Many businesses find social media to be a huge boost to their marketing efforts, and additional tools can help boost these efforts. Resources like LinkedIn, Yelp, Travel Advisor, and Google Maps can help to share more information about your business as well as give potential customers a glimpse into what they can expect when they do business with you.
When it comes to my stained glass business, a resource like Yelp would be a good fit because stained glass pieces are often a large investment and require a lot of interaction with a customer. People want to be sure about spending that kind of money, and to build that trust they will want to hear from previous customers. This can help them identify if my product meets their quality, customization, and aesthetic standards. And, if I have the personality that they think they could work with. I have certainly evaluated Yelp listings of businesses I've researched before and have generally found it fairly reliable, but as with any platform, it does have its flaws.
While my stained glass business is currently shut down due to homeschooling during the pandemic, when it's back open I could build up a Yelp presence by asking previous customers to give me a review and see where it goes from there.
If my business had a storefront a Google Maps listing would also be helpful, but not mandatory (but for now my business is run from my home so I don't want to advertise where I live). Google Maps listings tend to favor more spur of the moment "find a gas station near me" type searches. Stained glass purchasers are generally more willing to drive a distance and plan their trips to your location, but still, getting your name out there in whatever ways you can is helpful!
Thursday, April 23, 2020
Thursday, April 16, 2020
Week 11 | Post A
I have to say, email marketing efforts at previous jobs have not been a fun experience for me. But, perhaps working with this platform with my own business would net a better result!
When pondering a newsletter for my stained glass business, I think it best to do a monthly newsletter. However, early on in the process I would need to sort my contacts into "other artists" and "purchasers" because each would be after different information. Other artists, of course, would be other stained glass artists and purchasers would be people who've purchased my work and would not typically be a glass artist themselves. Content in my newsletter could be broken up as follows:
Other artists:
When pondering a newsletter for my stained glass business, I think it best to do a monthly newsletter. However, early on in the process I would need to sort my contacts into "other artists" and "purchasers" because each would be after different information. Other artists, of course, would be other stained glass artists and purchasers would be people who've purchased my work and would not typically be a glass artist themselves. Content in my newsletter could be broken up as follows:
Other artists:
- Product reviews - other artists would be interested to hear about new tools and materials to see if they'd be of use in their crafting
- Tips - other artists like learning new techniques and ways to make their work better
- Pattern highlight - simple marketing of my patterns
- Artist highlight - a highlight on other artists who are doing interesting things in glass
Purchasers
- Tips on care and display of stained glass - this would be helpful for purchasers because they would be able to better enjoy their purchases
- Sale notices - who doesn't like a sale?!
- Work in progress updates - sharing information on what's on the workbench to keep purchasers engaged.
- Artist highlight - a highlight on other artists who are doing interesting things in glass
I have to admit that I rarely sign up for newsletters. I just don't have time to sift though so many emails. However, I do get a couple for things that I really do care about, and I'm interested in their stories of what's going on in their world. Plus, I do take advantage of sales promotions if I have a need for that item!
Monday, April 13, 2020
Week 10 | Post B
For a stained glass blog I would produce/source content to fit in the following categories:
This content runs the gamut of the content that other stained glass artists look for. They want to know if new tools and materials are worth it (stained glass gear is expensive!), they want knowledge to help their projects come together faster, they want to know more about what's going on in stained glass, new ideas for projects, and to see what other glass artists are up to.
Organizing my content in this way would help my business to grow because it would be a great, free resource to drive traffic to my website which would hopefully drive sales. Given that the content would be specific to other stained glass artists, it's likely that they'd only purchase my patterns, not finished pieces (that's a different target market and set of SEO...). If the blog features content that other artists find valuable then they will return, knowing that they can have questions answered and also discover new materials and tools there. If my content makes their crafting more enjoyable, they will return. And, depending on the product vendor, there might be opportunities to be a kickback in exchange for me promoting their product. Or, I could even set up a small storefront to take advantage of interested buyers (who've just read a blog post) and sell said products right on the site.
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Other blogs commented on:
- Product releases/reviews
- Tips
- News
- Pattern resources
- Artist spotlight
This content runs the gamut of the content that other stained glass artists look for. They want to know if new tools and materials are worth it (stained glass gear is expensive!), they want knowledge to help their projects come together faster, they want to know more about what's going on in stained glass, new ideas for projects, and to see what other glass artists are up to.
