Therapeutic Effects of Scrapbooking

As the economic recession leads to a rise in depression (or at least has many people feeling "down"), some scrapbook companies are choosing to focus their marketing efforts on highlighting the therapeutic effects of scrapbooking.

Big Picture Scrapbooking, the site started by Simple Scrapbooks magazine founding editor Stacy Julian which offers online education to scrapbookers, did a survey of their students about how scrapbooking affected them and promoted the results to media outlets. They shared what students said about the positive effect scrapbooking – and BPS classes – had on them:

Where else are you going to find, tucked into scrapbook design medium, a class on choosing joy and gratitude in your life instead of dwelling on the negative things that surround us every day? Where else will you learn secrets that will change the way you view life from top photographers and artists in simple, do-able steps? Big Picture Scrapbooking has changed my philosophy in life. I am learning from amazing women to savor life a little more and capture that in a form that my friends and family can enjoy and learn from for years to come.

Big Picture is also highlighting quotes from student reviews on the front page of their website that reflect the same marketing philosophy – their classes are not only about how to scrapbook, but are uplifting as well:

Stampin' Up! is also focusing marketing effort on the positive effects of scrapbooking. During the month of April, the stamping and scrapbooking direct sales company has been trying to encourage people who are stressed by the recession to relieve stress by adopting a new hobby.  The company says that it believes that the "scenario of friends crafting together and enjoying a fun hobby may just be the ticket to relieving stress and helping people 'get connected' during these tough economic times."

Even those among us who are devoted scrapbookers and have known the help that scrapbooking was getting us through a hard time in the past (the loss of a loved one, for instance) can get pulled away from scrapbooking when we are stressed and other things seem more important. Scrapbooking businesses can do their industry and their customers – and their own individual business – a service by reminding people about the intangible benefits of their hobby.

It's value-added marketing: We're not just selling paper and stickers. We're selling relaxation and comfort, too.