Does paid advertising pay off for selling crafts? Some artisans say yes, many more have been disappointed in their results. Paid advertising takes multiple exposures before you can even judge the results.
Your ad campaign must be aimed at an audience that is likely to buy. How do you know where they are online? One way to target your audience(s) is to match the theme or media you craft with to the website where your ads will run. For instance, if you sell handmade clothing or accessories, potential purchasers / audiences can be found on style and fashion review sites.
The sites below are ad networks where you can specify which sites your ads show up on. You have probably heard of ProjectWonderful, but I thought it worth mentioning here because ads through their network can be really inexpensive.
If you choose to pay for advertising, set a budget and a length of time to test your message(s). After the campaign expires, go back and see how many people clicked on your ads and then of course, how many people bought. If you get positive results, run more ads on sites that are paying off with sales. Discontinue ads on poor performing sites.
Here are sites for selling art and crafts through paid ads (excerpted from my book, Sell Your Crafts Online):
Projectwonderful.com — PW is used by craft artists who report mixed results, but ad rates can be very low. Some Web sites and blogs costs as low as .01 per day. PW gives you the ability to choose what sites your ads appear on. Ad rates are determined by popularity of your target sites.
Craftcult.com — This site for online craft store owners offers two types of advertising, either through side bar spots, or via a rotating carousel gallery. Rotating ads load randomly on each new page.
Artdeadline.com — Artdeadline offers a variety of promotional services to paid subscribers. Their client base includes fine art galleries, art associations, art agencies and institutions, artist representatives, and others.
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