Organizing my content in this way would help my business to grow because it would be a great, free resource to drive traffic to my website which would hopefully drive sales. Given that the content would be specific to other stained glass artists, it's likely that they'd only purchase my patterns, not finished pieces (that's a different target market and set of SEO...). If the blog features content that other artists find valuable then they will return, knowing that they can have questions answered and also discover new materials and tools there. If my content makes their crafting more enjoyable, they will return. And, depending on the product vendor, there might be opportunities to be a kickback in exchange for me promoting their product. Or, I could even set up a small storefront to take advantage of interested buyers (who've just read a blog post) and sell said products right on the site.
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Other blogs commented on:
Friday, April 10, 2020
Week 10 | Post A
When it comes to pondering the question of adding a personal touch to a business blog post, I say that it's always appropriate! Why? Because people (and potential buyers) like to know the face behind what they're reading. This, especially when there's interaction with other blog readers, helps to drive a sense of community and belonging, which can help customers to feel like they're a part of a brand. This appeals to their emotions by making them feel as though they are actively contributing to the success of the product/brand/post.
In addition to the community benefits to adding a personal touch, adding that personal touch also does the following:
In addition to the community benefits to adding a personal touch, adding that personal touch also does the following:
- Alerts customers to a potential issue with a product. A beauty product made the blog author break out in hives? I want to know!
- Finds new ways to use the product. By not sticking to the script and being honest in their experience, a blog writer can share something neat that they discovered about a product.
- Share a tip. Suppose a food blogger is reviewing a recipe and knows a shortcut that ensures perfect results. By sharing that personal info they can help their readers to achieve their goal of tasty food, and everyone comes away having had a better experience.
By adding a personal touch to posts, bloggers are able to be more engaged, informative, and interesting to their audiences.
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My posts for the week:
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My posts for the week:
Sunday, April 5, 2020
Week 9 | Post B
This week I made three posts to my Instagram:
For my hashtags I tried dropping my business name from them, and keeping the list of tags short:
- Post 1: Thursday, 12:30pm | #stainedglass #artglass #glassart #glassartist #throwbackthursday #roots #crafterintraining
- Post 2: Friday, 6pm | #stainedglass #artglass #glassart #repair #stainedglassrepair #fail #shippingfail #stainedglassfail
- Post 3: Sunday, 5pm | #stainedglass #stainedglasscraft #mosaics #studio #workshop #organized #glassartist #glasscraft #artglass
These posts are based on my research for my previous post this week - using a few keywords other artists used to describe stained glass as well as other ones to round out the descriptions. In addition, I fine tuned my hashtags for each post with ones like #thorwbackthursday and #shippingfail that aren't necessarily specific to stained glass, but were relevant to my posts.
As you can see, my Throwback Thursday post did the best (slightly), likely because it was posted at a higher traffic time. My Friday night post did ok too, surprisingly. It's been my experience that posts over weekends often fall flat. This was proven with my Sunday post getting zero traction, even though it was about a solution to a very common stained glass problem (how to store scraps). It's also the only one that didn't include a picture of an actual stained glass work, and those really do seem to do better.
It seems as though posting during the week gets the most traction, as well as including a finished work in the post. In my case, I think that timing and content had more to do with the success of the post than the keywords, though I do not discount their use.
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
Week 9 | Post A
When it comes to marketing visually, nothing shines in the spotlight like stained glass. Stained glass as an art form relies on the visual dancing of light to make its point. Stained glass does not thrive in darkness, and because of this the photo-based platform of Instagram works extremely well for it.
For this assignment I'll be evaluating the following four stained glass businesses, found through Instagram's Discover feature (so these aren't businesses that I already follow).
In reviewing these accounts, it appears that Instagram is working well for them. Though there's a wide range of follower numbers (173 to 13k), all of the businesses' posts get engagement, largely by likes. Many posts also get comments, but not nearly as many as the likes. In evaluating their hashtags, many are using the strategy of using base "stained glass" hashtags such as #stainedglass, #artglass, and more, and then using additional hashtags to describe the stained glass work they're posting. However, none of the accounts use excessive hashtags - most use no more than 10-15 hashtags per post. The most heavily followed accounts seem to be able to get by with less (likely due to Instagram's metrics showing more popular pages).
For my account I've been using a base hashtag structure of
#shellebelledesigns #shellebelledesignsstainedglass #stainedglass #stainedglasspanel #stainedglasscraft #artglass #glassart #handmade #crafter and then adding Etsy-specific tags if applicable, plus more tags about the content of the piece such as #cat, #nightlight, #beach, and more. However, my hashtags might not be quite right since I don't get the nice engagement that these other examples do. Perhaps I should take more of a SEO approach and move the most important hashtags to the front? And drop hashtags about my business? I'll have to try it.
