Struggling Online Social Enterprise

[HungryHair]

I set up a social enterprise, selling artwork by artists with disabilities, a year ago and am finding it really difficult to get traffic to the site. I have been chasing a lot of off-line PR in the regional press and have had about 20 articles published but they are all really small and only give traffic a small boost for a couple of days. I post of FB and Insta twice a week with only limited interactions. I have a couple of big charity supporters who have a big following and they share my posts every couple of months which (again) boosts traffic initially but then it comes right down again. I am using email to retarget and collect newsletter subscribers. Google Search has a really high CPC and such a low conversion rate that it's delivering a CPA of about £70 - my products are £70 or less!

Is there anyway to put yourself forward for national press/ bbc up-coming features on things like Womans Hour? This would be my dream.

Has anyone any wisdom to impart and help me out?! Otherwise, I do not know how long I will be able to keep running the social enterprise as I am losing money (even with me working for free!) month on month.

Thanks, and sorry to sound desperate!

Oh - and the website is art-rabble.org/

[FusionChefGeoff]

Have you done a marketing plan / strategy to define who you are targeting? I think you could do more work around your average customer and find out where they hang out online - FB groups are really good for that. And then start popping up on there?

I'd say increase your socials - start sharing useful / interesting content around art and disabilities in general rather than constantly pushing the product. Build a following of people interested in art / disabilities. Maybe start your own group?

Can you set up workshops for disabled people to come and listen to an artist and have a go themselves?

[Mumofteoboysaged4and5]

Sign up to Enterprise Nation - it’s completely free and has loads of support for businesses. It also runs lots of programmes targeted at specific types of businesses which often come with grants/free marketing/ support. I have been signed up with them for two years and they are incredible!

[HungryHair]

Thank you both!

I will sign up to enterprise nation now. Thanks for the tip.

With regard to setting up workshops, we're an online set-up so we have no physical presence through which to promote artists. (Partly because I am a mum of four and struggle to manage life and work as it is! If I had to set up physical work-shops it would create issues with childcare etc etc). Although someone else suggested to me that I leave some flyers in local cafe's- that have a link to the disability community and I think I will give this a go. It would be small scale but I'll try anything at this point! I like your thinking though and am pondering if I could get the artists to share some video content with me that I could then use to share with audiences...

[DelilahBucket]

Check out Lightbulb on Facebook. It's a PR group. It isn't free, but it does offer great opportunities for media appearances. I've been on TV several times, the radio, podcasts, done countless newspaper articles and appeared in top magazines this year through the group. It's been well worth the fee. Just the back links alone are like gold dust.
You can push social media more, you need to be posting daily for it to work. Reels work better than just photos or posts.
Santander do a women in business mentorship programme. Applications usually open in January so look out for it. You may not get picked, but it's worth a try.

[MamaSharkDooDooDooDooDooDooo]

@HungryHair I love your website... I would like to email you but I cannot find an email address on your site... I was wondering if you might PM me with an email, please? (My phone won't open up a window to allow me to PM you, sorry!!)

[Thissucksballs]

I just signed up for the websites newsletter

[Uniquedesignforlife]

You need to up your social media posting. And across all platforms including twitter and TikTok etc. set yourself a schedule each week try to post once per day min preferably 3 times a day.
the more you post the more engagement you will get. It’s not overnight success but a long hog but worth it.
also connect with local newspapers and try to get an editorial from them. Then build on this.
happy to help if you want just message me xx

[BitOutOfPractice]

Have you thought about a low cost Facebook advertising campaign.? For as little as a fiver a day you can get some real traction. There’s tutorials online on how to set it up.

and yes I agree, post more and across different platforms. Also mix up the type of content. The meta business suite makes it really easy to make reels for Facebook and insta for example.

get yourself a plan / schedule / timetable and really give it a strong push.