5 things To Do Online Before Trading at Markets
I love a list. They are a mindful activity for me, writing a list calms my nerves, focuses my brain and the very act of writing something down, especially with my own hand on a bit of paper, often is half the battle with getting things done. I also make endless lists of things I want to read, listen to, visit or eat. There’s definitely an argument that if i spent less time writing lists of stuff I might DO more stuff, but let’s not tug at that thread… ANYWAY, we’ll be sharing lots of lists on this blog, lists of 5 things on various topics that might be interesting or helpful to you. Things for traders / small business people, things for people in South East London, and things for people who share our love of building community, shopping small and lovely events.
This one is for our small businesses / market traders, but adapts easily for anyone attending events or taking part in things in their communities who want to grow their online audience. You’d maybe be suprised to hear how underused the online engagement opportunities are by many market traders and event contributors. There are so many ways you can interact online with the events you’re trading at to expand your reach and make sure customers not only visit you on the day, but also join YOUR online community afterwards. A quick “all set up at XXX” market post on the day is lovely but how can you do more to get more out of that big old market audience, without spending all your time on your phone?
Here’s a handy checklist of 5 things you might have forgotten to do online before you head off to market, that might make all the difference to your customer engagement before, during and after the event…
Comment on the main event post on socials. Whether it’s instagram, facebook or tiktok that is the main social channel for the event, follow the market on there and watch out for their posts the week before - turn on notifications if you can bear it. Make sure you like and share that post, but also drop a personal comment to say you’re looking forward to being there with your XXX products on XXX date. Maybe drop a wee discount code or free sample teaser for people paying attention if they come by and see your stall on the day. A market operator worth their salt will pick that up and share it with their followers. BE SEEN.
Find and follow the hastags. Ugh Hastags. But seriously, especially on instagram, follow any hastags associated with the event, venue or local community you’ll be trading in. Often an event organiser will tell you the ones they are using, and if you FOLLOW those (as well as using them when you post), you’ll see ALL posts from anyone using that hastag. This can be a great way to find other traders before the official stallholder lists drop, to find customers who are excited about attending, or have attended before, and to find neighbouring activities/shops/bars etc that engaged with the event’s audience. Comment on these posts to say hi and that you’re looking forward to being there / meeting them / grabbing a drink there with X trader after the event.
Add the event to your website with a LINK. Sounds simple but so many don’t do it, and it increases your digital footprint and SEO in realtion to the event. If someone searches for “Pexmas” online and you have listed and linked to it from your website, you are more likely to come up as a search result. And if the event has posted a link to your website or socials from their event page, make sure it takes customers to a really slick and exciting page to learn all about you, see your best products and have easy access to a button to follow you on social media.
Join Pedddle. We love Pedddle and are excited to use this amazing platform for market lovers to its full potential this year. Very simply, it’s a national website for organisers to list their markets so that customers can find them, but with loads of detail and bonus content. Stallholders across can join for a small monthly fee, get a profile on the site and then when your markets list their events, you can attach your profile to them. Again this is great for your SEO and helps to drive traffic to your site online. It’s like creating a massive interwoven map of all the markets and traders across the country. I’ve spent unexpected hours clicking through from brilliant events, discovering new businesses on there. And I also love their members’ emails and instagram which both full of great advice for small businesses.
Print out a QR code linked to your online presence and stick it in your bag. I’m so obsessed with the return of the QR code. I use them for everything at live events - they are so efficient now most customers have smart phones; you simply hold your phone camera over the QR code and click to open the link that appears on screen. You can make them for free on loads of websites (google is your friend) and link to any online content you want. Pop them on your printed marketing, signage or just a simple A4 page to direct customers with lightning speed to your mailing list sign up, instagram account, your online shop, a quick survey with a prize draw or discount code… whatever is most useful to your business at that time. People at markets love to take photos and connect with the small businesses they find their - make it easy for them.
What ALL of these do, is give new customers a better chance to find your business online. Physical events are about in real life sales - of course they are. But the potential for organically growing your online following, adding real genuinely interested customers to your community, by actively engaging with all the associated bits online in advance - it’s huge. You could be at it for days if you didn’t also have products to make, supplies to order, sales to ship, displays to design… etc. So start with just these 5 things, and let us know if you see any uplift in your enagagement?