When running an online business on Etsy, sellers must understand the importance of how to promote Etsy shop. Driving more Etsy sales entails more than just product quality and store operations, but also how to advertise Etsy shop.
Selling hand-made and vintage items on one of the best-selling platforms for independent creators and collectors, you have to fight off intense competition – around 6.6 million sellers worldwide. You also have to give careful thought to creativity and authenticity to maintain your uniqueness against competitors.
To promote your Etsy shop, follow top 7 strategies:
- Optimize your Etsy listings
- Run Etsy Ads
- Offer sales and coupons
- Join Etsy affiliate program
- Leverage social media
- Build an email marketing strategy
- Run Google Ads for Etsy listings
Let’s get into it and find out how to promote your Etsy shop!
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How to Promote Etsy Shop: 7 Best Strategies
Once you’re up and running on Etsy, it’s time to begin promoting your listings. Similar to any other sales platform, experimenting with various strategies is essential.
Here are several effective ways to promote your Etsy shop and boost sales:
1. Optimize your Etsy listings
Online shoppers often make quick decisions, in mere milliseconds, about whether to stay on a product detail page or return to the search results. Hence, when considering how to promote Etsy shop, your primary focus should be on enhancing the visibility of your listings in search results. You’ll need to adopt a strategic approach to your product titles, descriptions, and images.
Write an optimized product title
Optimizing your product titles is an incredibly effective way to help customers easily find the items they’re looking for.
That’s why you need to ensure that your title aligns with user intent. Also, try to select keywords resonating with your customers and accurately showcase your product’s features.
Here are some additional tips for you:
- Mention specific details like color, model number, and quantity if applicable.
- Includes the brand name.
- Ensure your title is between 100-150 characters for optimal user experience.
- Utilize dashes (-) or pipes (|) to separate keywords for better readability.
- Avoid irrelevant words to maximize the use of your character limit.
Craft engage product descriptions
While optimizing your product description with relevant keywords, proper formatting, and appropriate length is essential, it should also be engaging and informative; otherwise, shoppers may lose interest and stop reading.
Here are some tips for creating engage product description:
- Include keywords within the first 100-150 characters of the description to enhance search visibility.
- Utilize bullet points, bold text, and concise language to ensure your listing is easy to read.
- Illustrate how the product’s main feature benefits the customer directly.
- Craft clear and informative product descriptions that reflect your brand voice while emphasizing key selling points.
- Emphasize how your product is superior to competitors, making a strong case for why customers should choose it.
Use high-quality photos
One of the most vital aspects of a product listing is the images. No matter how descriptive your text may be, poor photography will deter potential buyers from purchasing your product.
Along with following Etsy’s guidelines (image size, color mode, format, and file name), here are some additional tips to make your images stand out:
- Focus on the first image as it appears in search results.
- Capture images from various angles to provide a comprehensive view.
- Display the product in action (for example, illustrate how a dress looks when styled and worn.)
- Incorporate text into your images to enhance understanding.
- Focus on product features by zooming in for greater detail.
- Utilize rich media, such as 360° photography and short videos, if permitted by the marketplace.
You may also like: Useful Hacks on How to Get More Sales on Etsy
2. Run Etsy Ads
Among the most popular marketing strategies for how to promote Etsy shop, running Ads is of great value.
Etsy Ads help sellers showcase their listings or shops prominently on Etsy’s website and mobile apps. These ads can appear in various spots, like users’ search results, and their placement depends on a few key factors.
Etsy evaluates your listing for ad placement based on these below factors:
- How relevant your listing is to the search.
- Your listing quality (including how well it aligns with Etsy’s policies).
- Your bids (or how much you’re willing to spend on them).
- The likelihood of attracting views or making sales (for some listings).
To set up your ads on Etsy, follow this quick guide:
#Step 1. Choose Etsy Shop Manager
#Step 2. Click Marketing
#Step 3. Click Etsy Ads
#Step 4. Set your daily budget to advertise your listings
It is the maximum amount you wish to spend on your Etsy product advertising per day. The fixed minimum amount is $1.00.
