Instagram for makers and craft businesses: the guide to finding customers

Why Instagram works for makers

• It’s your portfolio: a potential customer sees your work in seconds.
• It builds trust: people buy more easily from a maker whose work and face they can see.
• It reaches locals: location tags and city hashtags bring in customers near your studio or shop.
• It shows the craft: the technique, the materials, and the hours spent justify your price.
• It sends traffic where you sell: your Etsy shop, your website, your next market or pop-up.

Set up your account the right way

1. Switch to a professional account (it’s free): you get insights and contact buttons.
2. Pick a specific category: woodworker, jewelry designer, ceramicist, florist…
3. Add your city or area to your name or bio: “Oak & Grain Woodworks · Austin, TX.”
4. Write a bio that says what you make and who it’s for, with a call to action. See our Instagram bio examples for business.
5. Add a way to reach you or buy: email, a custom order form, your Etsy shop or website link.
6. Create Story Highlights: recent work, customer reviews, custom orders, shipping or local pickup, upcoming markets.

What to post: 15 ideas for makers

1. The before and after of a restoration or a custom piece.
2. A finished piece, in photos and video.
3. A close-up of the technique, in slow motion.
4. The steps of making something, as a carousel.
5. Your studio, workshop, or booth setup, tidy (or not).
6. The tools you use, and why.
7. Your raw materials: wood, clay, silver, wax, leather, and where they come from.
8. A common mistake buyers make before they find you.
9. A care tip to make a piece last.
10. The answer to a question you get all the time: lead times, pricing, shipping.
11. A happy customer’s review, with their permission.
12. Your helper, apprentice, or team at work.
13. Your story: how you learned the craft, why you started the business.
14. A custom order, from first sketch to delivery.
15. Your availability this month, or your schedule of upcoming markets and pop-ups.

For more topics, browse our list of social media post ideas for business.

Video: your best asset

Short videos (Reels) are the format that gets accounts discovered most on Instagram. For a maker, they’re easy to produce: set your phone on a stand, film 20 seconds of your hands at work, add some on-screen text. You don’t have to talk to the camera.

A repetitive, satisfying process video (planing wood, throwing a pot, pouring wax, cutting leather) can reach far beyond your followers. Our method for writing a video script will help you structure the videos that explain more.

Turn views into orders

• End your captions with an action: “Want one like this? Send me a DM” or “Now available in the shop, link in bio.”
• Mention your area in posts and hashtags (#austinmaker, #portlandceramics) if you sell locally.
• Reply to DMs fast: a potential customer often reaches out to several makers.
• Share customer reviews regularly, including your Etsy reviews: they remove doubts before the first order.
• Plan around the big shopping moments: Mother’s Day, the holiday season, Small Business Saturday, holiday craft fairs.
• Cross-post to Facebook, where many local customers and craft fair shoppers still spend time.

How much time should you spend on it?

An hour a week is enough to get started: 15 minutes to film while you work, 30 minutes to edit and write, 15 minutes to answer messages. Aim for two posts a week and a few Stories, then adjust based on your results.

If even an hour is hard to find, a tool like My Social Manager can plan your calendar and write your captions from your photos and videos: all that’s left is to approve them. You can start with a free assessment.