This is a post by Rachel Gregg, Content Marketing Lead,CreativeLive
Editor’s Note: In this post, Rachel Gregg of CreativeLive, Shares a 5 step guide on how to use mail to grow your indie craft business during the holiday season.
The holidays create abundant opportunities for us crafty folks to express our unique creativity. They are also an ideal time to show off the characteristics that make our businesses shine.
If you live in The States and have an address, you undoubtedly see an incredible volume of advertisements move through your mailbox – especially at Christmas time. The quantity of paper that moves through an average mailbox is dizzying.
While we might not like it, the people sending all those mailers aren’t fools. In fact, they are taking advantage of the wise old marketing adage, “paper is sticky.”
Obviously, paper isn’t literally sticky, but direct mail pieces have a habit of hanging around long after they arrive. Paper mailers reappear when you search through your mail basket for that copy of last month’s bill and they double as bookmarks in coffee table tomes. And all of those cameo appearances add up to make a pretty significant brand impression, whether you are consciously aware of it or not.
Advertisers send mail because mail works.
As a crafter, you probably don’t belong in the shuffle of pizza coupons and offers on discount tires, but you can take a cue from the big brands as you think about your holiday marketing.
The holidays create an authentic opportunity for you to reach out and send a greeting card that nurtures your business relationships.
To get you started I put together a 5-step guide to help you plan your process and keep you on track:
- Compile your list. If you have personally collected customer’s mailing addresses they should be on the list. (Do not include addresses provided by Etsy , Ebay, or Amazon, et al. Their terms prohibit you from using customer info for any transaction beyond the one the customer provided the it for).
Who should you have on your list? Local craft fair organizers, people who work for the venues where you’ve done business, the locally-owned craft store where you buy your materials and solicit advice, other makers you’ve networked with throughout the year, old colleagues who share your interest in craft, local press and PR people, and your creative peers.
These are the people who have helped you develop your business and who can facilitate more opportunities in the future. You don’t need to have a specific agenda item in mind when you include them on your list. You simply want them to be contacts that orbit your creative business.
- Purchase cards or make cards that reflect your brand’s aesthetic. There are so many great options for holiday cards. You can customize your own prints through an online retailer, you can stock-up on handmade cards from another local seller, you can even get ambitious, take a CreativeLive paper crafting class, and make your own. However you acquire cards, you want to be sure your card reflects the look and feel of your brand. That doesn’t mean it should be branded – no one wants a logo for a holiday card, but it should be “on-brand.”
- Write a simple and personal greeting. This isn’t the time for a long-winded update, nor would it be advisable to simply sign your name. A quick, cheerful greeting which reflects on the last time you encountered the recipient is plenty.
Ex: So great seeing you at the Fall Bazaar. Looking forward to bumping into you again soon! Best, Rachel Gregg, Dogwood Florals.
- Thoughtfully address and add postage. Again, your choice for addressing should reflect your brand. For you talented hand letterers out there, this is a perfect place to show off your chops, but for the rest of us tasteful address labels or carefully penned envelopes (written with a high-quality pen) is sufficient.
Bonus points for thinking ahead and ordering adorable stamps from the US postal service. The online USPS shop always has the best selection and you can coordinate your stamp with your envelope and card.
- Mail time! Be sure to drop your card off so it arrives early in the holiday season. The earlier it arrives, the longer it’ll be propped up on the recipient’s desk or hanging from their holiday greeting card display, which means you get more opportunities for building that brand impression.
The real goal here is to nurture relationships that can help you grow your business, even if you don’t specifically know how or when that’ll happen. Plus, setting aside the time to think about the people who have helped you throughout the year and envision the opportunities awaiting you in the next, is a wonderful way to indulge in the spirit of the season and warm you up for goal-setting in the new year.
If you want to learn more about creating authentic touch points for your craft business, be sure to check out Make Your Creative Business Uniquely Irresistible on CreativeLive. In this class, April Bowles-Olin discusses strategies for building a brand that reflects your personality and feels authentic to you.
Etsy is our preferred online seller for handmade items and crafts, Etsy is a familiar shopfront that makes buyers comfortable and confident in making purchases. Looking for other options to sell your crafts than Etsy? Check out this article – Alternative places to sell your crafts online .
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