TEN TOP TIPS on marketing & promotion for Artists, Makers, Independent Shops & Small Businesses - by Sarah Hamilton.
By Sarah Hamilton
Hello lovely friends and JUST A CARD supporters,
I’m Sarah Hamilton. I set up the JUST A CARD campaign, and am the person you usually chat to on Instagram. I’ve put together a list of my TEN TOP TIPS to help you promote your work.
Artwork by Fréya Eté
Remember to FOLLOW JUST A CARD on Instagram as much of the fun happens there! FOLLOW: @justacard
JUST A CARD is all about encouraging people to SHOP INDEPENDENT!
Even the words ‘promotion and marketing’ make some people uneasy so I’ll be gentle I promise. It’s not my intention to blind you with science, I simply want to share honest insights I’ve gained from ‘making it up as I go along’ being an artist/designer and running JUST A CARD. I was determined to be an artist and I was just as determined to build this campaign. I had to learn fast. I read books (not many), asked many questions (still do), tried things (loads), made mistakes (more than I can bear to admit), made more mistakes (no mistakes = no progress). Occasionally I hit on something, over 14,000 shops worldwide have JUST A CARD window stickers and together we’ve built an incredible community so some things went in, and I’m still an artist.
Getting what you do out there is vital, there’s no quick fix, but it’s not rocket science. It takes graft and imagination. The general rule of thumb is spend 60% of your time making and 40% promoting. You need to celebrate the small wins and (try to!) to bounce back quickly from set backs. We ALL get disheartened. JUST A CARD was a very lonely place when I first set it up four years ago. I put my heart and soul into promoting it and almost gave up on numerous occasions. People sometimes think we’re a big ‘organisation’ – we’re not. We’re just creative people like you making it up as we go along. On that note I certainly don’t claim to have all the answers, but hopefully these bite sized TEN TOP TIPS will help you along.
We’re with you all the way!
Love Sarah Hamilton and team JUST A CARD Xx
1. USE SOCIAL MEDIA WISELY – IT IS SUCH A VITAL TOOL FOR INDEPENDENTS.
Used thoughtfully social media will bring you lasting relationships, and definitely sales, but it does take time. Celebrate the small wins - stick with it and stay passionate! Get to know your audience, and which platform works best for you. For us it’s Instagram (though Twitter and Facebook are important. Retweets & shares play a BIG part in reaching a wider audience). Posting consistently when your audience is present will have a MASSIVE impact on your likes and comments. We usually post on Instagram between 7-7.30am (Mon/Fri), later at weekends. Any other time and engagement decreases dramatically. We don’t post everyday, or more than once (bad idea as it divides engagement) but are consistent on time. There’s no magic formula (sorry!) - you need to get a feel for your audience. Asking questions is friendly and a great way to see who is out there and when. I’m not a fan of scheduling posts - you need to be actively present to connect. We try to reply to as many comments as possible on Instagram, though we get tagged into so many posts we don’t see all our notifications. REMEMBER: Commenting on our posts is a great way for YOU to be seen too. People often follow (and buy from) others who they find through comments on our page. Same goes for our hashtag #JUSTACARD - Always use it.
Artwork by Lisa Greener.
2. PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO YOUR INSTAGRAM/SOCIAL MEDIA BIO
A CLEAR, friendly bio will make a big difference to whether people follow and engage with you. Ask yourself if yours is REALLY doing you justice? Use your FULL name. State clearly what you do.
For example: ‘Jane - check out my website.' OR ‘Jane Smith - Weaver making colourful, woollen scarves in my beautiful studio in Bute.’ Same person, but who are you more drawn to?
Make it easy for people to find your shop/event etc by putting your FULL address, including postcode, so they can put it in the SatNav and won’t get distracted having to search for it. If you are a Bricks and Mortar shop then state this CLEARLY in your bio. People are far more likely to visit you if they make a mental note of where you are.
3. PRIORITISE QUALITY PHOTOGRAPHY.
Not everything you post on social media needs to be colour supplement quality. GOOD phone shots are fine, but at least make sure the images aren’t blurred. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve gasped at out of focus images, weird crops and worse. If you need images for press, exhibitions or printed publicity then I’d always recommend using a professional photographer. Even if cash flow is tight this will be money well spent. I’d highly recommend Yeshen Venema. He’s London based, but lots of people post him their work. He’s very experienced in working with makers and small businesses, is excellent value, super helpful, plus he does websites too. Don’t waste time sending amateur images to press. No matter how brilliant your work, it’ll NEVER be featured if the images aren’t professional quality. This tweet by Katrina Burroughs from Sunday Times Home says it all. Follow Yeshen for other masterclasses.
4. MAKE A MAILING LIST.
I’m a huge social media advocate, but a mailing list is equally important. I’ve taken emails from every single exhibition and sale I’ve ever had, and never judge a show by sales on the day. Many customers are repeats, and yours will be too. Often people love your work, shop, event etc but are not ready to buy at that moment. I can’t tell you how often people get back to me months later, to buy because my email reminds them I exist. I don’t bombard people, I only send one when I have new work or a show. Put your name in the title - my open rate is much bigger when I put mine in. Remember too that if your social media goes down, without a mailing list, you lose your entire client base.
Our JUST A CARD mailing list is huge and is vital to us.
