5 Knitter Personas To Unlock Higher Opens and Sales
You have 1,000 Instagram followers, but only 50 people open your emails.
Here's why: you're speaking to everyone, which means you're connecting with no one.
Not all knitters want the same thing from you. The person who buys your beginner-friendly cowl pattern has completely different needs than the person who wants your advanced colorwork masterclass. When you understand these different personas in your audience, you can create email content (and products) that actually resonate.
Your audience is made up of the following:
1. The Maker-Entrepreneur Knits to sell, teach, or build a creative business. Focused on efficiency, marketability, consistent results. They want: Tips on how to produce consistent results with their knitting Red Flag: They disengage when you romanticize "slow making" or "just knit for joy" when they're trying to run a business
2. The Skill Builder Motivated by learning new techniques, challenging themselves, building mastery. Loves complex patterns, workshops, skill progression. They want: Opportunities to learn new skills and build mastery. Red Flag: Too much beginner-level content or repetitive basic techniques.
3. The Community Connector Knits for social connection - KALs, guilds, gifting. Values shared experiences and belonging over the object itself. They want: Connection, interaction, and shared experiences with other knitters. Red Flag: Ignoring comments and questions (they want interaction)!
4. The Self-Care Practitioner Knits for mental health, mindfulness, stress relief. Simple, portable projects. Process over product. They want: Tips on how to knit mindfully or opportunities to knit mindfully. Red Flag: Pressure to finish projects quickly or hit deadlines.
5. The Creative Expresser Uses knitting as personal artistic expression - color, design, making it uniquely theirs. May modify patterns heavily or design their own. They want: Patterns that can be modified to allow for more personal expression. Red Flag: Rigid "follow this pattern exactly" messaging.
In some cases, these needs may overlap. Your Self-Care practitioner may also value joining a KAL. The key isn't to serve all five personas equally - it's to know which 1-2 dominate your audience and speak directly to them most of the time.
To leverage these personas to better serve your customers, consider the following approaches to engage them.
Five Knitting Categories: Lead Magnets and Red Flags
Which persona dominates YOUR audience? Hit reply and tell me - I'd love to hear what patterns you're seeing.
Is Your Email List Making You Money?
Most craft educators have an email list. Few know how to actually use it.