There is a limit to the maximum daily budget, and Etsy allows you to set rules, depending on your average spend, your current payment status, and payment history. If you constantly spend your full daily amount, Etsy will raise the limit over time.
In fact, the maximum daily budget starts at $25 for all sellers and is recalculated weekly for those using Etsy Payments and monthly for those who do not. You should start advertising with this amount early for desired peak sales periods like the holiday season.
In case you have previous advertising activities, a restarted campaign will have the same maximum budget as your last time.
#Step 5. Select the countries where you want buyers to see your ads
When you define specific locations to display your ads, they will only be shown to customers who reside in the countries you ship your products to.
Otherwise, learn to set up shipping profiles for the countries to ship your listings.
#Step 6. Choose the listings you want to advertise on Etsy
If you provide no specific clarification, the Etsy system will automatically advertise all your current listings in an Ads campaign. However, it allows you to change or update the listings you intend to advertise anytime in your Etsy Ads; just make sure they follow Etsy’s advertising & marketing policy.
#Step 7. Keep track of how much your Etsy Ads charge
The Etsy advertising amount is relative to the number of people who click on your ads and the place where the ads are displayed.
The costs per click vary for each listing and each time it makes an appearance in search results. They are totaled to your Payment account daily, and Etsy will stop showing your ads when you have paid for enough clicks for your whole daily budget.
3. Offer sales and coupons
Another way to boost traffic and sales on Etsy is by offering discounts and promotions. Etsy currently provides two main tools for sellers: sales and coupons.
- Sales: These promotions give buyers discounts or free shipping on your listings. You can apply sales to individual items or multiple listings, and they’re visible to all shoppers. During special occasions like Christmas or Black Friday, Etsy may even highlight these sales on their site and in emails.
- Coupons: These are codes that offer discounts or free shipping but aren’t publicly displayed. As a seller, you can create, share, and use coupon codes across various listings until they expire.
Don’t forget to follow Etsy’s policies and any relevant laws regarding sales and coupons.
4. Join Etsy affiliate program
As being one of the top online marketplaces, you cannot miss out on their affiliate network as a way to promote your Etsy shop. Etsy launched its Affiliate Program in 2013 and pays commissions (around 5%) every time Etsy visitors purchase through a link from their website to content creators or influencers who promote Etsy shop.
What’s in it for Etsy sellers regarding how to promote Etsy shop on this Affiliate Program? They do not have to pay additional fees if they receive affiliated links.
Furthermore, reach out to those bloggers and the like with considerable audiences, to which your target customers belong. Have them mention your store and you can likely expand your store’s popularity and credibility, thus driving more Etsy sales.
One of this program’s basics lies in the commissions Etsy offers. They can serve as a motivator to feature and introduce Etsy shops with a favorable selling history to Etsy online shopping fans.
To reach the most relevant content creators and strike affiliate partnerships, you can look for those that frequently feature Etsy shops. Do research on the influential websites your product niche can fit in well or engage their target reader. Develop affiliate collaboration plans and persuade them into the inclusion of your store in their works.
An open-to-collaboration Etsy affiliate site often has its marketing banners on the sidebar areas. You can reach out and negotiate with them to have access to their readers.
5. Leverage social media
By their nature, social media channels encourage interactions, ideally between families, friends, and colleagues. With this in mind, store owners should take advantage of social media channels to figure out how to promote Etsy shop and increase their brand awareness accordingly.
As an Etsy seller, you might also want to read 6 Winning Etsy Marketing Strategies to boost your sales in 2024
Here are some steps to help you leverage social media effectively:
Choose the right social media platform
The ideal social media platforms for attracting traffic to your Etsy shop can differ based on your target audience, the type of products you offer, and your marketing approach.
Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest are excellent options for eCommerce brands, but don’t overlook other platforms.
Facebook has secured its position as the most commonly used social media platform with nearly 3 billion global users as of July 2022. Indeed, they are an ideal place to do marketing for Etsy because of their video content, curated photo collections, peer-to-peer interactions via Messenger, and intergroup relations.
