It’s been nearly six months since the last Google Trends update at Scrapbook Update, so it’s time to take a look again and see what the search engine data has to say about scrapbooking’s popularity.
During the previous update, I noted the distinct worldwide downward trend in Google searches for the terms “scrapbook” and “scrapbooking”. That trend has continued in the past few months:
Google searches (the top sets of lines) definitely reached a peak in late 2006/early 2007. Searches for a term are generally considered a good reflection of consumer market interest in it, especially since many searches are shopping related.
The trend data for the “scrapbook” and “scrapbooking” search terms doesn’t look better if limited just to the U.S. searches:
So are “digital scrapbooking” searches replacing “scrapbooking” searches?
Digital scrapbooking search volume has actually been relatively stable (or even fallen in the past 6 months) worldwide, while “scrapbooking” searches have been falling. So it doesn’t appear that one type of search is replacing the other.
The same is true of searches in only the US for “digital scrapbooking”:
Essentially, searches for “scrapbooking”, “scrapbook” and “digital scrapbooking” have all decreased in the past 6 months. If this correlates to consumer market interest like would be expected, that’s not good news for the scrapbook market.
About Nancy Nally
Excellent article. I hope we find someway to revive scrapbooking soon.
Marcie
Scrapbooking is a hobby……and with the declining economy….hobbies are on the back burner.
Hi Nancy,
Drex Davis, CEO of Scrapbook.com here. Thank you for the wonderful blog you produce. I read it regularly and always appreciate your insights.
As you may surmise, we follow these things very closely on a daily basis. One thing that we’re observing is that generic search terms such as “scrapbook” and “scrapbooking” are the terms that (usually) newbies and beginners use to get info.
The fact that these terms are dropping indicates that less new people are coming into scrapbooking than have in previous years (the reasons are myriad . . .), but not necessarily that those that already scrapbook are cutting back.
But the trend of less newbies coming in is one we’re trying to addresses and is the primary reason we started “Teach a Friend to Scrapbook Month” in May of this year. We are trying to help sustain a culture of bringing newbies in by providing resources and encouragement to those who are scrapping to be “evangelists” for the hobby.
On the whole, however, we have found that more specific searches (which indicate a more experienced scrapbooker) are performing well and traffic also seems to be up in most specific categories.
Crafting tends to be a little bit counter-cyclical, meaning that during recessions people often do more of it (though they are more price conscious). But that only holds true for those who are already “hooked”.
Take care,
Drex
Mr. Davis,
Your comments reflect what I suspected as an all-ready hooked paper artist. And as a Stampin Up demonstrator I am always looking to appeal to my market share which is hard to find in a group anywhere but I keep trying. Can you share the specifics as to what areas of scrapbooking search terms are increasing?
Thanks, Millie
It would be interesting to see if card making is taking a nosedive too.
Always a joy to read your reports Nancy. X Fab
I’m one of those who Googled ‘scrabooking’ often in years past but do not Google the word so much now. The reason is not that my interest has waned, just that I now know all the sites that are my favorites and often follow links from one site to the next. I still value Google, but no longer need them for my scrapbooking related searches.
I enjoy this blog also, Nancy, thanks so much for your good work. I was just beginning to post my question when I looked at Drex Davis’s post above. That’s my question too: what about card making? The number of viewers and participants at Splitcoast Stampers has skyrocketed lately.
Hi Addie,
Nancy will likely take a crack at your questions, but in the meantime I’d just note that I think SplitCoast’s traffic has been pretty steady over the last year (from all of the tracking we do of all the sites in the industry this is what we’ve seen, but perhaps our numbers aren’t catching something there). Perhaps in the areas you frequent there, though, popularity has been increasing?
Cardmaking may have increased in popularity, though the Google Trend numbers don’t give that impression … see:
http://www.google.com/trends?q=card+making&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all&sort=0
http://www.google.com/trends?q=cardmaking
I don’t know exactly what to attribute that to, because (anecdotally) it appears that in more difficult economic times people tend to make cards (and often in bulk) more. We’ve seen increases in sales of cardmaking items relative to other years … fwiw . . .
Best,
Drex
Nancy,
Have you ever considered adding RSS to your comments section? (that way we could have a feed sent to us whenever people comment on certain posts . . . and not have to check back to see if there have been addt’l comments?)
