4 wholesale marketing ideas to increase sales

Wholesale brands all have one thing in common—they want to grow their business. That’s where wholesale marketing comes into play. With the tools available on Faire, you can make the most of your wholesale marketing efforts and increase sales with retailers you might not be able to connect with otherwise. Faire helps wholesale businesses grow by enabling artists, brands, and makers to connect with more than 600,000 independent retailers around the world to market their brand and increase B2B sales.

Why wholesalers need marketing

Simply put, wholesalers need marketing so retailers can find them. If you have a wholesale business or are trying to get one started, you need to sell enough products to retail businesses in bulk for your business to be profitable. You also need to sell your products at a price that allows retailers to make a profit when they resell to consumers. B2B marketing is different from marketing directly to consumers, though, and there are a few different things to keep in mind as you promote your wholesale products to fellow business owners. 

Grow your business with a wholesale marketing strategy

If you’re trying to grow a wholesale business from the ground up—or transition from a B2C model to B2B—start by focusing on two areas: forming new retailer relationships and maximizing existing ones.

Many brands start by attending trade shows to network and find new buyers. Small and growing businesses often find that traditional, in-person trade shows are prohibitively expensive, but Faire markets offer a free alternative for wholesalers and retailers across the globe looking to connect online based on great merchandise, deals, and shared values. Whether you opt for in-person or virtual trade shows, we’ve gathered some tips to help brands like yours nurture the customer relationships you make there. 

You can also tap existing customers for positive reviews to convince potential customers who are on the fence to make a purchase. Try asking for feedback through surveys and questions to your social media communities, then sharing the best quotes on your website or additional social media posts. It might even be worthwhile to offer an incentive such as a free gift or small, one-time discount for any wholesale customers who refer your brand to other buyers. 

4 wholesale marketing methods made easier with Faire

Often, growth in wholesale comes down to reaching the right retailers through the right channels. Here are four ways you can leverage Faire’s wholesale marketing tools to market your business, resonate with retailers, and ultimately increase sales.

1. Invite buyers to shop your line

As a wholesale entrepreneur, your number one goal is to get your products into stores. Making sales is all about building relationships, so it’s important to consistently engage with existing and potential customers to demonstrate how your brand can add value to their store while keeping risk and costs low. 

One way to engage with current and prospective buyers is by reaching out and directly inviting them to shop your line. When you invite retailers to order from your line on Faire, you can even offer incentives to encourage retailers to buy from you through our program called Faire Direct, a personalized link that helps you grow sales on Faire at 0% commission. With Faire Direct you can offer benefits like extended payment terms for eligible retailers at no cost to you. The following Faire Direct incentives are covered entirely by Faire:

• Eligible retailers receive 60-day payment terms through Faire Direct so they can place larger, more frequent orders with confidence.
• Retailers who are new to Faire get a $100 credit and one year of free shipping on your line.
• You can eliminate retailers’ hesitation about trying your brand with free returns on opening orders. 
• You’ll pay 0% commission on all orders through Faire Direct.

Pro tip: Brands that use Faire Direct to build relationships sell five times more than those that don’t!

2. Market your products through email

It’s important to continue building relationships with buyers after offering great incentives that encourage them to make a purchase. You can develop thoughtful marketing emails that both educate customers about your line and help them feel connected to your business. This might mean explaining what makes your products unique or communicating your values as a brand. 

Make sure that every email you send has a clear call to action—in other words, what should a buyer do after reading your email? In most cases, you’ll want the retailer to make a purchase.

You can also include your Faire Direct link—a simple URL that’s unique to your brand and allows retailers to access all the benefits of Faire Direct when they shop your line.

3. Promote your brand on social media

Social media is an important aspect of your brand’s wholesale marketing strategy. Remember to think about your audience—where are retailers most likely to follow your brand? You can choose to focus on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, or a combination. Some brands also utilize LinkedIn to network with retail businesses. Once you’ve identified a social media platform with a captive audience of retailers, you can promote your brand’s story, products, and Faire Direct link on those social channels. If you sell directly to consumers through the same channels, just be sure to clarify which of your posts are for wholesale customers only.

To help you promote your brand on social media, we’ve created an assortment of custom assets exclusively for Faire brands. You can add custom text to these images on social media and make them your own. The assets already have a call to action—all you need to do is add your brand name or Faire Direct link.

Click here to download free social assets from Faire!

4. Engage customers through print collateral

Print collateral is another great way to market your brand. Whether you make postcards, flyers, or catalogs, remember that calls to action are just as important in print as they are online. Let retailers know how they can shop or reach you and give them a reason to keep visiting. 

In addition to our social media assets linked above, there are lots of free tools to help you perfect your brand’s designs before making hard copies of them. For example, you might consider using HubSpot’s brand kit generator to refresh your logo and color palette.

These printed materials are another perfect place to include your Faire Direct link that takes potential customers right to your Faire catalog where they can easily access all the benefits of the platform. You can include print collateral with your shipped orders and bring it along to hand out at trade shows or other in-person events.  

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To get started promoting your brand, log in to Faire (or apply to sell) and click on the Faire Direct page. Then, download our free social assets to use across your marketing channels!