Instagram is a sister platform to Facebook in Meta’s ecosystem. It attracts users, especially younger audiences, with its strong visuals, cross-promotional photos and videos, IG stories, and influencer content.
Instagram is also an abundant source of information about products or brands. You can turn it to your advantage and implement visual storytelling activities. For instance, share your brand elements as well as the process stages to engage viewers in your product stories.
If you are still wondering how to promote Etsy shop on Instagram, check this official handbook on Instagram Etsy promotions for further use of this social media platform.
As an image-sharing and idea-discovering platform, Pinterest allows exploring and collecting inspirations for future events in bulletin or mood board formats.
According to Pinterest Business statistics, more than 400 million users visit Pinterest monthly for inspiration and purchase ideas. While women make up over 60% of their global audience, nearly 50% of weekly Pinners have discovered a new brand or product there. Also, Etsy and Pinterest share the same target audience of creative minds.
All those solid reasons justify why sellers should focus on using Pinterest for Etsy to easily advertise on this social platform.
TikTok
Rising as a social media powerhouse and ranking the sixth most popular platform worldwide until July 2022, Tiktok maintains its charms with entertaining and updated content, as long as the ability to post/share short-form videos.
More importantly, the newly established partnership between Etsy and Tiktok at the beginning of 2022 will open up more opportunities for sellers to expand their customer base on these two completely different platforms.
Create compelling content
Social media focuses on highly visual content, so make sure to craft engaging posts that showcase your products in a way that highlights their unique features and benefits. This can encourage users to click through to your Etsy shop.
Here are some content ideas you can try:
- Share product photos with fun, creative captions.
- Post behind-the-scenes photos or videos.
- Create custom graphics.
- Feature user-generated content (like photos or videos of customers using your products).
- Host Q&A sessions with yourself or your team.
Connect with your audience
Use your social media platforms to interact with your audience by quickly responding to their comments, messages, and questions. Build a sense of community around your brand, and encourage user-generated content and customer reviews to enhance credibility and trust.
Use hashtags
Hashtags are a fantastic way to give your posts a boost. They act as keywords that help you reach specific audiences.
Take time to research trending hashtags related to your products and industry, and use them smartly to expand your brand’s reach and drive traffic to your Etsy shop.
6. Build an email marketing strategy
Connecting with your customers directly in their inboxes is a fantastic way to capture their attention and explore how to market Etsy shop effectively. Email marketing for your Etsy shop can help you build your brand, engage with existing customers, and drive traffic to your shop.
Here are some targeted tips to craft impactful campaigns:
- Segment your audience for better targeting and personalization.
- Time your emails carefully to maximize engagement.
- Craft compelling subject lines to entice opens.
- Include clear CTA (call-to-action) to guide customer behavior.
- Optimize your emails for mobile to ensure a great viewing experience.
Conduct A/B testing to refine your strategies and improve results.
7. Run Google Ads for Etsy listings
With its precise targeting options, Google Ads allows you to connect with consumers who are interested in handmade, vintage, or custom products. Hence, you can make sure that your ads reach potential buyers who truly appreciate what you offer.
Also, Google Ads can link directly to your Etsy product listings, simplifying the shopping experience and boosting conversion rates by making it easier for customers to discover and purchase your products.
Cost to run Google Ads for Etsy shop
Promoting your Etsy shop on Google can have varying costs, but a solid starting point is a daily budget of around $10 to $15. Thus, you can gather initial data without overspending.
What’s more, the average CPC (cost-per-click) for Etsy-related products usually falls between $0.20 and $1.00, depending on the competition for keywords.
You can utilize automated bidding strategies like Target CPA (cost-per-action) to optimize your spending by aiming for conversions at a set cost. If you establish a daily budget of $10, you can anticipate spending about $300 per month, though you can adjust this amount based on your goals and ad performance.
Types of Google Ads for Etsy shop
There are various ad types to marketing your Etsy store. We’ve found the following types to be especially useful for Etsy sellers. And, we’ve also classified which type is most effective for particular use:
Search ads
Search ads are text-based ads that appear in Google search results when users search for keywords related to your products.
