The idea of a candle as a luxury item is starting to go out the window. Candle businesses are doing well in today’s economy, and it doesn’t take much effort to enter the game. This guide will teach you how to market a candle business in this day and age.
First, let’s get the obvious out of the way. Regarding marketing strategy, two types of people see your business: those who need what you offer and those who don’t yet know they need it. As long as you’ve chosen a viable product to sell, you should be able to focus on the latter group to take advantage of them first.
The Candle Business’ Target Market
As far as the target market for a candle business goes, anyone might be interested in candles! Some generalities, though, may give you some ideas about people’s motivations when buying your product. For example, if someone is already using candles regularly, they’ll likely need replacement scents now and then, depending on how often they use candles.
If they’re not already using candles regularly or have never owned a candle, the motivation to buy will likely be based on aesthetics and novelty rather than convenience. Knowing how others like to use candles can help you adjust your marketing strategy when selling online at sites such as Amazon Handmade.
Your Marketing Strategy for Selling Candles Online
Once you know your target market, all that’s left is figuring out where to find them! Friends and family are always a good place to start if they’ve been asking about what types of candles you might have available. Otherwise, it’s off to social media! Facebook has become a great option for marketing products according to customer demographics, so taking advantage of its ad system is probably the best place to start your candle business.
It’s important to note here that you can always create an advertisement without spending any money by setting up a free account with Facebook and clicking “boost posts” when available. The downside of this method is that you won’t reach many people unless they’re also looking at your brand’s page, but it’s still worth trying to get yourself started in the right direction.
Website Marketing for a Candle Business
There are two primary ways of reaching out to potential customers. The first is by showcasing your product on the internet with a website. The second is through social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, where you can immediately interact with people who need your offer. The appearance of these sites is crucial to success.
Coding is unnecessary, but it never hurts to have some basic knowledge if errors arise that could lead to site crashes or security issues.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
Once someone reaches your site, they will need to be able to find it in search engine results for related keywords, so they know immediately whether your website contains what they’re looking for. All this means building links between certain keywords and phrases to your website to help it rank higher when people search for them.
Candle Business Marketing through Blogging
Because having your own blog means owning the platform that generates the most traffic repeatedly over time (when done correctly), blogging should play an integral part in your marketing plan. Blogging allows you to engage with customers more personally and gives them a place to ask questions and comment.
This is good for customer retention and makes it easier down the line when writing new product descriptions or links that will help better your website.
Google Ads
Advertising your candle site on Google’s ad platform is a great way to increase visibility, especially if you’ve got other services or products that might go well with candles. For example, adding a link from your website to an online retailer for extra scented candle wicks could be highly effective since these are usually things people will need every now and then.
Google ads work by allowing the advertiser to bid on keywords. It’s an auction. To place ads, you need a Google AdWords account.
Email Marketing for Candles
People’s inboxes are filled with offers and deals on products like yours every day, and email is the most common way of reaching out to consumers who might want what you’re selling. If they’ve permitted you to contact them in the past (usually through website registration), this will help build your mailing list quickly.
Email marketing works best when a new product is just about to be released because the consumer will better remember you and all your previous offers.
The best way to get people’s attention through email is by making them want to open it. If your email subject doesn’t create enough curiosity, they’ll probably skip over it without thinking twice.
This means coming up with an interesting offer that feels personal to them, so they don’t feel spammed. Also, try not to send more than one or two weekly emails since nobody wants spam in their inbox!
Mailerlite is an affordable platform for sending broadcast emails, drip email campaigns, and sales funnels.
Candle Business Marketing through Social Media
The other common type of marketing is done through social media sites, which allow you personal interaction, but at the cost of letting everyone see what’s happening with your business.
Tweets will be sent out about new products or special deals that can go viral easily and quickly create a large customer base, depending on how well they’re worded.
Facebook allows groups to promote themselves and link their site, while the Facebook Marketplace allows you to sell to an even wider audience. You can post your candles for sale on your page, and people will see them. If certain keywords are used, Facebook’s algorithm may promote your post on its own to make sure the right people see it.
To take full advantage of this opportunity, you should write a Facebook ad that advertises a special deal or a new product that can be purchased online, which you’ll link to from the post itself.
Pinterest has been described as the platform where ‘every pin tells a story. This is because it allows anyone with an account to upload pictures of virtually anything they want and link it directly from their platform onto their own personal page.
Because so many things are being shared, Pinterest has emerged as one of the best platforms for gaining exposure through content promotion since relevant content will rise to the top of the search and social engines.
Pinterest allows people to post photos of products like candles. This is great for when you create new designs to showcase them online.
For example, if someone sees a candle they like but the design isn’t available in what they want (i.e., color), your site can easily be found by searching for it. You can run ads that allow the user to click on the pin and buy a candle directly from your website.
If an item has been pinned enough times by different users, Pinterest will pick up on it and show it as one of their ‘trending’ pins towards the top of search results pages under related categories automatically. Even if they don’t purchase anything at first, the fact that it shows up on their page means you’ve at least made an impression.
