Using Instagram mindfully for your artisan craft or jewellery business
Today I wanted to discuss how to use social media in your handmade business, because I know this is a topic that can be a bit daunting for many. I’m going to specifically focus on Instagram for this, because I think it is the best platform for anyone who is new to sharing their creative work to get started with.
Having said that, some of the tips and strategies I’ll give you below can also be relevant for other platforms such as Facebook, Pinterest and TikTok. But as artists and designer-makers, I am a firm believer in keeping our marketing as simple as possible so that we can have more time to do the creative work which we love!
This means, starting with one social media platform and getting into your flow with that before deciding to branch out onto other platforms.
You don’t need thousands of followers (although it is nice!)
You’ll often hear people in the digital world say that your follower count is irrelevant and not to get too hung up on that. Now, I do whole-heartedly agree - to a point! Because it’s true, you could have thousands of followers, but if they are not made up of your dream customers, and they aren’t really interested in buying your products, then the number really is irrelevant.
But equally, if you have thousands of your dream customers following you, people who love what you do and want to buy from you, then it makes sense to a degree that having more people follow you will result in more sales. I say ‘to a degree’ because social media is just one part of the marketing puzzle and nothing in social media is set in stone. You need to ensure that you have systems in place to actually turn those followers into buyers.
A lot of your posts won’t actually be shown to your followers either, and this is why it’s really important to start growing your email list alongside your Instagram. Statistically, people are far more likely to buy something from someone they get regular emails from, than someone they see now and then on Instagram.
Think about the ‘Marketing mix’
In the marketing world, there is a term called ‘the marketing mix’ which relates to all the different aspects of marketing - such as newsletters, advertising, PR, SEO and of course social media too. It’s very easy to fall into the trap of thinking that social media is our ONLY or MAIN marketing tool.
But many people run successful businesses with little to no social media presence.
As of writing this I have just over 1500 people following me on Istagram, and yet I am still able to sell out most of my jewellery workshops.
This is because I don’t focus ALL my marketing energy on social media.
Do you need a beautiful curated feed?
It doesn’t need to be all matchy-matchy - but having a strong brand aesthetic - that is a general look for your feed, does help with recognition.
As do beautiful photos (read my blog on this here)- you want to think of Instagram as the window into your world - your shop window which a potential customer can peek into and get a tantilising look at what is inside, making them want to come in and browse - which in the dream scenario would mean they go onto your website have a good browse around, sign up for your newsletter, get a welcome sequence then make a purchase.
I have a whole module in my new course, Make It & Sell, which is dedicated to helping you get this simple marketing system set up in your own business! Coming soon!
Once it’s set up, this simple marketing funnel really is a game changer because it will do the work for you on auto. You just need to concentrate on the first step - or the top level of the funnel - enticing people in through your Instagram posts, and doing what you do best - creating your beautiful products!
Optimise your Instagram bio
You want people to land on your bio and quickly and easily know whether you are for them or not, and your bio is the first place to start! Make sure that you include key words about your products, location if relevant, and also a link to your online shop.
Make use of pinned posts
Instagram has a great feature where you can ‘pin’ 3 posts to the top of your feed, which means that they will always be the first 3 posts that anyone coming to your profile sees. You can swap your pinned posts as much as you like. Some ideas about what you could include:
Meet the Maker - Introduce yourself and what your business stands for
New collection - a look at some of the products in your new collection
Special offers - if you are doing any special offers for things like Christmas
Events - a post about any markets or events where they can find you, such as Christmas fairs
Behind the scenes - a little video posted as a Reel showing a snapshot of you making a product.
Using video on Instagram
If video is something you’ve been scared to try, and I would love you to give it a go! It’s such a great way to share your work on Instagram and Reels tend to get more views than static images - my best-performing Reel here has received over 6,000 organic views!
As designer-makers, our content is ideal for video, and the bonus is you don’t even need to show your face if you don’t want to! I really didn’t have a snazzy set up - just my smart-phone and a tripod which bends over my desk so that I can easily film myself making.
If you’d like a peek behind the scenes at my far from Pinterest-worthy desk set-up (keeping it real!) then have a watch of my video here.
Don’t believe the Influencer hype
The vast majority of us are not influencers and probably never will be - and that’s absolutely ok. In fact, it’s great news because it means you can still have a successful handmade business without having to pimp yourself out on social media 24-7 and share your whole life!
It’s easy to get seduced by their shiny accounts, and whilst you can take inspiration from them, you do NOT need to bust a gut trying to be like them.
Remember - social media is their actual business - it’s not yours. I repeat - social media is not your business - you are a designer maker, most likely with a sensitive soul and a desire to simply create and share your beautiful work with the world.
Tips for using Instagram mindfully
It’s important that you find ways to protect your energy so that you have more of it to funnel into making.
This is a BIG thing for me, and something I struggle with and have to keep coming back to and reminding myself.
I can easily lose hours scrolling social media, kidding myself that I am doing work or connecting with people, but actually what I have increasingly realised is that it is sapping my energy so that I don’t have as much bandwidth for creating.
So what am I doing to protect my energy when it comes to Instagram (and all social) use?
Unfollow people and pages which don’t light me up
Set my account feed to only show people I follow - you can do this for 30 days at a time and it’s a game changer!
Interacting with accounts I genuinly love
Limiting my time on the app - I can do this within the settings for my phone, so that when I’ve reached my daily time limit the app ‘turns off’
Actually deleting the app for periods of time, whether it be a weekend away or just a few days when I want to break the scrolling habit.
Having a posting plan but not stressing if I don’t follow it.
I try to post regularly, but not every day as I know that’s not sustainable for me
Having a bank of images and videos saved so that I can easily find content when I’m not sure what to post
Likewise having a list of topic ideas for posts which I can add to regularly and takes the pressure off.
