How to Find the “Sweet Spot” Product for Your Customer

How to Find the “Sweet Spot” Product for Your Customer

With craft festivals going virtual for the foreseeable future, many of our clients are putting together vendor presentations for various online events. One of the questions we’re often asked is how to best prepare to showcase your crafty business and products. Whether you’re vending at a virtual festival, working with an influencer, or just putting together offerings for the holidays, today we’ve put together some of our best tips for designing a product that will hit your customer’s “sweet spot”!

 

Your Customer Avatar

The first place you should start when developing a new product is your customer avatar. Who is your ideal customer? What are their hopes and dreams? What delights them? What problem can you solve for them? If you haven’t spent time honing in on your customer avatar, check out our article (and FREE worksheet) on Customer Avatars and Attitudinal Segmentation

Once you have zeroed in on the perfect product for your customer avatar, it’s time to get real about what your business does best! Remember that this special offer may be a customer’s first introduction to your business so you want to showcase your brand story and your particular expertise.

 

What to Include

Especially for the virtual festival format, we find that project kits which include materials sufficient for crafters to make a finished product are best sellers. At a minimum, the kit should include a pattern or clearly written instructions as well enough yarn/fabric/etc. and notions necessary to produce the finished product you’re sharing. It’s all the better if the pattern or project is yours, and has never been released before. Think exclusive; you’re looking for something special that your customers can’t get anywhere else! 

For inspiration, check out A Good Yarn Sarasota’s Purl Diver Yarn Series. A Good Yarn designed a line of exclusive colorways by challenging indie dyers to create custom-dyed yarns based on the exquisite underwater photography of the shop owner’s husband, Murray. The colorways were so popular that they led to a subscription series, giving subscribers exclusive access to each new color before it was released to the public. Many of the colors have remained as staples in the shop.

 

Packaging

First impressions are everything! A kit in attractive packaging is pleasing to open, and if you include a little something extra you can surprise and delight your customer, giving them an experience they’ll want to have again. It doesn’t have to be complicated, but think clean and pretty, like you’re sending your customer a gift.

If you’re looking for inspiration, check out some of the great subscription services that offer crafty kits like Vicki Howell’s YarnYAY! Boxes, offerings from KnitCrate, or even Thimble’s fabric bundles.

 

Pricing

Obviously your pricing needs to cover any materials included in the kit, but think about the value the customer is receiving in comparison to the price being paid. That doesn’t mean you have to discount everything, but think about bundling related items to create value. Also, don’t just focus on giving your customers a steal; the pricing of your kit is indicative of the quality of your product. We find that the “sweet spot” for kits tends to be around $75, but that’s by no means written in stone. 

 

Time Limited Offers

We’ve all heard of (and probably experienced) FOMO: the fear of missing out! If you’re developing a special offer, try making it available for a limited time period or in limited quantities. This contributes to the sense of exclusivity, but also encourages your customer to make a purchasing decision quickly so they don’t miss out on the fun. If limiting the time range or quantities doesn’t feel right to you, you can offer a coupon code that is only valid for a limited time period, rewarding those who purchase early.

 

Sharing Your Story

The final element to consider when developing a special offer is how it fits into your brand and your story. Do you concentrate on expertly finished projects? Make sure your kit includes special finishing details. Offer your kit designed in your brand colors or create a product that’s evocative of your brand’s aesthetic. You want to make the most of this opportunity to showcase what you can offer that’s unique to you.

If you’re looking for a great example of a brand that sticks to their story, check out Miss Babs and her kit selection for designer Lisa Ross’s mystery knit-along (MKAL). Miss Babs dyes gorgeous colorways inspired by nature, so a Garden Variety MKAL is right up her alley and she has stunning kits available.

If you’re interested in strategizing how to develop more products that target your customers “sweet spot,” or in pursuing opportunities with influencers, Stitchcraft Marketing can help. Contact us today to get started!

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