How I Cut My Advertising Costs by 90% with This Simple Trick!

🥁 The secret is waitlists… Have a read about how waitlists helped me reduce advertising costs and boost social media engagement!

Running craft workshops has been a passion of mine (and basically my job for the past year and half), but like many creators, I’m mindful of the expenses, especially when it comes to advertising. After trying different methods to keep my audience engaged, I stumbled upon an unexpected tool that transformed my approach: waitlists. Not only did they help reduce my ad spend, but they also provided insights that helped me plan workshops more effectively.

Here’s how adding waitlists made a difference for my business.

WHY I STARTED USING WAITLISTS FOR MY WORKSHOPS

The idea of using waitlists came about during a period when I wasn’t hosting as many workshops as usual. However, I continued advertising for the few workshops I had scheduled, which kept website traffic steady. It struck me that instead of letting potential customers come and go, I could capture their interest for upcoming sessions or repeat workshops that had proven popular. A waitlist allowed me to connect with people interested in workshops I’d hosted previously or was considering in the future.

Setting up a waitlist gave me a way to stay connected with my audience while keeping them engaged with my offerings. It took out some of the guesswork by allowing me to see which workshops had the most demand directly from those interested. For example, I saw significant interest in my “Chains and Charms” workshop, inspiring me to create a session just for those waitlisted. With over 20 people signed up for this workshop alone, I knew it had strong potential to succeed.

SURPRISING BENEFITS OF WAITLISTS – FROM COST SAVINGS TO BETTER WORKSHOP PLANNING

Beyond helping me understand customer interest, waitlists delivered some unexpected benefits that reshaped my approach to advertising. Take my Chains & Charms workshop as an example. With over 20 people already on the waitlist, I was able to keep my advertising spend extremely low—spending just $30 in total. Thanks to the waitlist, I sold out the session within two weeks, generating $600 from that single event.

But the financial benefits didn’t stop there. Since the Chains & Charms workshop proved so popular, I projected that I could host additional sessions, aiming to earn another $2,000 from this workshop by year-end. Waitlists allowed me to maximize the return on my advertising budget by reaching people already interested, reducing the need for broad ad campaigns.

The benefits didn’t stop at cost savings, I’ve also noticed a shift in customer behavior, too. For one, I saw an increase in email sign-ups, as people were more inclined to join the waitlist than commit right away. Waitlists added a sense of anticipation and exclusivity, letting people secure their spot before the workshop went public. In this way, my audience grew naturally, creating a built-in network of potential attendees who were genuinely interested in my workshops. Plus, I saw a small boost in social media engagement, since people were sharing my post with their friends.

HOW I IMPLEMENTED WAITLISTS ON SQUARESPACE

When I first decided to experiment with waitlists, I needed a way to set them up seamlessly on my existing platform. Since I run my entire workshop business on Squarespace, I used its built-in waitlist function to create and manage my lists. The setup was straightforward, which was a big plus, allowing me to get started quickly without additional tools or expenses. For my business, this platform made managing waitlists simple and intuitive.

(Side note, I’m working on a tutorial on how to do this in Squarespace to add to the Crafts Workshops Academy!)

OK, COOL… BUT WHAT ABOUT DOWNSIDES YOU MAY ASK!?

Let’s get this clear! For you to use the waitlist feature inside Squarespace, you have to be on a Commerce paid plan. Which are not the cheapest ones (in my mind, this is totally worth it because commerce plans take 0% of your sales, I did a whole blog article about it, read it here).

Now, secondly, even though you can apply this strategy without having your own website, or on a different website platform… You either already are an automations pro and can set this up in your sleep, or you’ll have a lot of admin work emailing people!

MY OVERALL THOUGHTS

So far, this implementation has made a huge difference in my business, not only in savings costs (we love that) but also in my workflow. Making is easier to plan ahead what workshops to do when. To top it all off, I believe this shift has also changed how my customers perceived the experience. By creating a single, dedicated space for them to express interest, I fostered a sense of community and exclusivity (which resulted in a new sense or urgency when tickets do get released, we also love that). People knew they had the opportunity to secure a spot in advance, which has been a huge incentive for them to join my waitlists—and ultimately, my workshops.