Youtube
Youtube is a great platform for promoting a candle business. This is a great way to increase your visibility if you’ve got a new product or a special deal. Make videos about what’s new in the store and include links to your site where people can find more information.
You should do this when you have something that might interest others but not enough time to write an entire blog post.
You can create how-to-make candle videos, home decor videos featuring your candles, gift ideas, unboxing videos and tutorials, questions and answers about candles, movie reviews, etc. Some of the most popular videos on YouTube are ‘unboxing’ videos where a new product is opened up for all to see.
You can do this with your candles to get people excited about what you have in store. This will be noticed if it’s done well, so practice ahead of time! Interviews can also help add a personal touch since they allow you to connect with viewers on a deeper level than just selling something.
TikTok
TikTok is another social media site like Instagram and Snapchat, focusing on video rather than pictures. The videos are 15 seconds long, so you can easily post multiple times throughout the day without taking too much time. This will improve your chances of receiving more views since people have a shorter attention span.
You should post about any special deals or new products, along with tutorials, how-to’s, tips, tricks, and other helpful information for customers who want to know more about candles. Your goal should be to establish yourself as an authority so that others will look to you for advice whenever they need help regarding the subject.
Instagram is a great platform for candle businesses since it allows users to post photos of whatever they want and share them with others who follow their accounts. This has resulted in the site becoming one of the largest social media sites, so there’s room to gain followers here.
You should post pictures on Instagram featuring your candles in new settings, such as on a beach or camping. Make sure you use hashtags when doing so so that more people have a chance of seeing it and following your account if they’re interested.
Don’t hesitate to interact with anyone commenting on your posts! Customers appreciate knowing that someone cares about what they think enough to respond personally, which will earn them some points towards carrying their business forward in the future.
Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing is a great way to promote your candle business since it involves reaching out to people with massive followings and getting them to help spread the word. This will result in more exposure for your company, but you’ll need to compensate influencers if they agree to partner with you.
You can do this by running ads on their site(s) or having a special deal just for followers of that person – whatever works best for both parties! Just make sure you’re upfront about what they have to do and how much it will cost to set expectations. You don’t want any animosity between you because someone feels like they’ve been misled somehow.
To find influencers to promote your candles, you should look for people who can do it most effectively. For example, if you sell Home Decor candles, getting an interior designer with a large following would make more sense than partnering with your next-door neighbor. They are far more likely to have access to the type of audience that can help you reach your goals!
Launch an Affiliate Program
An affiliate program is one of the best ways to market your candle business without spending too much time or money on overhead. It simply involves finding customers willing to share products with their social media followers for a fee which you should set ahead of time.
Compensation can be based on sales, clicks, visits, etc. – whatever you think will work best for what you have to offer at the current time!
Make sure you research other companies in your industry first so that yours has something unique to offer potential affiliates. This way, they’ll be more inclined to promote your brand than your competitors since they won’t get the same type of commission.
You should also make your affiliate program as easy as possible to sign up for and use by designing an attractive landing page that explains how it works, what you offer, and the different applicable commission rates.
You’ll have a higher conversion rate which will result in more leads in the future if this is done well compared to just leaving potential partners guessing about everything without visual aids.
Candle Parties
Another great way to market your candle company is through host/guest events known as “candle parties.” This kind of event can be pricey, especially if you’re buying food and drinks for everyone who attends, but it has the potential of being quite profitable.
You should invite people you already know, which makes planning easier since they’ll probably bring along a friend or two. Make sure you have some candles available at this event so that guests are more likely to say yes if you ask them to make a purchase later on after they’ve had time to enjoy themselves!
Find out what types of candles are most popular among people in your area by asking around or doing some research online. That way, you’ll know what type of merchandise to have on hand for your candle party so that it’s more effective.
Guest Appreciation Night/Month
Another idea is to have a “guest appreciation night” or “month” where you offer discounts at local venues, restaurants, etc., to get people excited about using them again in the future! Nail salons are one example since they often do something similar around the holiday season when people could use some pampering. You just need to find out what types of places are popular in your area and run with it from there.
Targeted Advertising
Advertising should be placed wherever appropriate, including blogs related to candles, magazines, billboards, online ads on social media sites, etc. However – you want to ensure that whatever you’re advertising is something that would encourage people to buy it because they are in the vicinity of the ad.
For example, if you’re selling candles in a gift shop, then your ads should target customers who are shopping for gifts at this particular place instead of trying to convince them to head to Amazon or some other website where they probably wouldn’t find what they were looking for because it’s not available locally.
There’s nothing wrong with pursuing online sales, but make sure you have both types covered when planning your marketing strategy.
Regardless of how you market your candle business, always remember that it takes time and money – two things that every company has a limited supply of, no matter how big or small! You have to be patient and work hard if you want your candle company to succeed, but it will be worth it in the end if you strategize accordingly from start to finish.
