Marketing of craft producers: evaluation and implications for the future education

Craft producers often drive tourist and the overall economic development of small communities; therefore, their business success extends beyond their own benefit. This research was therefore driven by the idea to support craft producers in achieving market success. The purpose of the research was to understand how craft producers approach marketing and what their needs are in terms of marketing education. We approached the research by inquiring insights directly from craft producers interested to improve their marketing knowledge and collecting qualitative data by questionnaires with open-ended questions. The results show that surveyed craft producers give considerable thought to developing marketing mix elements; however, mostly miss to approach marketing strategically. At the same time, they believe that they should make a better use of the possibilities provided by the digital media. Considering these results, we recommend that marketing education for craft producers should focus on conceptualising marketing as a process of interconnected decisions that go beyond promotion, and that when approached strategically help to make day-to-day market-related decisions simpler and more efficient. We also recommend that such education include practical knowledge of essential digital marketing techniques. The originality of the research lies in reaching conclusions about the future educational needs of craft producers by not only directly asking interested individuals about their needs, but also by going beyond and analysing descriptions of their marketing activities to better understand the full scope of their educational needs.