Influencer
Kacie Haberlin: Creating Art for TikTok and Instagram
Kacie Haberlin learned to crochet during quarantine and now shares her art with the world on TikTok and Instagram. Her crochet plushies come in a huge variety of designs, and she is constantly adding new designs to her rotation. Today, she shares with us how she got started online and all about the launch of her website, Haberlin’s Hobbies.
About Kacie Haberlin
Kacie Haberlin is a Vancouver student studying dental hygiene and an avid crafter who loves crocheting, embroidery, and painting. She began crocheting during quarantine after scrolling through TikTok and stumbling on crocheting videos. At the time, she didn’t know anything about crocheting and, like many, thought crocheting was mostly for older people.
However, she saw some people crocheting plushies and thought that was intriguing.
She shares, “I got some secondhand yarn, and a secondhand hook, and I began making dishcloths, and I just taught myself from YouTube. I struggled a lot at first, just like anything else. It takes a lot of practice, but I made some dishcloths successfully, and I was very excited about that.”
At first, Kacie Haberlin wasn’t sure that she loved crocheting and ended up putting it aside for a little while. However, she soon returned to it and made a plushie for her cousin. Her cousin loved the plushie and was so excited that Kacie had handmade the gift for her.
“Then I was like, “Wow! I really love giving people my art, and then that’s when I was like maybe I should think about doing this more and more.”
The Start of Haberlin’s Hobbies
After creating plushies for her friends, Kacie shares that they urged her to start a social media account and share photos of her creations online.
Kacie Haberlin adds that she created her Instagram account first to share her creations, then made a TikTok after she gained some traction on Instagram.
Her first TikTok showed Kacie working with clay. However, she primarily posts about crocheting which garners a lot of attention.
@haberlinshobbies it was meant to be;) #crochet #crochetplushies #yarn ♬ bound 2 – 🎃
“I usually post my videos on TikTok because I find that they have a lot more success on TikTok. For Instagram, I mainly like to have a nice feed, so it’s mainly my pictures that I liked, so you can kind of scroll and see all of the different things I make.”
Kacie Haberlin explains that she dislikes posting Instagram reels because their performance can be very hit or miss.
“I’ve kind of taken a break from posting reels because it’s more work for me, but I should post it again because they’re a good way to gain more audience.”
@haberlinshobbies kinda trippy not gonna lie, but they work!!
♬ Bad Habit – Steve Lacy
On TikTok, Kacie typically posts videos with popular trending sounds. Her videos usually feature her creations and the occasional educational video on how to crochet or different crochet tips and tricks.
“The videos that I had the most success with were at the beginning of the summer, I signed up to go to a market where I can sell my plushies physically, and at the last minute, I decided to make a video of everything that I made for the market. The different little guys I make, and that blew up on TikTok.”
She adds that since then, she has done the same type of post showcasing her creations for sale at different markets. These posts have continued to perform very well for her.
When asked about the ROI of Instagram versus TikTok, Kacie explains that TikTok has the better ROI for her.
“I think TikTok just because I reach a lot larger audiences on there, which draws a lot more attention. I feel like Instagram is a lot more personable in the way that I can post like stories, and I can get a lot more engagement through that. If I ask a question on my story or a poll or have a direct link to a product, I think that works also.”
Kacie Haberlin adds that 80% of her sales come from TikTok, while 20% come from Instagram.
Social Media Strategy
Kacie shares that she doesn’t have a specific strategy for social media but tries to keep her content fun.
“I just try to make sure that I’m having fun with it, but I like to keep my content different in the way that I show different things. So, I try to make different animals as much as I can but also make the staple items that people love. So, a balance of doing trendy sounds [for TikTok] and then some talking videos.”
Consistency is another crucial part of her strategy, as well as keeping up with responding to comments.
“It really helps me researching sort of what’s going on with TikTok and seeing what crochet items are popular and seeing different people’s videos and getting inspired by that and then doing it in my own sort of way. That’s my strategy.”
Currently, Kacie has not done any brand partnerships because none of the brands that have reached out to her have aligned with her goals and vision.
“My goal is to be affiliated with a yarn company or something like that, like an art store.”
Kacie’s Website
Kacie originally wanted to post her creations on Etsy but found that the fees on Etsy added up quickly. This realization led her to research alternative options and create her own website.
“I mainly just promote it [my website] on my Instagram and TikTok. It’s just in the bios, and it’s been really successful, a lot more successful than I originally thought. I’ve never made a website. I’ve never owned a business or anything like that before, so it was all new to me, so I watched a lot of YouTube videos and stuff like that [to learn about it].”
Challenges as a Creator
Kacie shares that the biggest challenge for her as a creator is being sucked into social media while researching ideas.
“In order for me to make TikToks, I have to watch TikTok, and I get sucked into TikTok really easily, and then I’m like, “Wow, it’s three hours later, and I’ve done nothing but sit on my couch.”
Another challenge is coming up with new ideas for her creations.
“I find taking breaks every once in a while works for me, and then I’m like, “I actually forgot how much I like to make videos, and then I’ll make four [in] one day.”
Closing Thoughts
Currently, Kacie is working on a restock for her website. She is also about to start school again, which she shares will likely reduce how much she posts online.
However, she is very excited about the next restock, which she shares will include frogs, jellyfish, and dolphin plushies.
