“A
decade ago or so it was possible to predict sales from a craft fair, but that’s
much harder now! It’s an unpredictable market out there right now for
crafts and design products! … Even doing a show that was successful in the
past might not be so good the next year.
All
successful craft exhibitors confirm that they have to work harder to get
sales and commissions, do more promotion in advance themselves, and follow up
after a craft fair as more people delay their purchase decisions.”
Patricia van den Akker, Crafts Magazine
July/August 2014 (page 26)
There are many reasons for quiet fairs. Among them is that the
recession and recovery from it has created uncertainty among potential buyers. House moves, which are big drivers of
purchases, are less frequent. On the other hand, there is an increasing
awareness of craft and handmade which has led to an increasing number of competing
craft fairs. Online selling such as Etsy
creates a new kind of competition for craft fairs.
These and other developments are outside your control. You can’t affect this. You need to concentrate
on the things you can do to make things more successful.
This is about some of the things you can do.
What Can I Do During the Event?
You will have done your research in choosing this event,
which lead you to think it would be successful for you. During the show you can do some things to
help inform you about what to do now.
·
Is there good footfall? What are the numbers to date compared to
previous years? The organisers should be able to tell you how many visitors
have come so far. You can make the comparison from your research on previous
years. Don’t panic.
·
Consider the composition of the people who are
present. Are the visitors the right
people prepared to buy? What does the visitor profile seem to be? Are there retail and wholesale buyers
present? This is a good opportunity to engage with them for future orders if
not present ones. Networking is
important and this is a time and place where you can meet a lot of people and
discover reactions to your work, even if they are not buying. Remember that your fellow stallholders can be
part of that supportive network, and even sometimes be future customers.
·
Have you put out enough publicity? Is there anything you can do now to get people
to come before the close? If you have a
quiet time, you can use your social media outlets to tell people about your
participation in the event. Possibly you can offer an incentive for
people to come to this show.
·
What does your interaction with the visitors that
are at the event tell you? What
interest and feedback are you getting? What questions are being asked?
Which piece was is most popular? Think about rearranging the placing of your
work to better reflect the interests of the visitors. Can you follow up with the visitors after the
show? Are you collecting their contact details?
·
Is your display right for the venue? Can you
adjust your display to attract more visitors to the stand? Think about a white
board for people to post their reactions to your work. Which is most popular, for example? Possibly a special offer is in order.
·
Are the other exhibitors of a similar price
level and quality? If not, think of ways
for your products to appear a better fit for the rest of the event.
·
Are the other stall holders having a quiet time
too? If they are, it may be a general
problem with the event. If you are
performing less well than other stall holders, perhaps you have the wrong
pricing, or glass products with perceived difficulties for transport. Lots of packaging is necessary. Offer a delivery or postal service, if
appropriate.
Review the Event
Research – how good was your investigation of the event before you signed up?
it’s crucial that you research craft
fairs before you apply. Choosing the right events to suit your work can be
difficult and there are no guarantees of instant return. Don’t be
afraid to ask some probing questions of the organisers and past exhibitors. Patricia van den Akker, Crafts Magazine
July/August 2014, p.26.
There are a
number of things you should look at to determine if this was the right event
for your glass work.
Organisers
Who organises the
event? Look at their track record for this and any other events they
organise. There are sites for rating
events that you can use such as Folksy’s. You
can look at Trip Advisor show reviews for the visitor reactions.
Exhibitors
Who the other
exhibitors are, or have been, is important in judging your fit within the group
of exhibitors. This information should
be available from the organisers. Are
these your peers in price and quality?
Think about how you will both fit with them and stand out from them.
A good craft fair
curator should make sure there’s a wide mix of things and not too many of the
same. David Andrews, And at What Cost
Visitor numbers and average sales
The organisers
should be able to tell you of the number of visitors to previous events and at
least the average sales of the event.
Visitor profile
Does the proposed
event seem to be oriented to buyers? If
the craft fair is in support of a main event, you need to determine if your
glass work will fit the apparent interests of visitors to the main event. You may be able to make items that will
interest them. If the craft fair is the
main event, you have a greater chance of the visitors being buyers.
The publicity may
be oriented toward individuals, or to buyers for businesses and
wholesalers. These will each need
different approaches. The organiser
should be able to tell you about the composition of the visitors for previous
event.
Publicity for the event
Look at the
publicity issued for previous events.
The organisers often give you this information. This will provide an idea of what they
produced and maybe how it was distributed.
Look at what local, and if appropriate, regional and national, press was
obtained. Did they get into lifestyle
publications? What business and trade press was received?
Visit the event
If at all possible,
visit the event. This will give you a first-hand
feel of the style of the event. You will
be able to see the range of exhibitors, the various styles of stands. This will help you determine if this is an
event you would fit into. It also will give you ideas to help design your
exhibit.
You can engage with
exhibitors that appear to have a business of a similar size to yours to get the
benefit of their experiences. You must be careful about this. Be honest.
State that you are a potential exhibitor and ask if they have the time
to give their experience about this event.
Approach them only when they are quiet.
Be aware of the need to avoid blocking other visitors from the
stand. Do not engage in long
conversations.
If you can’t visit,
look at the social media of the organisers and any exhibitors you know
attended. This will give some feel of
the previous event.
Location
This is about where
the event is being held in relation to your location. Do you need to travel and stay somewhere to
attend, or is it near enough to avoid overnights?
It is also about
where the event is located. Venues range
from dedicated events arenas to school gyms.
How easy is it to find? Is it signposted well? What are the parking
facilities? Look at the venue as though
you were a visitor and decide on the suitability of the place.
