Our Best Etsy Marketing Tools and Tips
With the holiday season coming up, it’s Etsy’s time to shine! For those of you who don’t know, Etsy is an online marketplace platform that allows small businesses and artists to open shops to sell their goods. The best part about Etsy is being able to connect and support small artisans and businesses around the world— and to get gifts for your loved ones that are sure to bring them so much happiness. Plus, if you’re like us, you’ve probably started off present-shopping and ended up buying about a thousand candles for your own personal use…it’s just the Etsy way!
While we love buying things off of Etsy, we love the business and marketing opportunities that Etsy shops have even more. As a small business, there’s an infinite amount of possibilities of how to market your business: as you are in complete control.
However, this can feel plenty intimidating, as getting a small business off the ground is hard. So, here are our best Etsy marketing tips and tools!
Perfect Your Customer Service Skills
With Etsy marketing, customer service is key. People who purchase your products aren’t just looking for the product: they’re there for the small, personalized customer experience. They are not just here for your goods: they are here for you. 90% of customers are more likely to purchase more, and 93% are likely to be repeat customers at businesses and brands that they have received good customer service. Make sure to respond promptly to DMs and emails, and to do so in a friendly manner. Additionally, we are huge fans of sneaking a little something into all the packages you send out, such as a thank you card, a personalized note with the customer’s name, or a sticker. It might seem useless, but something like that will make your customers value your business and the smile you gave them!
Market Yourself in New Ways
Etsy marketing isn’t just confined to the Etsy domain. Make your marketing consistent across all social media platforms and tools. Instagram and Pinterest are amazing tools for driving traffic to your website, as they rely on visuals. Our hottest tip? Use a different content format than most to stand out on social media. When you use stop motion videos, you stand out among the crowd. Life Lapse allows you to create amazing stop motion videos on your phone. By using Life Lapse, you are certain to stop the scroll and to drive more interest to your Etsy shop— especially on Pinterest, which now auto-plays videos. You can even add a product video to your main Etsy shop page, to bring that branding all the way through. Examples of Etsy shops that use our app to their advantage on Instagram are @Fieltrines and @TheCraftersGym
Brush Up Your Product Photography Skills
When it comes to marketplaces like Etsy, your visuals are key. Since your customers aren’t physically walking into your shop, it’s important to have visuals that stand out against all the dozens of others in the same category or style. Minimal backgrounds and high camera quality is a must! This doesn’t have to be done with a professional-grade camera: just make there is plenty of natural light, an uncluttered background, and that any editing you do doesn’t alter the essential colors or appearance of your product. Etsy has released a Beta version of their website that allows shop owners to add videos to product listing, which will come in handy. Customers need to be able to be certain of what they are buying, so you need to do your best to make that as transparent as possible.
List As Often as Possible
When an Etsy user has hit the 💛 heart button 💛 on one of your products, your listings become a part of their home feed. The more you upload, the more you will fill users’ feeds, increasing the chance of them buying your products. It’s believed that a customer needs to see your marketing seven times before they decide to make a purchase, so keeping your customers’ feeds full of your product is a great way to bypass the number of times it would take for them to organically open your shop page. Listing often also increases your chances of being featured on the Etsy home page or showing up in an Etsy ad on Facebook.
Team Up With Similar Brands and Businesses for Exposure
There are very few things we love as much as collaborating with other brands. Aside from the exposure it brings, we love the opportunity to encourage creative mindsets and to receive input from others.
By teaming up with similar brands for giveaways, blog posts, and product roundups, you increase both your inner circle of artists and your circle of potential customers. It is important, however, to make sure that while these collaborations are done with brands that follow a similar theme or idea as yours, they aren’t done with a shop that directly competes with yours! Make sure there’s a notable difference between all the shops or artists involved.
Find your Niche
People go on Etsy and independent seller websites to find something they can’t find in big box stores or on Amazon. It’s also where many go for personalized gifts. By finding a niche, you can hit an entire target market that isn’t being tapped into by big brands. It’ll also help you rise to the top, as being the ‘best shop’ for a specific niche is a lot easier than being #1 for something that is available on every corner. Plus, a narrower scope of products will allow customers who are looking for a specific item to actively choose your shop. Uniqueness is key in Etsy marketing: just make sure you haven’t delved so deep into the niche that only a tiny audience would be interested!
Take your Time
Our final, and perhaps most important tip: be patient. In an oversaturated online market, it can be difficult not to get discouraged if your numbers aren’t growing. But, it’s so valuable to keep going: even if you’re struggling to generate loyal customers. As the world evolves, there grows a need for artisanal and original goods that cannot be fulfilled by big chains and shopping conglomerates: and that is where you come in.
That’s all for our best Etsy marketing tools and tips, just in time for the holiday season! If you’re just as in love with Etsy as we are, we totally support taking a leap and opening your own shop for your goods! There is never a better time to start a new venture and to learn new skills and tools.
What is your best Etsy marketing strategy? And don’t forget to download Life Lapse to help you bring your Etsy marketing to a whole new level!
