Outbound Marketing Tips that Work for Craft Businesses

Outbound marketing is any effort you make to go out and find potential new customers and get your business and products in front of them.

It’s all the ways you try to make contact with people when they didn’t ask you to.

Although it’s the most common form of marketing, it tends to be less effective.

However, this article shares some tips to make it more effective.

How to make outbound marketing more effective

The best way to make outbound marketing more effective is to make it targeted.

Quality over quantity.

Don’t throw dozens of marketing messages out there through different channels, in hopes something will stick; target the right people, in the right places, in the right way.

Not only will your marketing be more effective when you direct it toward the right people, it will also be less annoying.

For example, let’s say a local candle maker decides to promote their business everywhere they can think of.

They hand out flyers at the grocery store, put up posters at the community center, run Facebook ads to everyone in the city, and even sponsor a local radio spot.

They want to be the candle brand people think of when they need a gift or want to cozy up their home.

But many of those people:

• Don’t light candles in their homes
• Have scent allergies
• Prefer Bath & Body Works
• Etc.

That candle maker has just wasted money and effort marketing to people who are unlikely to ever buy.

Now imagine that same candle maker decides to focus on eco-conscious shoppers instead.

They use soy wax and recyclable containers, and they know their ideal customer values sustainable products and natural ingredients.

Instead of running broad ads, they:

• Target Facebook or Instagram users who follow eco-friendly and zero-waste accounts.
• Partner with a local refill shop or eco-market to display their candles.
• Sponsor a booth at a sustainability fair instead of a general craft show.
• Share posts and Reels that compare traditional paraffin candles (made from petroleum) to their soy wax candles, explaining the environmental benefits.
• Use hashtags like #ecohome, #sustainableliving, and #plasticfreehome to reach people already interested in that lifestyle.

Now, their marketing is landing in front of people who care about the message and are more likely to buy.

 

Step 1 – Target the right people

First, make sure your business is serving a specific group of people.

People who can easily be found in groups.

Like-minded people hanging out in the same place;

• reading the same blog
• attending the same event
• interacting in the same Facebook group
• searching the same topics on Google
• etc.

(More on this in How to Define a Target Market for your Handmade Business)

A good place to start is with magazines, because they target a specific group of people, prove they’re a profitable target market, and there are often other channels to reach these same people. 

For example, there are magazines on the topics of:

• Sustainable living
• Cooking
• Specific diets (e.g. Paleo)
• Weddings
• Parenting
• Etc.

These are all great target markets with segments within them that are ideal for a small business (e.g. parents of newborn babies, parents of toddlers, etc. are segments within the parenting target market).

You can also find blogs, websites, influencers, Facebook groups/pages, shops, etc., targeting each of those groups of people. Which gives you other marketing channels.

When you try to serve a bigger group of people, marketing becomes harder, not easier.

 

Step 2 – Research those people

Next, get to know your target market and the types of products, businesses, and marketing messages they’re interested in.

Combine the products, businesses, and marketing messages your target market is interested in, with the places they’re hanging out.

What does that look like for a small handmade business?

EXAMPLE

Let’s say I make soy wax candles in recyclable containers.

My target market: My business targets eco-conscious shoppers—people who care about sustainability, natural ingredients, and reducing waste in their homes.

Products they’re interested in: I know my target market prefers environmentally friendly products, so I’ve created a line of soy wax candles using clean-burning wax, natural cotton wicks, and recyclable or reusable jars.

Marketing messages they’re interested in: They respond to messages about sustainable living—like reducing toxins and plastic waste, or choosing handmade over mass-produced.

Places my target market hangs out: My target market can be found on Instagram and Facebook, following eco-living influencers and hashtags such as #sustainablehome, #zerowaste, and #ecofriendlyproducts. I also know of several local retailers who focus on stocking eco-friendly products, so they likely shop there. There are several eco-friendly/sustainability-focused magazines and blogs I could send press releases to.

Combine all 4 elements: Take a product your target market is interested in, create a message that will pique their interest, and place it in a place you know you’ll reach them.

For example, I create a “Sustainable Swap” post on Instagram that shows a mass-produced paraffin candle on one side, with a list of its synthetic ingredients and environmental downsides. On the other side, I feature my soy wax candle, highlighting its renewable materials, clean burn, and recyclable container. The caption explains how small swaps like this make a difference, and I include hashtags like #ecohome, #greenliving, and #sustainablecandles to reach people who care about those values.

This type of targeted outbound marketing is much more effective than simply posting a photo of my candle with a “Shop now!” caption.

 

Outbound marketing tactics

There are many ways to use outbound marketing in your craft business. Below are some examples

• Paid advertising (Facebook ads, Google ads, banner ads on blogs, etc.)
• Posting promotional content on social media (e.g. link to a new product, picture of a product you sell, mentioning a sale, etc.)
• Events (e.g. craft shows, trade shows, festivals you’re a vendor at)
• Putting up posters
• Sending out flyers
• Handing out business cards
• Cold-calling, cold-emailing, or mailing lookbooks to boutiques to get wholesale orders
• Sending out press releases
• Getting interviewed on TV shows, radio shows, for magazines. etc.

I think of outbound marketing as the ways businesses show up in consumers’ lives, uninvited.

Sometimes an uninvited guest in your home can be great!

But when they show up at the wrong time and behave in a way that causes a disruption, it’s not so great.

Try to be a gracious guest in your potential customers’ lives, especially when you’re showing up uninvited.