Consider the timing
Craft
fairs are held throughout the year, but those in the months leading up to
Christmas most often get greater footfall and have a higher proportion of buyers. Summer shows are influenced by the weather –
a sunny day can take everyone to the beach or lakeside, but a stormy, rainy day
can keep everyone inside.
Try
to make your products relevant to the existing season or the coming one. Think about opportunities people want for
securing gifts relating to celebrations or awareness days. Trade shows are often working 6 to 9 months
in advance so the buyers can get the products into stock for the relevant
season.
Promotion
This is not about
what the organisers do, although that is important. It is about what you do to generate
interest. There are going to be a lot of
competing products. You need to generate
interest in people coming to your stand.
My bugbear is exhibitors who expect
footfall and sales and rely too much on the organisers. YOU need to do
marketing & social media to get sales. – Patricia van den Akken, The Design Trust on Twitter.
You should be
prepared to do a lot of social media work in the months and weeks leading up to
the event. You need to be telling people
about your participation and preparation for the show. You should make up a press release about the
show and your participation in it. Even
if this is not taken up by the press, the material in it can be used for all
the other marketing you do.
You need to ensure
that you provide the organisers with text and excellent photographs well before
the deadline they impose. If you have
good images of your glass work and send them in plenty of time, you have a
greater chance of being featured in one way or another.
After the Show
You need to
consider what lessons can be taken from a quiet show.
Display
Review the layout of your stand.
Does it do justice to the quality of your glass work? Think about what you can do to make the glass
more eye catching – lighting, space for each item to breathe, clear pricing,
arrangement, etc. Make it clear what you
do, what you make and why.
Product range
“When planning which products to sell
at a craft fair, think 1) affordable, 2) achievable, 3) aspirational, and
try to bring a range of products so you have all three covered.” Folksy
This is applicable to all shows, perhaps with the
exception of trade shows, where you need to concentrate on glass work that you
can produce in quantity. If you can
produce a variety of glass with a group of price points, you will make it
easier for buyers to choose. Of course,
you will need more items in group one, with a moderate amount of group two and
only one or two of group three.
After a quiet fair you need to reflect on whether
the glass range you brought was a fit for the event. Were they relevant to location, suitable for
the season, relevant to the event, suitable for a range of ages, etc. You need
bring only the relevant products, not your full range of glass work.
Engagement
You need to review your performance at the show
too. Look at how you interacted with the
people who did stop by. You need to be
sure you maintain a friendly appearance throughout. Did you enjoy your conversations with
visitors? If not, you need to work on
picking up on their cues. You need to
get them talking about themselves and their interests to be able to direct them
to the appropriate glass. Are you
approachable? Being at the front of your
stand is important to drawing people in.
Showing your enthusiasm for doing your glass is important, because
people like a story about the maker and her glass. This helps engage people with your work and
may lead to purchases.
Transport
Glass is heavy, and perceived to be fragile. You need to find ways to overcome these
resistances to buying. Some things you
can do are:
- excellent packaging (bring lots);
- a pick-up service (after they have paid and given their contact details)
before they leave the event;
- after show delivery by post or
courier.
There will be others that you can think of
too. Signpost these services, so people
know while they consider their purchase.
Payment
It is essential that you are able to take card
payments. You can use PayPal. There are a number of companies that either
have short term hire of terminals, or do not have monthly charges (although
their percentage take is a bit higher).
Without electronic payment facilities, you will lose many sales.
Reflect on the
Benefits of Attending Events
Feedback
You get direct
feedback on your work, its pricing, and how it fits with people’s
lifestyle. You can learn of
misunderstandings about your glass and so correct or anticipate them in the
future. Conversations at shows can be
vital in guiding the direction of your work.
Networking
Communicating
with other stall holders makes a community of interest and support. Also, potential customers can be discovered
at shows and some of them may be the fellow stallholders. Making good relations
with them has the potential to get write-ups about you from them in their
discussion of the fair on social media, just as you may and should write about
them even though they don’t do glass.
Meeting people that
can promote your work
There is a great variety of people who are not
buyers but are looking for things and people to write about. This is great publicity. The craft press attends shows looking for
items of interest to their readers. Bloggers increasingly are writing about
people they discover at events. Stylists, interior designers and influencers
are also milling about. You will not
always recognise them from their badges, but treating everyone with enthusiasm
for your glass work will include them.
They may give you feedback at the show or be available afterwards to
contact and learn of their views.
Stockists
Shows are good places to meet stockists, who may be
retailers, shops, galleries, wholesalers and others who want to stock your glass. Take details and follow up all of these contacts. You should be prepared for these people by having
price lists and professionally produced
publicity material under the counter to give to them. Business cards are essential. If you offer one, you will get theirs in
return.
Future sales
It
is not only stockists that you need to keep a list of contacts. Get the details of all the interested people and
contact them after the show and in the future when appropriate.
I
do believe that craft fairs and events are still one of the best marketing
tools for creative businesses. They help you to build your profile, to
reach many potential clients in a short period of time who can get to know you
a lot better, and events can really boost your confidence too.
An
event invite can be a great tool to drive more traffic to your website and get
online sales instead.
Selling
events aren’t there just to get sales but are also a way to stay in touch with
potential clients, to increase your profile, and to get new contact details for
your database. Start a database and stay in touch. And by following up you can
often turn a quiet craft fair into a pretty successful one!
Patricia van den Akker, Crafts Magazine
July/August 2014 (page 26)
Take advantage of
quiet events to reflect on what you can do during the show and after the show
to make for better outcomes in the future.
Reflect on your research of the event.
Consider location, timing, relation to a main event or awareness week or
month. Look at your promotional effort
leading up to the show. Consider how to
improve your marketing. Remember that
even a quiet show can provide great contacts and that follow-up with the people
you have met can garner purchases. Not
everything is about the immediate monetary returns.
