u/Dazzling_Library9610

Question for the makers here who do markets and fairs regularly.

I’ve been talking to a handful of artisan vendors — jewelry, ceramics, soap, art prints — and one thing keeps coming up: keeping in touch with customers between events.

Someone buys a piece at a March fair, falls in love with it, and then has no easy way to know you’ll be at a fair across town in August, or that you just dropped a new collection.

Most makers I’ve talked to are stuck with IG, where the algorithm doesn’t show posts to most followers anymore, or an email list nobody opens.

I’m working on a tool aimed at this niche and want to make sure I’m building something that actually fits the workflow. Honest takes welcome:

1. What’s your current way of staying in touch with customers after they buy at a fair? Email list, IG, nothing?
2. Have you tried any tool for this, like Mailchimp, Square Marketing, Constant Contact, or an Etsy newsletter? What works, what doesn’t?
3. When you announce a new market date or a new piece, where does it go? IG story, email, personal text to past buyers?
4. What’s the smallest improvement that would make the “keep customers coming back” side of this easier?

Happy to share what I’m building if anyone wants to compare notes in the comments. Mostly trying to learn from people who actually live this on weekends.

Genuine question for the operators here.

I’ve been talking to a handful of food truck owners and market vendors over the past few months, and one thing keeps coming up: the Friday/Saturday morning routine of telling 50-200 customers where you’ll be that day.

Some do group texts. Some post an IG story. Some just hope regulars find them via Roaming Hunger or word of mouth.

I’m working on a tool aimed at this niche and trying to figure out what’s actually broken about the current options before building more of the wrong thing. Would love honest takes from people who do this every weekend:

1. What’s your current workflow for telling customers where you’ll be? IG story, group text, mailing list, nothing?
2. Have you tried any SMS or email tool like Mailchimp, Constant Contact, SimpleTexting, Square Marketing, or Toast? What worked, what didn’t?
3. If you have a regular following, how do you stay in touch with them between markets/events?
4. What’s the smallest thing that would actually make this part of the weekend less annoying?

Happy to share what I’m building if anyone wants to compare notes in the comments. Mostly just trying to learn from people who actually live this every Saturday.