#6 Marketing: Lessons I’ve Learned Working in Makerspaces on Building Successful, Creative Communities
Establishing physically, cognitively, & emotionally safe communities & inclusive culture
Grassroots vs. Megaphone Marketing
As a makerspace, the likelihood is your stakeholders are a mix of diverse backgrounds representing a wide range of disciplines. While your community's diversity is your strength, it is a challenging environment to develop a clear message that resonates with everyone about your creative space and what it does.
An additional hurdle is that social media and email-driven marketing campaigns are so pervasive they are easily ignored, especially if the message isn’t directly addressing your stakeholder as an individual. This isn’t to say your makerspace should not have a social media presence; it has to, although you have an opportunity to engage your stakeholders' diversity into your primary marketing tool.
It isn’t a new marketing strategy to go big, bold, and loud while you also go quiet, individual and personalized. If your makerspace has the capacity, then I suggest implementing the following two campaigns simultaneously. However, if your makerspace is newly-opened, then I suggest the first strategy followed 6 months later by the second. Or if your makerspace has been operating for over a year, then I suggest launching the grassroots strategy now.
BatSignal Marketing:
Like Batman’s Bat-Signal, projected on the clouds as an unmistakable call to action, you need a marketing strategy that differentiates you from everyone else and can’t be ignored. The formula for getting your message flying above the standard marketing tools is to first assemble your makerspace community's diversity into a marketing team. Next, task them with developing a surprising and unique solution by using their collective brainpower and your makerspace’s fabrication tools. The results of this prompt often manifest as a hybrid analog / digital solution that looks and feels like nothing your stakeholders have seen before, grabbing attention, and with luck, it goes viral. This actual and virtual world solution is a nod to the entrepreneurial / prototype spirit of your makerspace by connecting the digital and physical universes as so many startups do.
Grassroots Earrings:
I used to have a mantra in some of the former makerspaces I ran, which went “no 3d printed cell phone covers!”. This meant, don’t waste time, money, and plastic making a tchotchke you can buy for much less that does the same job. However, if framed correctly, plastic 3D printed doodads can be an excellent way to market your creative space.
Here’s a story of one example of this strategy that worked splendidly: A student ran a customizable 3D printed earrings workshop. She and her peers then wore their individualized earrings home, where many of their friends immediately asked where she got them. This ultimately translated to dozens of students coming into the makerspace to design and print their earrings.
This simple peer-to-peer grassroots effort may be slow compared to large, expensive marketing campaigns; however, I have found that folks who engage in a makerspace in this way tend to become engaged deeply and for the long-term.
At the end of the day, you can go big or small or both. Still, no matter what, empower your community to develop honest, enthusiastic campaigns that will ultimately promote your space.
Artwork: Kat Válastur; Arcana Swarm
