How to Promote Your Creative Workshops (Without Feeling Like You’re Constantly Selling)
You’ve planned your workshop, found a lovely venue, worked out your pricing, taken some photos and finally put the booking page live. Then you share one post on Instagram telling everyone about it. And you wait.
Unfortunately, this is the bit where I have to tell you that one Instagram post probably isn’t going to fill your workshop.
One of the things I hear a lot from people who run creative workshops is that they don’t really know how to market them. Or, more often, they feel uncomfortable talking about them too much because they don’t want to annoy people or feel like they’re constantly selling. But promoting your creative workshops doesn’t have to mean shouting BUY A TICKET every day for six weeks. Really, it’s just about finding lots of different ways to tell people about something you’ve made.
And yes, you are probably going to have to tell them more than once.
Start promoting your workshop earlier than you think
As a general rule, I’d start promoting a creative workshop around four to six weeks before it takes place. There are obviously exceptions. If you’re running a higher-priced workshop, something people need to travel for or a special one-off event, people might need longer to plan for it. If you’re running something very local and low-cost, you might find that people are happier to book at shorter notice. But four to six weeks gives you enough time to talk about the workshop properly without spending months trying to sell the same event. It also gives your customers time to check their diaries, ask a friend, arrange childcare, wait until payday or do all the other things that happen between thinking “Oh, that looks nice” and actually booking a ticket.
You need to tell people about your workshop more than once
This is probably one of the biggest mistakes I see people make. They announce a workshop on Instagram, perhaps share it to Stories as well, and then feel disappointed when they haven’t sold all their tickets. The problem is that most of your audience probably didn’t see it. And even some of the people who did see it won’t have been ready to book at that exact moment.
There’s an old marketing idea that people need multiple touchpoints with something before they buy. You’ll often hear people talk about the “rule of seven”. I wouldn’t get too hung up on whether somebody has seen your workshop exactly seven times, but the principle is useful: people usually need reminding. Someone might see your workshop while they’re standing in the supermarket queue and think it looks brilliant. Then it’s their turn to pay and your workshop disappears from their brain forever. That doesn’t mean they weren’t interested, it means they’re human. So tell them again.
Stop trying to think of completely new things to post
This is where workshop marketing can start to feel exhausting. If you have one workshop to promote, you might think you need to come up with six weeks of completely different marketing content but you don’t. You just need to find different ways to talk about the same workshop.
For example, you could share:
the finished thing people are going to make
a video of you making it
the materials they’ll be using
some behind-the-scenes workshop preparation
the venue
why you chose that particular venue
photos from a previous workshop
something lovely a previous customer has said
what’s included in the ticket
who the workshop is for
what people need to bring
the fact that they don’t need any previous experience
an answer to a question people regularly ask
a reminder that tickets are still available
a “last few spaces” post when that’s genuinely the case
It’s all the same workshop.
But every piece of content gives somebody a slightly different reason to notice it.
Show people what the workshop actually feels like
This is particularly important with creative workshops because people aren’t only buying the thing they’re going to make. They’re buying the experience. They’re imagining a few hours away from normal life. They might be picturing coming with a friend, having a coffee, learning something new, meeting people or just getting to do something with their hands for an afternoon. So show them that.
If you’ve run the workshop before, photos and videos of real people taking part are incredibly useful. Show the tables covered in materials. Show people concentrating. Show the cups of tea. Show the slightly chaotic middle bit. Show everyone holding up what they made at the end. Those images help someone imagine themselves being there in a way that a photograph of the finished product alone often can’t. And if you haven't run the workshop before, you can still create some of that feeling. Show yourself preparing the materials, visit the venue, film yourself making the project and talk about why you decided to run it.
Tell people who your workshop is for
Don’t assume people know. If your workshop is designed for complete beginners, say that. Often.
One of the biggest things stopping somebody from booking a creative workshop is the little voice telling them:
I’m not creative enough.
Everyone else will know what they’re doing.
What if mine is rubbish?
I haven’t done anything like this since school.
If none of those things matter, tell them.
Instead of simply saying:
Chunky Knitting Workshop – tickets available now!
you could say:
Never knitted before? Perfect. You don’t need to know how to knit, you don’t need to bring anything with you and I’ll show you exactly what to do from the beginning.
That gives someone much more useful information. You’re not just telling them that the workshop exists. You’re removing one of the reasons they might not book it.
Use your email list
If you have an email list, please use it. Social media is brilliant for getting your workshops in front of people, but you don’t control who sees your posts. Your email list gives you another way to reach people who have already chosen to hear from you. And you’re allowed to email them about your workshops more than once too. You could announce the new dates when they go live, mention the workshop as part of a more general email a couple of weeks later and send another reminder when the date is getting closer.
Again, this doesn’t have to be:
BUY MY WORKSHOP. BUY MY WORKSHOP. BUY MY WORKSHOP.
Tell them why you’re excited about it. Show them what you’ve been making. Tell them something funny that happened at the last one. Introduce the venue. Share a customer photograph. You’re still promoting the workshop, but you’re giving people something interesting to read at the same time.
