee-jerk reaction from some exhibitors.
“I’m not doing this show next year.”
“The venue should be advertising.”
The venue did advertise. That wasn’t the problem.
Shopping patterns have changed. But that’s not enough to kill a show.
From where I stand, as a designer, maker and marketing specialist, the extinction of the retail show is by no means inevitable.
