Cookies & Crumbs
For some time now, social media seems to work against us, the creative people.
We hate The Algorithm that like an ancient god decides if we are the chosen ones or not, if it shows our content to the followers or not. But we have to admit, The Algorithm does one job well. In fact, it does it so well that we usually don’t even notice it. Both Instagram and TikTok know exactly who to show our content to. Either via FYP on TikTok or in suggested accounts or Explore page on Instagram - they find our crowd for us.
The Algorithm knows who our target audience is, better than we do.
It was working for me as well, or at least I thought so. It all changed 2 years ago when I moved to Nancy. I realised very quickly (and painfully), that I don’t have too many local people following me. Surprise, 35k followers on instagram didn’t turn magically into 35k tattoo clients in Nancy.
The only way to reach specifically located audience via instagram was, and still is, switching to business profile and creating a sponsored post. I know that for years, and it has been years I refuse to do that. My reasons have nothing to do with pride and dignity: I simply know how Meta works. Once you pay for your posts to be boosted, you are never let go of the vicious cycle. Instagram is going to suppress your non paid post and basically harass you to pay always. That’s how I abandoned my tattoo Facebook page in 2017!
As far as I know, it’s better on TikTok, but damn this app. I will not even talk about it today, that’s a topic for an entire separate blog post.
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Only about a month ago, I finally decided to stop running in circles and whining about my situation and instead do things differently, my way. Introducing to you (if you haven’t heard me talking about it yet) The Silly Marketing.
Silly Marketing is a way to advertise my tattoo business outside of social media. It’s direct, it’s personal, it’s funny and wholesome. It’s catching new audience through its silliness and honesty. Silly Marketing is street art that should surprise and make people’s day at least 1% better. Stickers, posters, mini games and more. Hugely inspired by 100 ways to market your business off social media list from Off The Grid podcast. Though I hope Silly Marketing will be amusing to everyone, ideally it should reach my target audience.
I want to do everything to make my experiment successful. The core of Silly Marketing is reaching people in a meaningful way. It has to be less random and careless than posting on social media, into the abyss. Imagine I’m standing on a street with 20 flyers that showcase my tattoo services and I have to give it to 20 people. Who will I choose? I have to define my target audience, otherwise it’s pointless.
These days, big and small companies have all kind of fancy tools for their marketing. Internet analytics, surveys and the website Cookies to target their perfect audience. As you remember, out of fear that my reach will be suppressed, I never committed to business account on Instagram. Thus I don’t have access to analytics of my insta followers.
“She doesn’t have Cookies? Make her use Crumbs!”
(or something along these lines)
Famously said Marie Antoinette.
Well, I will use Crumbs. Crumbs are the little pieces of informations I gathered by interacting with my clients. For example learning what is the job of my client as we chat during the tattoo session. Crumbs analytics are not exactly precise, only somehow accurate, subjective. Crumbs are analog, pre social media, pre internet. Prehistoric.
Crumbs also show up in my tattoo booking form. In the description of the desired tattoo, there are hidden Crumbs that tells me: this client is a pet owner and loves their little friend. And somehow I never paid so much attention to them.
At last, it was a trail of humble Crumbs leading me to define my audience.
Crumbs 2022/2023 reveal that my clientele:
Is 80% female between 18 and 45 years old
Loves animals
Often has pets
Is likely to be vegan or vegetarian (not always but more than on average)
Tends to be feminists
Likes illustration and animation
Likes fairy tales and cute things
Has higher than average chance to be a librarian (I tattooed 3 librarians in 2023!)
Has higher than average chance to be a part of LGBTQIA+ community
For the year of 2024, I’m gonna use this target audience as the guideline for my marketing efforts.
You might be asking: why there isn’t the easiest target audience “tattooed people” on my list? I was thinking about that and realised that:
I wouldn’t even know where to find tattooed people outside of tattoo convention. And you know who is avoiding tattoo conventions because they are too big, loud and busy? Me.
I decided to try different approach and instead of trying to find people who “want tattoo”, find people with a strong identity. So strong, that they might just love to get a tattoo in homage to their identity. Like a celebratory vegan tattoo or a portrait of their pet. The truth lays in my custom tattoo request Crumbs.
Silly Marketing is happening in person, by chance. Silly Marketing, by design, immediately caters to one of my target audience characteristics, which is “Likes fairy tales and cute things”. There is nothing more special and wholesome than discovering a new artist in an unusual way, like finding a funny sticker on the street. Unlike social media that are everywhere around us, Silly Marketing has to happen in the real world, pinpointed on a map. This prompted me to think, where my target audience is hanging out at? Let’s take “loves animals” and “often has pets” and try to guess. I brainstormed with my boyfriend and we came up with this list:
Parks, and even better - dog parks
Pet Food stores
Pet groomers
Cat cafes (we don’t have that in Nancy unfortunately)
Fancy Cats and Dogs expos
Vet clinics
Animal shelters
Turned out it was easier to guess where are the dog owners than cat owners, who we all now are introverting at home. Crumbs math done, now what’s left is making a creative, wholesome Silly Marketing campaign that belongs in these spaces. The first one coming very soon in January! See you at the dog park.
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Now that I defined my target audience, will I change the way I post on social media? Absolutely not. That ship has sailed, and I’m not feeling like investing more of my energy over there to again try having my big break or whatever. Again, I’m not another artist leaving social media. You will probably not even notice anything different in my instagram presence. But my thought process, and all the behind scenes work… This just flipped 180 degrees and it couldn’t make me more happy.
As mentioned before, I don’t have any analytics on IG. But I found a few Crumbs there too. The laziest Crumbs possible. Just checking from time to time who is my new follower, who commented on my post or answered my story. In the past 3 years I see a lot of beginner illustrators, beginner tattooers, tiny creative business owners, craft makers. I think it’s awesome that all of you can enjoy my work and my journey from far, even if never planning on getting a tattoo.
And my dears, this blog is dedicated to all of you. I know we share similar struggles and maybe there will be something you find in my rumblings that will help you in your creative / small business practice. Defining target audience is such a basic step, yet I never managed to do it until now. And I know I cannot be the only one (or if I am then damn, I’m really bad at business).
Please let me know if you tried to look at your Crumbs and learnt something from them. Or where in online spaces would you attempt to find your Crumb generated target audience. Or if you also wish to try Silly Marketing in your city. You can write to me directly or comment below!
