Case study · Beyond Ideas Studio
Poem of Stones
Helping a Sheffield pet portrait artist be seen, found and booked, through strategy, social media, search, website and a first workshop.
Beyond Ideas Studio partnered with Poem of Stones to turn a talented artist’s work into a brand that attracts buyers.
Poem of Stones is a Sheffield studio for customised pet portraits and nature paintings, run by an artist who left a full-time engineering job to paint. We built the brand strategy, ran the social media, recommended a website redesign, optimised the Etsy listings and curated a pet portrait workshop, all working towards one goal: more people connecting with the artist, and more of them buying.
Project overview
- Client
- Poem of Stones
- Studio
- Beyond Ideas
- Location
- Sheffield, UK
- Event partner
- 7th Magpie
- Disciplines
- Brand strategy
- Social media management
- Website UI/UX recommendations
- Etsy SEO
- Event curation
Background & context
Poem of Stones sells customised pet portraits, nature paintings, prints and small illustrated gifts. The work is made by one artist, who sells at markets in and around the region and has begun teaching painting workshops.
The art was strong. The brand around it was not yet doing its job. The audience wasn’t clearly defined, the artist herself was missing from the story, and the content leaned on art and market dates alone.
The opportunity was to bring the person behind the paintbrush forward, and connect it all, from a first post to a sale.
The challenge
How does a one-person art studio turn followers into customers, when the work is lovely but the audience is mostly other artists?
Part one
Brand strategy
We started by looking at how the brand showed up. Four things stood out:
- The audience focus was blurred.
- The founder’s connection with her audience was missing.
- The brand concentrated on art and markets only.
- Content was informative but impersonal, and posting art alone tends to attract other artists more than buyers.
Posting art attracts artists. Showing the artist attracts buyers.
The strategy became the thread running through everything else: show the art, but also let people get to know the artist, her process and her story, so that an emotional connection comes before the purchase.
Part two
Social media management
The core idea is simple: post content where the art is shown, and content where the audience gets to know the artist, her art and the work behind the scenes.
We handled the content strategy, content pillars and ideas, the shot lists, the editing of reels and carousels, and stories to promote the workshops.
The content mix
The art
Finished portraits and process videos that show the craft and invite people to imagine their own pet painted.
The artist
Face-to-camera reels, personal stories and light, relatable moments that let people meet the person behind the work.
Behind the scenes
Markets, workshops and day-to-day studio life, so the audience feels part of the journey.
Recurring formats such as “come paint with me” and a breed of the week gave the audience reasons to return and the artist a steady rhythm to post to.
Part three
Website UI/UX recommendations
Once people arrive, the website has to do what the social media started: make it easy to understand what’s on offer, trust the artist and place an order. We reviewed the site page by page and mocked up recommended changes.
Home
A clearer hero, a navigation bar that carries a join-the-mailing-list link on every page, a call-to-action button at the top right, and a pop-up offering 10% off for email sign-ups.
Shop
Art prints split into animals and nature; accessories into wooden coasters, keychains, bookmarks and cards; and the pet portrait commission turned into a form that completes the order.
The rest
About me and About the shop merged into one About Us page, social icons added to the contact page, and the newsletter sign-up now says “on your first order”.
Before
The existing site had plenty of lovely work, but visitors had to hunt for it. Seven items sat in the navigation, there were two separate About pages, prints and pet portraits ran together in long, unsorted grids, and pet portrait commissions were listed like ordinary products, mixed in with coasters, keyrings and baubles.
After: our recommendations
Our recommendations would make the site easier to browse and make it quicker to order.
- Clearer browsing. Sorting prints into animals and nature, and accessories into coasters, keychains, bookmarks and cards, lets visitors find what they want in a click or two.
- A simpler route to a commission. A form where customers pick a size, choose whether they need a frame and request a quotation replaces scrolling through product tiles.
- A stronger story. One About Us page brings the artist and the shop together, which supports the strategy of letting buyers get to know her.
- A clear next step. A call-to-action button at the top right and a shop page that leads with art prints, pet portraits and accessories point visitors towards ordering.
- Repeat customers. A mailing list link on every page and a 10% off pop-up for sign-ups turn first-time visitors into subscribers.
The recommended designs
Part four
Etsy SEO
Etsy is where many people go to buy a pet portrait, so the listings had to be easy to find. We did the keyword research and optimised the listings so shoppers searching for what Poem of Stones makes would see them first.
This was aimed squarely at sales, and at the long-term goal of growing online orders.
Title & description
The title leads with the strongest search phrase. The description opens with the main keywords, then covers what’s included, how to order and the questions buyers ask.
Tags & alt text
All 13 tags used, each with a job: core search, gifting, memorial and product details. Photo alt text describes the pet, style, paper and size.
Trust & links
A simple plan to build reviews after delivery, and a clean listing link to share, so all traffic counts towards one address.
Pet portraits also peak in the run-up to Christmas, so we prepared a seasonal set of listings to catch that demand.
Part five
Event curation: Paint Your Pet With Me
We curated a pet portrait workshop where guests bring their favourite pet photo and are guided step by step to paint their own pawtrait, with no artistic experience needed. It gives people a way to meet the artist and try the craft, and gives the studio extra income beyond commissions and markets.
We handled the ideation, reached out to venues and arranged the collaboration, promoted the workshops, and designed the event assets, including the poster and stories. Workshops are also shared on social media, to show the artist’s expertise as a teacher, and more venues are lined up for future sessions.
How it fits together
Each piece does a different job, and they work as one system.
Strategy sets the direction: show the artist as well as the art.
Social media builds awareness, grows a following and connects the audience to the person behind the work.
The website gives that audience a clearer, easier experience once they arrive.
Etsy SEO puts the listings in front of people ready to buy.
The workshop turns followers into guests, adds income, and gives the social channels new stories to tell.
Outcome
Poem of Stones now has a clear direction, a content system that shows the artist as well as the art, a website roadmap, search-ready Etsy listings and a workshop format it can repeat.
Early content drew strong engagement, including a giveaway post that generated a flood of responses within minutes of going live.
On Etsy, the optimised listings started seeing 48% more clicks than before.
Credits
- Client
- Poem of Stones
- Studio
- Beyond Ideas
Brand strategy, social media management, website UI/UX recommendations, Etsy SEO, event curation - Event partner
- 7th Magpie, Sheffield
- Artwork, logo & photography
- Poem of Stones