Thanks,
Drex
Drex, I’m so glad that you stopped by because you’ve made some excellent points and this is a wonderful discussion! I can’t believe that I’ve been so busy (12 hour days, at least) trying to get the new Scrapbook Update site ready to launch this week that I almost missed it!
And yes, one of the things that the new site will have soon is comment RSS. Comment & category RSS was one of the reasons behind doing the platform change for the site.
No question I agree that there is still a loyal following of scrapbookers on the internet and that much of this decline is certainly due to a lack of new people doing searches. That conclusion is certainly born out by the experience and research of people like Drex.
No new customers coming into the industry is a big loss. Store owners can tell you that new customers are “high-value” customers because they don’t have anything yet – they need to buy all their tools and equipment and supplies. By comparison, I have enough stuff stashed that I could scrapbook for years and only need adhesive and trimmer blades. Embarrassing, but true.
I have to second what Drex has said about crafting being counter-cyclical. I’m not sure how many of the posters here are old enough to remember the 1970′s, but some of the enduring style legacies of that period of recession are macrame, crocheted everything, home-sewn clothes, and yarn-tied quilts…you get the idea.
I saw at CHA in January many companies trying to market to people affected by the downturn – products aimed at cardmakers and home decor projects. A lot of samples on display were showing products being used for cards and home decor, both growth areas in a downturn as people look to make things instead of buying them to save money. There is also a lot of emphasis being placed lately in the industry on selling the concept of using mini-albums as gifts. Handmade gifts are making a comeback according to many market researchers.
I think probably the numbers for card making searches aren’t increasing because people aren’t taking it seriously as a hobby, but more as an “activity” or even economic necessity if that makes sense? So they aren’t putting the level of effort into it that scrapbook hobbyists do. They buy some supplies, but don’t obsess over how to do it, etc.
I do frequently still use scrapbooking or scrapbook in my google searches, actually, despite my level of expertise. I use it in searches for things like names, etc., to make sure that I only get relevant results to what I want.
Phew, I think that about got me caught up! Lots of great comments!
I frequent many message boards and have seen a rise in “use your stash” posts and “use your stash” challengs. I’ve found that many people have chosen to use up what they already have instead of purchasing more.
This is interesting considering from what I read, product purchase has not slipped. I would think that because there are so many websites being passed around, even those ‘newbies’ are getting pointed to more direct sites. Example, one does not need to Google Cuttlebug since in all probability they know there is a website. Once on that website, you find ‘community’. Once on community, you will see members listing their favorite online shopping place or a blog address. Clck on a blog and you are again given so many avenues to take. So unless there is something so new out there that not many have access to showing, someone will want to do a search. What I would hate to see is like what happened to the car industry. Too many companies making pretty much all the same thing. Then, you have corporate saying sales are down and file chapter 11. Geesh, one can only buy so much..lol..
Just discovered this site and am enjoying the reading. At DesignerDigitals we have noticed a nice increase in long tail search terms (vintage scrapbook paper vs scrapbook) over the last year. As Drex mentioned above we watch this daily as well and as the end consumer becomes more knowledgeable in using long tail terms in Google I would expect to see a drop off in the more simple terms.
Nancy, I have to respectively disagree with your remark about card-making not being as serious as scrapbooking. I have and know that many others like myself – initially began as scrapbookers but have become primarily card-makers, as well as branching out into other areas {mini-albums, ATCs, home decor}. I find card-making extremely satisfying since I can finish a card in one session which was not always true for scrapbooking. I found through “scrapbooking” forums, more friends to exchange cards with. If I am not searching for anything specific, I may google ‘scrapbook’ as a last resort.
However through my card-making, my budget has actually gone up for supplies – and I have become much more sophisticated consumer as a result of my ‘card-making’ hobby. My die collection alone is growing each and every month – and my stash is always getting larger. I will ‘hoard’ supplies and in no danger of worrying about using my papers for instance – just the opposite, I might agonize over cutting it, lol! My purchasing reflects my learning curve esp. towards how the cycles of supplies work in this craft.
Actually, if there is one thing I would change – is the ease of ordering supplies from the US’s larger retailers in this industry. I would order more from say Sizzix if they would ship to Canada!
So don’t worry, us card-makers are alive and well! I’d be happy to send you one!
Beverly in Canada