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In preparation for this year’s Faire Summer Market, we spoke with two Faire brands who’ve successfully used these trade shows as a way to reach more customers and grow their business. We spoke with Melissa Horvath, Founder of candle and home decor brand Sweet Water Decor, and Jimmy Kunz, Founder of food and beverage brand The Truffleist, about their tips for preparing for Faire’s virtual trade show event.
Prepare your inventory
At Sweet Water Decor, Melissa uses her past experience as a business analyst to help prepare her inventory for Faire markets. “Make sure you have an abundance of inventory—analyze past numbers and give it a good multiplier. Even if you think you might sell 2x more than last year, prepare for more than that, just in case,” she said. Melissa has also learned that no matter how much analyzing you do, you can never be too sure what or how much people will buy at trade show events. “That’s why it’s good to overprepare,” she said.
At The Truffleist, Jimmy echoed this sentiment. “I look at this event as the Black Friday for Faire,” he said. He added that customers often use this time to stock up for the rest of the year, including the holiday season, so having all your inventory available come show time is key.
Send email campaigns
When it comes to spreading the word about Faire Summer Market, both Melissa and Jimmy lean heavily on email marketing campaigns, using Faire’s marketing tools to help. “We send emails before, during, and on the last day of the event,” Jimmy said. The Truffliest marketing team prepares ahead of the event to work on messaging for their campaigns, putting together emails that highlight the discount matching from Faire and any other promotions they’re running. “I’d recommend using Faire’s marketing tools to ping your best customers and let them know about the event,” Jimmy said.
Melissa’s marketing team also uses email campaigns as a large part of their marketing strategy for Faire Summer Market. The team creates emails for customers who haven’t ordered from the brand in a while to let them know about the event and the promotions, as well as sending dedicated emails to retailers who have items in their cart but haven’t yet checked out. “Exhaust your resources because this is a great opportunity to tell people to shop,” Melissa said.
Invite new buyers to shop at the event
Both Melissa and Jimmy use Faire Summer Market as an opportunity to extend their Faire Direct benefits to customers who have yet to join Faire. “This is a great time to try to get those people to sign up to shop at the market,” Jimmy said. “The beauty is that Faire offers discounts to match the promotions which incentivize the customers.”
This year, Faire is matching discounts up to 5% for all orders and up to 10% on opening orders placed by retailers that are ordering from you on Faire for the first time. In addition, when retailers sign up to shop your line on Faire through Faire Direct, you’ll enjoy 0% commission on their orders.
For more information on Faire Direct, visit our help center article.