Ask your venue to help
A good workshop venue can be one of your best marketing tools. When you’re talking to a potential venue, ask how they promote events. Do they have an email list? An Instagram account? A Facebook page? Posters in the venue? A community noticeboard? Some venues have spent years building an audience of local people who already trust them and regularly attend their events. That can be incredibly valuable.
Make it easy for the venue to promote your workshop too. Send them good photographs, the booking link and a short bit of copy they can use rather than expecting them to create everything themselves. And if you find a venue that regularly promotes your workshops, communicates well and has a brilliant local community around it, look after that relationship. A reliable venue is worth far more than somewhere that just looks beautiful on Instagram.
Think beyond Instagram
Instagram might be where you do most of your marketing, but it doesn’t have to be the only place people hear about your workshop. Depending on your audience and where your workshop is taking place, you could also try local Facebook groups, community pages, local newsletters, posters or flyers, your Google Business Profile if you have one, Pinterest, your own website and collaborations with other local businesses. You can also simply ask people to tell their friends. Word of mouth is incredibly powerful for workshops. If someone has had a brilliant time at one of your events, make it easy for them to come back with somebody else. You don’t need to be everywhere. Pick the places where your customers are actually likely to be and focus your energy there.
Make sure people can actually find the information they need
Sometimes the marketing isn't the problem. Someone sees your workshop. They’re interested. They click through to find out more.
And then they can’t work out where it is.
Or how long it lasts.
Or whether materials are included.
Or whether they need experience.
Or where they can park.
Or what happens if they need to cancel.
Every unanswered question gives somebody another opportunity to decide, I’ll look at that later and we all know what happens to things we're going to look at later.
Make your booking page really clear. Include the date, time, location, what they'll make, what's included, who it's suitable for, accessibility information where relevant and anything they need to bring.
Your marketing gets them interested. Your booking page needs to make it easy for them to say yes.
What if your workshop still isn’t selling?
Firstly, don't panic after three days. Some workshops sell quickly. Some don't. If bookings are slower than you'd hoped, look at what you're actually doing before deciding that nobody wants the workshop.
Have enough people seen it?
Have you talked about it more than once?
Have you shown people what they'll make?
Have you explained who it's for?
Have you shown the experience rather than just the product?
Has the venue promoted it?
Have you emailed your list?
Is the booking page clear?
If you’ve done all of those things and people still aren’t booking, then you can start looking at the workshop itself: the price, date, location, project or audience. But don't decide a workshop has failed when you've mentioned it twice on Instagram and hoped for the best.
You do not need a huge audience to fill a creative workshop
This is worth saying because I think social media has convinced us that we need thousands and thousands of followers before we can sell anything. You don't.
If your workshop has eight spaces, you don't need 50,000 followers. You need eight people who want to come. A smaller, local audience who trusts you and is genuinely interested in what you do can be much more useful than a huge following spread all over the world. Focus less on how many people are following you and more on whether the right people know your workshop exists.
Promoting your workshops doesn’t have to feel horrible
You made something you're proud of. You've planned an experience you think people are going to enjoy. You're allowed to tell people about it. More than once.
You don't have to turn every post into a sales pitch and you definitely don't have to spend every day shouting about your last three tickets. Just keep finding different ways to show people what you're doing, who it's for and why they might enjoy it. Because people can't book a workshop they don't know exists.
Frequently Asked Questions
How far in advance should I promote a creative workshop?
For most creative workshops, I recommend starting your promotion around four to six weeks before the event. This gives people enough time to make plans while still keeping the workshop relatively close in their diaries. More expensive workshops, retreats or events involving travel may need a longer promotional period.
How often should I post about my workshop?
There isn't a perfect number. The important thing is not to rely on one announcement post. Talk about your workshop regularly throughout the promotional period, but vary what you share. Show the project, behind-the-scenes preparation, previous attendees, the venue, FAQs and reminders rather than repeatedly posting the same sales message.
Where can I advertise creative workshops?
Start with the channels where your ideal customers already spend their time. This might include Instagram, your email list, your website, local Facebook groups and community pages. Your venue can also be an important marketing partner, particularly if it has an established local audience.
How can I promote a workshop without sounding too salesy?
Think about promotion as giving people useful information rather than constantly asking them to buy. Show what they'll make, explain what the experience will be like, answer common questions and reassure beginners. You're still marketing the workshop, but you're helping somebody decide whether it's right for them.
Do I need lots of social media followers to sell out a workshop?
No. A creative workshop might only have six, eight or twelve spaces, so you don't need an enormous audience. A smaller audience of local people who trust you and are interested in your work can be much more valuable than thousands of followers who live nowhere near your workshops.
What should I do if nobody is booking my workshop?
Don't immediately assume the workshop itself is the problem. First look at how many people have actually heard about it and whether you've promoted it in enough different ways. Check that your booking page answers the important questions and that you're clearly explaining who the workshop is for and what people will get from it. If you've marketed it consistently and bookings are still slow, then look at things like your date, price, venue, workshop idea and target audience.