Pro tips (Episode #5 ): Preparing for a Christmas market

How to prepare your Christmas market?

December is an important month for designers. It's the time to make sales, but it's also the time to meet your customers at Christmas markets! To make sure you don't miss out on this opportunity, it's best to think ahead and get organized so you can be at your best on the big day.
In this video, Audrey gives you tips and advice on how to get organized for a successful Christmas market!
(And it works for other fairs too!).

1. Choosing your show

First question: Is it worth travelling to the designer's fair or market where you want to sell your jewelry, without taking too much financial risk?

To do this, we recommend you draw up a small provisional budget:

• In one column, estimate your expenses: travel, hotel, catering, delivery of merchandise if necessary, registration and site rental...
• In another column, try to determine the amount of your future sales. We know, it's not easy to project. You can ask the organizers about the number of visitors to the show and the average shopping basket to get an idea.

By aligning your total expenses with your total income, you'll see whether your participation in the show is to your advantage... or not.

We can already hear you adding: "Yes, but the show will allow me to make a name for myself". It's true, it's a good argument! However, you mustn't let your reputation come at the expense of your finances. And as we all know, the cost of taking part in a trade show can escalate very quickly. If the trade show you've chosen is going to put a strain on your compatibility, choose a smaller market.

2. Organize transport

Before you go to the show, don't forget toorganize the transport of your merchandise:

• Wrap anything fragile to avoid breakage (we speak from experience, it's happened to us before!): use foam to avoid scratches, bubble wrap, newspaper, polystyrene dunnage particles or foam boards to protect your products and wedge them effectively into a carton. You can also use jewelry carrying cases and special carrying cases.
• You never know when the number of visitors to the show will explode. What's more, it would be a shame to pay for a show if you've run out of products to sell. To anticipate this, prepare parcels that a trusted third party can send you if necessary.

3. Decorate your stand

Think about the decoration of your stand: a pretty, attractive stand will always bring you more people than a drab one.

How do you decorate your Christmas stand? You can decorate your stand with displays, pompoms, candles, balloons, string lights, pretty bags to wrap your creations... Set the scene with a decoration that reflects your creative universe, the season, the market theme, the type of clientele attending the show... You can also showcase a flagship or ultra-trendy product, which is bound to draw a crowd.
But be careful: it has to be elegant, but sober: you don't want your creations to disappear under an overloaded decoration.

Here are a few elements that could inspire the presentation of your items on the stand!

4. Animating your stand

How do you attract customers to your stand? It all starts before the show. Let your community know on Facebook and Instagram that we'll be there, and if you'll be putting on any special events or announcing any surprises.

Once we're at the show, we don't sit back and do nothing! Don't forget toliven up your stand with a variety of events for visitors. Wondering what kind of entertainment you can offer at a Christmas market? Here are a few tried-and-tested ideas:

• Bring in designers or run creative workshops to entertain visitors.
• Organize raffles and contests to keep people coming back for more.

There are many ways of attracting visitors - it's up to you to find the right one!

5. Create links

The first thing to do to create a bond is to smile. So get out your best smile and your best arguments, and showcase your know-how to make yourself known and, why not, close a sale.

But that's not all! You've got to try and make that connection last beyond the show floor. Using an iPad or a paper newsletter, try to collect your visitors' contact details by getting them to play games or take part in prize draws.
Beware of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) law. Without your visitor's consent, (you know, the little checkbox at the bottom of a document), you won't be able to use the data collected for commercial purposes.

Finally, make flyers or business cards available that mention your name or brand, your contact details, your website address, your Facebook page or your Instagram page... Just to make sure you're not forgotten!

6. Thank your visitors

After the show, thank the people who came to see you on your social networks: it's a simple thing to do, but your customers and followers will be touched by this small gesture.
We also advise you tosend out a nicenewsletter to simply say thank you, Ok you're going to say to us: "Oh là là, a Newsletter? How do you do that?" Don't panic! There are free marketing tools available for less than 2,000 contacts, such as Sendinblue or Mailchimp, which can help you send out your newsletters quickly and easily.
You can also use this newsletter to announce a new appointment at another stand, another trade show, on social networks or in your online store. The aim is to grow your community.

And of course, you can also include personalized cards in your packages!

7. Analyze the economic impact

After the show, it's time to take stock: is it profitable for you to attend trade shows, or is it better to concentrate on your online store?

There's no secret to this: analyze the results. At the very least, they should balance out (if revenues exceed expenses, even better!). Don't forget to take into account any brand awareness (which you can measure using tools such as Google Analytics): Fifteen days after the show, are there more visits to your online store, more people on your Facebook or Instagram page? Is your brand better known as a result of the show? Then you'll see if it's the right thing for you to do!

We've also got another article on preparing for Christmas markets. It will give you an idea of the timetable you need to respect to be ready on D-day!