These ads are perfect for targeting specific product searches, driving highly relevant traffic to your Etsy listings, and making them effective for conversions.
Shopping ads
Shopping ads showcase product images, prices, and details directly in Google search results. They are ideal for highlighting individual Etsy products, capturing attention with their visual appeal, and linking directly to product pages, which can significantly enhance conversion rates.
Display ads
Display ads are image-based advertisements that appear on websites within Google’s Display Network. They are beneficial for reaching a wider audience and boosting brand awareness for your Etsy shop, although they are not as focused on conversions as Search or Shopping Ads.
How to Measure Success and Adjust Etsy Promotion Strategy
To thrive on Etsy, it’s not enough to simply learn how to promote Etsy shop and hope for positive outcomes. You must actively monitor your shop’s performance, pinpoint areas for improvement, and make decisions based on data.
Track key metrics for Etsy shop growth
As an Etsy seller, here are some key metrics that you should pay attention to:
- Visits: This metric indicates the number of times users have visited your Etsy shop. Understanding your visit trends can help you gauge interest in your products.
- Views to sales ratio: This ratio helps you understand how many views are converting into actual sales, providing insight into the effectiveness of your listings.
- Traffic sources: Knowing where your traffic is coming from, whether it’s Etsy search, social media, or external websites, can inform your marketing strategies.
- Coupon traction: Monitoring how well your coupons perform can provide insights into customer engagement and promotional effectiveness.
- Orders: Tracking the number of orders placed is crucial for assessing your sales performance and overall shop success.
Adjust your Etsy promotion strategy
Once you have metrics in place, you need to optimize your Etsy promotion strategies to improve your performance.
If you notice that your shop is getting plenty of views but not as many sales, maybe it’s time to tweak your listings, try better photos, more detailed descriptions, or clearer pricing. Or, if you see that most of your traffic comes from social media, double down on your efforts there.
Data-driven adjustments can make a big difference. By continuously testing and refining your approach, you’ll gradually find what works best for your Etsy shop. And remember that promotion is an ongoing process, so don’t be afraid to experiment and adapt as you go.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Promoting Your Etsy Shop
No matter your level of experience as a seller, it’s crucial to recognize common pitfalls and understand how to avoid them. Here are some typical mistakes that can hinder your progress:
- Relying solely on Etsy’s platform: While Etsy is a great starting point, relying only on Etsy to bring in all your traffic can limit your shop’s growth. Try to diversify your marketing efforts, such as using social media, email newsletters, and external ads.
- Ignoring SEO best practices: Etsy’s search algorithm relies heavily on SEO. If you skip out on optimizing your product titles, descriptions, and tags, your listings might not show up in searches.
- Not engaging with your audience consistently: Consistency builds trust and leads to repeat customers. You should regularly engage with your audience, whether through social media, responding to customer inquiries, or updating your shop.
- Not tracking or analyzing data: Promotions should be a strategic effort, not a shot in the dark. Remember to regularly review your Etsy Analytics to identify what’s working and what’s not, so that you can make informed decisions and improve your results over time.
How to Promote Etsy Shop – FAQs
To promote your Etsy shop for free, you can consider using social media, joining Etsy teams, and participating in online communities related to your niche. To increase traffic on your Etsy shop, consider to implementing the following strategies: Here are some effective strategies to create a strong brand identity for Etsy shop:
Final Thoughts
We have demonstrated the best way to promote Etsy shop that may align with your business scale and financial potential. Hopefully, with the support of these marketing resources, you can achieve your goals for a successful Etsy shop.
Besides how to promote Etsy shop, if you ever think about selling on other sales channels alongside Etsy, LitCommerce is absolutely a reliable partner as a multichannel selling tool. It can integrate Etsy with different online marketplaces and shopping carts; consequently, you can make profits from multiple sources.LitCommerce is always excited to address every concern, even special customization needs, associated with multichannel selling and product listing. Feel free to leave us questions and chat with us about your problems or join our Facebook communities to expand and share your eCommerce knowledge together.
