7 Ways Vendor Market Organizers Can Help Small Businesses Succeed (Part 2)

In Part 1, we covered planning and setup: knowing your shoppers, confirming vendors early, a welcome pack, booth spacing, help at load-in, a thoughtful vendor mix and a warm greeting. Missed it? Start with Part 1.

Now let's talk promotion, market day and the follow-up. After 11 years behind the table at markets across Toronto and the GTA, these are the 7 things that keep vendors booking season after season.

1. Turn Every Vendor Into a Megaphone

Your vendors have communities of their own. Give them the tools to bring those people to your market.

Create a Google Drive folder or a Canva template vendors can duplicate and edit to say, "Hey, here's where I'll be!" Include the date, hours, address, the market hashtag and the accounts to tag, in a few sizes for posts, stories and email.

One hour of setup turns 30 vendors into 30 promoters.

A shareable from the One of a Kind Show: one ready-made template, and every vendor becomes a megaphone.

2. Prime Shoppers Before They Arrive

There's a marked difference in sales when shoppers arrive primed to buy. Promote the vendors, not just the date.

Feature individual vendors in your emails and on social media in the weeks leading up to the market. People will look them up, research what they sell and decide what they want ahead of time. Those shoppers come in excited and ready to buy.

Primed shoppers come straight to the table with questions ready.

On the day, use clear signage to pull in foot traffic from the street, the parking lot or the rest of the mall. Afterward, send shoppers a thank-you email with links to every vendor's website and social media, so they can find the thing they almost bought. If vendors offer affiliate programs, those links can become an added revenue stream for you, too.

I learned this the hard way at a market held at the Toronto Botanical Garden that was very poorly attended. My friend who lives in the area used to go every year, and she was waiting for the street signage that never appeared. To make things worse, some of the staff I spoke to that day didn't even know the market was happening. If the people on site don't know about it, how will shoppers?

3. Check In, Dammit

Showing us our table isn't the end of the interaction.

Walk the floor a few times during the day to see if anyone could use change, water or a quick table watch. Check in again at load-out to ask how the day went. Then send a thank-you email. I've done markets where the organizer disappeared after check-in and only resurfaced to sell me on the next one. It's the fastest way to make sure a vendor never comes back.

4. Make Feedback Feel Safe

Too many organizers ask, "How's it going?" then get huffy and frustrated when the answer is anything other than "amazing." If I say "just okay" or offer a suggestion, that's useful information, not an attack.

Ask in person, send a short survey afterward, and receive the answers gracefully. Then tell vendors what you changed because of their feedback. That's how a market grows, and it's what brings vendors back season after season.

The Toronto Stationery Show is a great example of this. As a result of feedback, they're switching venues, adding more days and offering multi-day passes. That's what listening looks like, and it's why vendors and shoppers keep coming back.

Related: Networking for Success: The Power of Support and Accountability

5. Capture Content That Sells

Bring in a professional photographer or videographer and share the photos and videos with vendors at no cost. We use that content on social media and in our recaps, which promotes your next market for you.

Professional headshots and action shots of vendors with shoppers are especially valuable. Most small business owners rarely get great photos of themselves at work.

shutterb is a great option here. They do great work showcasing the event while helping vendors get shots that sell, and they deliver content quickly to an online gallery.

Here's the part a lot of organizers miss: potential vendors look at these photos too. Before I apply to a market, I check its photos and tagged posts to see the crowd, the setup and the energy, and whether it makes sense for my brand. Great content today fills your vendor applications tomorrow.

Action shots like this are gold for vendors, and for the next vendor deciding whether to apply.

6. Close the Loop With a Recap Email

Within a week of the market, send every vendor a recap with attendance numbers, how you promoted the day, a link to the photos and videos, and a genuine thank-you.

It helps vendors measure their results, gives them fresh content to share, and shows you're invested in their success beyond one weekend. Include your next dates and an early-bird invite while the good feelings are still fresh.

At Empowered in My Skin. A recap email with photos like this gives vendors fresh content to share.

7. Make Your Vendor Fee Worth Every Penny

Tie your fee to what you actually deliver: marketing, foot traffic, support and a great setup.

Spell out exactly what's included, like table size, power, marketing and on-site support, so there are no surprises. Transparency builds trust, and trust is what fills tables year after year.

Bonus tips

• Cover tables for quick breaks. A volunteer who can watch a table for 10 minutes means solo vendors can eat or use the bathroom without losing sales.
• Run a stamp card. Give shoppers a card to get stamped at each booth, then enter full cards into a prize draw. It pulls traffic to every table, not just the busy ones up front.

Frequently asked questions

How much should you charge vendors at an event?

There's no single right number. Base your fee on what you actually deliver, like expected foot traffic, marketing, table size, power and on-site support, and compare it with similar markets in your area. Be upfront about what's included.

How do you attract more shoppers to a pop-up market?

Promote your vendors by name in your emails and on social media, use clear street signage, give vendors shareable templates, and add a draw like music, food or a stamp card that rewards shoppers for visiting every booth.

The bottom line

When you advocate for your vendors, they advocate for you. That's how a market becomes the one everyone wants to be part of.

Catch up on the first 7 tips in Part 1.

Looking for vendors (or a speaker)?

PleaseNotes still pops up at markets as a vendor. Nowadays, I also do a lot of speaking and workshops, and I love pairing a talk or hands-on session with a vendor table. If you'd like to add a little extra draw to your next market, reach out at CherylSutherland.com.

Do you have any tips or things you would like to share? Comment below!

About the author

Cheryl Sutherland is a confidence coach, keynote speaker, and the founder of PleaseNotes. She helps women own their worth through workshops, keynotes, and personal growth tools that make confidence something you can practise every day. Her work has been featured in Forbes, InStyle, HuffPost, Fast Company, and Thrive Global, and she's partnered with organizations like WestJet, Intuit, CBC, and Dress for Success. Want Cheryl to speak with your team? Visit CherylSutherland.com.