These accounts also post nearly daily, with a gap of a day or two here and there. This frequent posting, I've found, really helps your content to be seen by others (the hard part is coming up with that much content when you aren't a full time glass artist!). In fact, this frequent and recent posting is probably why I was directed to these accounts through the Discover feature in the first place. In the past when I've had time I've been able to create more and post more often, and there was a noticeable uptick in engagement. I think that's the real trick to Instagram - frequent posting of engaging content.
When it comes to what kind of content gets the most attention, it's largely the tasteful styled photos of finished stained glass pieces that get the likes. Photos about the artists' "life" get less likes. However, some of the artists do post videos of their process and assembly, which get impressive view numbers (probably because artists love to learn tricks from each other).
For this assignment I'll be evaluating the following four stained glass businesses, found through Instagram's Discover feature (so these aren't businesses that I already follow).
In reviewing these accounts, it appears that Instagram is working well for them. Though there's a wide range of follower numbers (173 to 13k), all of the businesses' posts get engagement, largely by likes. Many posts also get comments, but not nearly as many as the likes. In evaluating their hashtags, many are using the strategy of using base "stained glass" hashtags such as #stainedglass, #artglass, and more, and then using additional hashtags to describe the stained glass work they're posting. However, none of the accounts use excessive hashtags - most use no more than 10-15 hashtags per post. The most heavily followed accounts seem to be able to get by with less (likely due to Instagram's metrics showing more popular pages).
For my account I've been using a base hashtag structure of
#shellebelledesigns #shellebelledesignsstainedglass #stainedglass #stainedglasspanel #stainedglasscraft #artglass #glassart #handmade #crafter and then adding Etsy-specific tags if applicable, plus more tags about the content of the piece such as #cat, #nightlight, #beach, and more. However, my hashtags might not be quite right since I don't get the nice engagement that these other examples do. Perhaps I should take more of a SEO approach and move the most important hashtags to the front? And drop hashtags about my business? I'll have to try it.
These accounts also post nearly daily, with a gap of a day or two here and there. This frequent posting, I've found, really helps your content to be seen by others (the hard part is coming up with that much content when you aren't a full time glass artist!). In fact, this frequent and recent posting is probably why I was directed to these accounts through the Discover feature in the first place. In the past when I've had time I've been able to create more and post more often, and there was a noticeable uptick in engagement. I think that's the real trick to Instagram - frequent posting of engaging content.
When it comes to what kind of content gets the most attention, it's largely the tasteful styled photos of finished stained glass pieces that get the likes. Photos about the artists' "life" get less likes. However, some of the artists do post videos of their process and assembly, which get impressive view numbers (probably because artists love to learn tricks from each other).
Saturday, March 28, 2020
Week 8 | Post B
My group:
Patricia Rabito - Patty's Gluten Free
Sandra Sanchez - El Cubano Food Truck
Miguel Velasco - Baja Tacos & Cantina
Unfortunately, my remaining group members have not provided their Instagram links at the time of writing.
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When it comes to how different businesses use Instagram the myriad of uses can be categorized within the following categories:
- Portfolio
- Products/Promotion
- Informative
- Customer Outreach
For portfolio business users, like me, Instagram is used to showcase created works. For my stained glass business I share photos of my completed works, which almost always have a buyer already in place. However, I can cross over into products when I advertise a finished piece or pattern to sell. Another example of a portfolio use could be a dancer showing off their skills in the hopes of being recruited for a performance.
For product business users, such as a makeup company, Instagram can be used to show off the gamut of their product selection. Here, care would be taken with regards to photography to show models at their most beautiful so that potential customers are inspired to want that look. Or, a car company could use Instagram to show the capabilities of a new model through photos and videos, or even advertise special financing offers.
Informative business uses of Instagram could be a city sharing information about summer youth programs, new restaurants in town, or even information about street parking during snow season (something I often see friends on the East Coast chatting about come November).
Businesses that work via customer outreach are businesses whose products are largely sold to an established fanbase. By using customer outreach they cultivate that fanbase, keep them interested, and also slip products in here and there. TV chef Ina Garten is actually doing this right now - she has the fanbase in place, but she is cultivating her relationship with them by creating pantry recipes and sharing them (since it's difficult for quarantined people to shop/plan meals right now). She is also asking her followers to tell her what they have on hand and don't know what to do with - and she whips up easy and achievable meals with those ingredients. This outreach makes those fans feel heard and in response get usable information from someone they respect.
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