SIGN UP HERE
5. GIVE CLEAR INFORMATION.
If you want people to act you need to put CLEAR information in front of them. Writing on Instagram/Twitter ‘Hope you’ll come to my exhibition, shop, event without an @ (@ - where it is link) time, address, is not going to bring visitors. How could it? They have no idea where it is! When you post about JUST A CARD and only say ‘This campaign means a lot to me.’ You’re not giving enough information. What campaign? Who knows what your interests are?! No clear information = No action.
If you have a JUST A CARD window sticker why put it at ground level? Seriously – if people can’t see it how on earth can they act on it and be encouraged to buy from your shop? Put it at EYE LEVEL so people will read it and appreciate the message.
Think Dirty Dancing - “No-one puts JUST A CARD window stickers in the corner.”
6. WORK WITH THOSE EXHIBITING/SELLING YOUR WORK.
Exhibitions, and selling in shops and galleries, are collaborative efforts. An ‘‘if we all work together” approach is so much more productive than an “it’s their job” attitude. I wouldn’t dream of investing my time and money in an exhibition and then doing nothing to promote it. Like you, organisers such as our lovely friends Sinead Koehler (Crafty Fox Market), Sarah James (Craft Festival) and Camilla Westergaard (Folksy), put their heart and soul into these shows and platforms. Your success is their success! Running a shop/event etc is far harder work than it looks and a little support goes a very long way. Post on social media (not just once, but a hundred times!), give out leaflets, send a newsletter - if everyone did it’d make a BIG difference.
CRAFTY FOX MARKET - FULL list of markets below. * CRAFT FESTIVAL - APPLY now to take part. * FOLKSY - JOIN now - we love Folksy.
7. SMILES OUT - PHONES DOWN.
A welcoming ‘Hello’ and friendly chat goes a very long way. People go to shops/shows because they’re interested in lovely things. They come to discover you and your beautiful work. You enrich their lives. Nothing is more off putting than being ignored by someone having a deep and meaningful relationship with their phone. Phones are a MASSIVE bugbear to buyers at trade fairs, press and customers alike. I had the card out ready to buy from someone at a show recently, yet the seller was so engrossed in her phone chat she didn’t even notice me. I bought from someone else who was so engaging I spent far more than I’d intended. Be the person who makes someone’s day - they’ll be far more likely to make yours.
8. IDEAS FOR PROMOTING EVENTS.
When I do my Open Studio in May we usually get loads of visitors and really great sales, but this doesn’t happen by accident. We work REALLY hard to promote it - it’s part of the job. 3,000 (YEP!) invites go in local letterboxes, shops and cafes, and to friends etc. 30 (A4) laminated posters go up locally - where people will see them - by the train station, bus stops and entrance to local woods where people walk their dogs. I send 3 newsletters - a SAVE THE DATE 3 weeks before, another 10 days before, then a further reminder on the Thursday before. We suggest things to enjoy in the area including great shops (independent of course!). We have a pop-up tea shop so people can linger, relax and ponder about buying artwork. Many people come year after year. We cross promote with other local businesses – eg I recommend our lovely local pub for lunch, both in person and in my newsletter. As a Thank You the pub let me put posters up – good for both of us. I always invite a few friends to show here too - more fun, spreads the workload and costs and brings variety. Promoting also includes posting on my social media channels. You can now see 60/40% making/promoting in action. I’ve found that doing fewer events, but putting lots of time into promoting them, is a far more fruitful use of my time.
Please follow me on Instagram if you’d like to come next time or to chat in general. It’d be lovely to meet you! FOLLOW: @sarahhamiltonprints
9. TRUST THE PROFESSIONALS.
If you’d like further advice and guidance about promotion and marketing there’s a wealth of brilliant professionals you can turn to. I’d highly recommend you look up and follow Patricia van den Akker from The Design Trust, also Leona from Indie Roller and Helen Bottrill at Creatival. Safe to say I have huge respect for all three. Take a good look at their websites, they do great events, webinars and much more. Follow them on Twitter and Instagram too - you’ll be very glad you did. Speaking of Instagram you might like to follow Paul Herschell. He is an art marketer and his posts are informative. If you’re in need of quality graphics for you promotional material, business cards etc I’d highly recommend Sarah Cowan - Lettica Design, she does all the JUST A CARD graphics and is brilliant.
10. MASTERING TECHNOLOGY.
If, like me, technology doesn’t come naturally make Google and YouTube your very best friends. Every day people ask me ‘How do I take a screenshot?’ How do I repost on Instagram? etc. I’m amazed at how many people say “Oh I’d never thought of that” when I suggest asking Google or watching a YouTube clip. A few apps I’d be lost without: Whitagram (Puts a border/frame around an image – so useful if an image you want to use on Instagram isn’t square). Over (Great for making Instagram graphics). SumUp (My favourite for taking card payments). Nebo (Converts handwriting into type on an iPad). Procreate (Digital illustration for iPad).
***********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
That’s all folks, except to say Marketing and Promotion really isn’t rocket science, but it IS very important if you want to sell your work. My formula is one part common sense, one part imagination, ten parts utter determination, plus a liberal dollop of ‘mindset’ for good measure! For ‘Mindset’ - think reprogramming our minds from not wanting to sound ‘pushy or salesy’ or being fearful, to simply viewing marketing and promotion as enthusiastically ‘sharing our passions’. If I packed in JUST A CARD tomorrow (I’m tired now tbh, so who knows) and it only achieved one thing in four years, my dream would be that EVERYONE who cares about this would hold onto their JUST A CARD pins and be reminded that what they do is INCREDIBLE and the world NEEDS to know about it. If that’s ‘marketing and promotion’ then BRING IT ON!