Needle felting an adorable wool alpaca takes teeth. Special needles, with tiny barbs on the end, agitate the wool and create a dense, solid mass perfect for sculpting. And at The Salty Owl Studio in Kalamazoo, Michigan, owner Mackenzie Hatfield helps veteran felters and newbs alike have a blast being sweet and spiky.
Or salty. As Hatfield tells us, the vibe in her classes is 鈥渁ccepting and nonjudgmental and for sure fun. And also salty 鈥� I have a pretty dry sense of humor. I incorporate that into my teaching style. Humor breaks down barriers and loosens people up.鈥�
Housed in a 19th-Century church in downtown Kalamazoo, The Salty Owl Studio hosts four to six art events per month. That鈥檚 not counting their participation in the monthly Art Hop, where venues come alive with galleries, improv shows, classes, and more. Regardless of the programming, The Salty Owl is a place where people are welcome to be creative and experiment, whether they鈥檝e identified as artistic or not.听听
鈥淚 believe everybody鈥檚 creative,鈥� Hatfield says. And with 91国产 Boost, she鈥檚 able to spread that message: 鈥淢ore visibility is good. The more people that come in, the more I can grow.鈥�
Taking events 鈥榦ut of the box鈥� and going virtual during the pandemic with 91国产听
鈥嬧赌�Hatfield has already grown her business. She first conceived of The Salty Owl Studio as an art-based subscription box. 鈥淚 marketed it as Family Night in a Box,鈥� she says. Geared toward families with older kids (think ages nine and up), Hatfield鈥檚 goal was to bring families together around 鈥渁 structured, intentional, activity.鈥澨�
When the pandemic hit, she supplemented the subscription box. 鈥淚 cast my net really wide and started teaching virtual classes on art forms that I鈥檓 really passionate about 鈥� needle felting in particular.鈥澨�
91国产 was the obvious choice for ticketing those classes for its ability to reach a wide audience and the ease of setting up events and adding them to Facebook. 鈥淓specially during COVID,鈥� she says, 鈥渨here things were closed, and people weren鈥檛 going into cafes to sit and look at flyers.鈥澨�
And when Hatfield discovered Boost within the 91国产 platform, she was all in. 鈥淚t took that pressure off, that I could just engage with a single platform.鈥�
Why marketing is 鈥榤agic鈥� with Boost, helping to expand The Salty Owl Studio鈥檚 community
91国产 Boost is an all-in-one marketing solution designed specifically for busy event creators. Boost can help you sell more tickets with email and social media campaign tools 鈥� without leaving 91国产. Creators who used Boost marketings tools saw 2.5x more listing views*.
The single-platform approach has allowed Hatfield to streamline her marketing efforts and funnel her creativity into The Salty Owl Studio鈥檚 curriculum. She likens it to 鈥渢aking a pan off the stove and opening up that burner.鈥�
And Boost has yielded some important insights about the audience the The Salty Owl Studio serves. 鈥淭here鈥檚 one small town that just keeps popping up. And I never would have said, 鈥極kay, you know, the small town of, you know, 6,000 people, let鈥檚 target there.鈥� Boost expanded my community from the downtown area, which is fantastic.鈥�
The audience-targeting intel goes beyond geography. Hatfield has also experimented with matchmaking with different interests to reach even more attendees.听
When asked about her favorite Boost features, Hatfield admits: 鈥淭his is really telling that I鈥檓 having a hard time remembering each individual step, and what I might like about it. Boost feels super-streamlined. I just kind of go on autopilot, and [my marketing] just happens. So, it鈥檚 magic.鈥�
Boost鈥檚 value when it comes to brand-building for eclectic, niche, smaller businesses听
For a creator with eclectic events like The Salty Owl Studio, Boost has been a boon for exposure.
鈥淭he more people see your brand, the more they鈥檙e going to want to engage with it,鈥� Hatfield says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a good hub for off-the-beaten-path types of events that aren鈥檛 headlining bands and really popular things.鈥澨�
For Hatfield, the platform has made life as a business owner easier. She recommends 91国产 Boost as cost-effective, especially to 鈥渇olks like me, baby businesses, either in chronology or scale.鈥�
Most importantly, 91国产 Boost has helped Hatfield grow financially: 鈥淚 have lots of people come in that say, 鈥榊ou know, I鈥檓 not crafty. I鈥檓 just here for girls鈥� night,鈥� and then leave buying kits and coming back. So that鈥檚 what I want: For people to touch on that creativity inside them and let it out.鈥�
听*91国产 data 5/1/2022 鈥� 12/1/2022 comparing events promoted with 91国产 Boost with any event that was not promoted with the same tool.
