Do you market your crafts at craft shows? If so, you may have considered doing a demonstration of your craft technique to market your crafts. What are some of the advantages to using craft demonstrations as a craft marketing technique?

Some of the advantages include:

You attract attention and traffic to your craft booth which can
result in increased sales.

You give credibility to your craft line by showing that it is, indeed, handmade.3. You may receive positive publicity or even a full fledged story about your craft if the right person happens to be in the audience.

You educate the public about how your craft and make them feel more comfortable buying from you.

You establish a personal connection with your potential customer. People would rather purchase from an individual they’ve established a relationship with as opposed to a faceless company or importer.

You can have a helper in the audience take photos of your demonstrations to add to your craft portfolio. Before you decide that demonstrating your jewelry making to the public is the greatest thing since sliced bread, be aware that there are several disadvantages to using this as a craft promotional technique:

It may require you to bring additional equipment with you to shows as if you don’t have enough to carry already!

It requires you to tie up some of your booth space for the demonstration which means less space for exdhibiting your crafts.

You may need to hire an assistant to sell your crafts while you demonstrate. This increases your overhead.

Most importantly of all, it keeps you from actively marketing and selling your crafts as you’re tied up with the demonstration.I’ve had crafters tell me that they’ve tested the market by demonstrating their handmade crafts at some shows, while spending the time at other shows actively selling and marketing their crafts Guess which one resulted in more sales! The shows where the jewelry designer actively interacted with customers as a salesperson won out by a significant margin.

Does this mean you shouldn’t demonstrate your craft skills at all? Not necessarily. You will need to see what works for YOU. Much of your success will depend on you and how your audience responds to you. Only testing will determine if this is a successful marketing technique for you to
add to your arsenal.

Here are some suggestions for a successful craft demonstration:

Don’t use fancy, technical language when you demonstrate. Keep it simple using only terms that a layperson can understand. No one wants to hear terms that are hard to pronounce and understand. They’ll quickly get bored and head to the next booth.

Talk about what makes the piece you’re making so special, again, using simple terms that your audience can understand. Are the materials you’re using unusual? Is the technique an unusual one or one that’s very difficult to perfect? Did you develop a unique technique to make that particular craft item? These are all factors that may make your craft special to your audience.Illustrate with lots of stories to break up the monotony. Customers love a well told story that brings your craft to life!

As you demonstrate, give them ideas and suggestions on how to use your craft in their home. Sometimes a simple, practical suggestion for how to put your craft to use is enough to spark a sale.

Add some humor to your demonstration! This can loosen up the crowd and make them more receptive to purchasing.

Hire an additional assistant to sell your handmade crafts while you’re demonstrating. You can’t afford to ignore customers.

Consider demonstrating your craft at your next craft show and find out if this is a craft marketing technique that’s right for you and your business.

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