Learn how to increase the traffic to your Etsy store so you can make more money!
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Running an Etsy shop is an amazing way to make money online. The platform is filled with passionate sellers who love what they do and passionate buyers who are looking for quality items. The goal, however, is to have even more buyers see your products and get them in front of as many eyes as possible. Etsy can only do so much to bring people onto the site, so these tips and strategies will help you level up and get new customers looking specifically at your store.
Start an email list
An email list will benefit you in many ways. The biggest one being that a returning customer is the best customer – and what better way to keep people coming back to your shop than to have them stay up to date with you through email. You’ll be able to keep your customers informed on any sales that you’re having, holiday promotions and gift ideas, and new releases to your store. Instead of them shopping with you once and then forgetting about you, they’ll stay in-the-know with everything going on with your shop and will be far more likely to come back.
A great way to get customers to sign up for your newsletter is to offer them something in return. My favourite way to go about doing this is to offer a discount on future purchases – they’ll already be thinking about their second purchase with you, and you can tell them about your great new products when you send out your emails.
I recommend Mailchimp when you’re getting started because it’s free for the first 2000 email subscribers and will do exactly what you need!
Start a blog
Starting a blog to accompany your Etsy shop is the perfect way to blend the line between only having a store, and becoming a community that the customer will remember and care about. Depending on what type of products you sell and the niche that you’re in, you could write blog posts showcasing:
- different ways to use your products
- different ways to style your products
- newly released products alongside the older products that you’ve sold
- ways to use your newly released products in a complimentary way to your older products
- behind the scenes photos and how your products are made (this is one of my favourite things to see with brands)
- gift guides with inspiration for different types of people they’ll be gifting to (i.e. Gifts for Mom, Dad, husband, wife, children, teachers, pets, etc)
The beauty of writing blog posts to tie in with your products is that these posts will continue to sell your products for you. They’ll show up in Google, other bloggers will link them, and you’ll be passively acquiring more buyers well into the future.
Host a giveaway
Giveaways are a great way to get people excited about your products and your company, and you can easily bring a ton of awareness to your store with just a few key techniques.
Whether you’re giving away a newly released product, an older tried and true piece, or a digital product – people will love whatever it is that you are giving away and they’ll be super keen to learn how they can get it for themselves.
My favourite way to host a giveaway is through Instagram – I’ve done it many times for many different businesses and it has always paid off. All you need to do is post either a photo of your product or a giveaway graphic, and then explain in the caption how the giveaway will work and who is eligible to enter.
The first thing you should do is tell everyone exactly what it is that you’re giving away, and then clearly lay out the rules. The best rules that I’ve come across to implement are ones that are simple to follow and get you some love in the meantime. The rules that I like to use are:
- Follow your Instagram account
- Like & Save the photo
- