All businesses can benefit from online content marketing in some form. However, we could understand why certain businesses like craft stores, and hobby stores, may think that’s not the case, due to the very physical nature of their products. People want to see papers, yarns, and other supplies with their own eyes, maybe pick them up and examine them. But that doesn’t mean that they can’t be aided by digital marketing tactics, especially content marketing, which simply means creating and sharing online material of all kinds, not necessarily to sell, but to stimulate interest in a business’s products or services. 

Content Marketing is the answer to modern day consumers balking at “being sold to.” It’s meant to entertain, educate, engage, and build community and that all eventually could lead to sales. It certainly leads to good relationships between brands and their customers. So what kind of online content marketing can a craft store or hobby business create when their products are so physical? Well, don’t challenge us to a good time, we love making lists like this. Without further ado, here are 18 different ways content marketing may help your art, craft or hobby business.

Ways Social Media Content Can Help Your Small Business

1. Product demos and reviews have become big business on social media channels, especially as the public becomes less trusting of traditional advertising and more trusting of real user feedback. 
   
   
2. Unboxings are the art of carefully unwrapping and unboxing brand new products, which sounds specific yes, but it appeals to both packaging enthusiasts, and those looking for info about new products, plus they add a little bit of dramatic flair and they’re oddly satisfying. We both watch them in all varieties and our craft moms and friends do too.
   
   
3. Polls in your instagram stories are a great way to decide what new product you should bring in, what kind of event you should hold, what your next social media post should be, and the list of possibilities goes on and on.
    
4. Speaking of events, don’t forget to show off events at your store on social media, so people know you have them! You can post photos of you setting up for your event, during the event, and after to thank everyone for coming. Plus, you’ll want to post on all of your social profiles to promote your next one. 
   
   
5. People absolutely love seeing finished products for inspiration, whether that’s finished LEGO sets, puzzles, paintings, quilts, cross-stitches, clay mugs, model planes, and more. 
   
   
6. On this same topic, you can encourage your customers to post their own photos and videos of finished products, which is what we in the biz call user generated content. When you encourage them to post, make sure they include a special hashtag, or tag your store location and/or social profile so that you can be notified of, or can search for the user generated content. Then, you can share it to your own profile, and voila, you’ve got social content and you didn’t even have to create it!

Ways Long-form Video Content Can Help Your Hobby Business

1. How-to videos – Say you’ve got a special pottery throwing technique, or a brand new board game in your shop from a popular publisher. Why not set up a camera on a tripod and create a detailed how-to video for viewers to learn from? You could either narrate as you work, or simply film without sound and do a voiceover later with music and titles in between. Don’t think anyone would want to watch something like that? According to the Pew Research Center as recently as 2018, more than half of people surveyed said they rely on Youtube to figure out how to do new things, and that goes for both regular and sporadic users. That was then, so we can only imagine the numbers have grown over the years. If it’s a longer project, try a timelapse video.
   
   
2. Product reviews and unboxings – Similar to the short snippets you can create on social media, product reviews and unboxings are wildly popular on long-form video, mostly because like we mentioned before, consumers increasingly seek out real reviews, demonstrations, and testimonials to decide what products to buy over traditional ads. There’s a reason QVC and the Home Shopping Network were so popular. Now all of that type of content lives on social media. To use your limited time wisely, you could create a long-form product review video where you can be more detailed, and then cut that into 5 shorter snippets to share on your social media. Work smarter, not harder. 
   
   
3. Courses – Similar to how-to videos, but often much more in-depth, you could pre-record a course to share on longform video. If you, or someone on your staff, has a really special skill and doesn’t mind being recorded, you could have them lead your course, which often includes either being recorded while leading the viewers through a scripted lesson, or a voiceover after the fact. We think that the most successful courses offer a little bit of both, so that you can put things up on the screen for people to reference. 
   
   
4. Live streams – With the rise of the service Twitch, live streaming has become a favorite pastime of online video viewers and its applications are endless. Whether you’re doing a speedrun of Stardew Valley, or a 2000 piece puzzle, or decorating a cake, there’s someone out there who will be entertained by watching you. You can livestream on almost any social media platform too so consider Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube as well. Did Jessica watch a livestream of the same puzzle competition on Twitch, YouTube, and Instagram all at the same time this weekend? Yes! And she loved all three for different perspectives!

Ways Blog Content and Your Website Can Help Your Fun Business

1. Once again, we must mention product reviews, but this time through images and text. While we think videos are the best format to review products because they’re easier for live demonstrations, you can embed that video on a blog with a transcript to share on your website too. Some people prefer to read, rather than watch, and as long as you follow SEO principles, that blog review could have great online search benefits for your business as well. 
   
   
2. Quizzes – For times when you’re feeling creative and also short on time, you could use one of many online quiz generators to embed a fun quiz onto your website. Follow the lead of popular quiz site Buzzfeed and ask people things like “Which type of needlework are you?” or “What Super Smash Bros fighter should you dress as for Halloween?”
   
   
3. Step-by-step instructions – Take it from the millions of recipe websites, people love online step-by-step instructions to teach themselves something new. You’ll want to insert a photo for each step and use subheads, as well as bullet points, or numbered lists to break up huge blocks of text so your blog post is skimmable and people don’t abandon ship before they get to the end. 
   
   
4. Guides – We’re not splitting hairs here, a guide really is different from step-by-step instructions. What you’re going for in a guide is a comprehensive gathering of details about a specific topic. Your guide could also be a comparison of similar products in the same category, as long as it’s comprehensive. For example, you could write a “Complete guide to kiting” or “A complete guide to cake decorating materials,” or “Everything you need to start your jewelry making hobby” among many many other examples.

Ways Email Content Can Help Your Crafty or Hobby Business

1. Newsletters – Whenever we get the chance to rave about the benefits of email newsletters we will. They’re a great way to build loyalty for your brand, and also to deliver a lot of information directly to people who already want to hear from you. If you have already created any of the content types above, you can use your email newsletter to share that content, or if you’re not able to blog or create a how-to video just yet, you can create something similar, but smaller in the body of an email newsletter.
   
   
2. Fun surveys – If you created a poll or a survey in your instagram story, we also recommend putting the same survey in your email newsletter. It’s not guaranteed that everyone who follows you sees your social media posts, so you can increase your response rate by sending it via email. Asking your customers for feedback can be fun for them and valuable for you, helping you make decisions on any number of questions you may have for your business.
   
   
3. Product recommendations – Especially if your store has an e-commerce section on your website, you’ll want to create emails to promote new products and similar products to purchases your customers have already made. If you have e-commerce capabilities, it’s highly likely that your store’s point-of-sale software can connect to your email software to make the recommendation process easier for you. Your customers benefit too, because they get to learn about more products they may love.
   
   
4. Event promotions – After you’ve planned your event and posted about it on social media, make sure to email it to your email list! Make sure to include all event details in the email like when, where, what time, and anything else pertinent including how you RSVP or buy tickets. You can make your email template fun and special so it is immediately obvious that the email is different from your others and your subscribers should read it.
   
   

As you can see, just because people may want to hold your products in their hands, it doesn’t mean you can’t use creative online content marketing tactics to pique their interest. There will always be a small percentage of customers who cut straight to the chase and shop by simply “popping into” your store, and those people are great. But they are a small percentage of potential customers who may be researching online, so get started on some content right away so you can meet them where they are in their shopping journey.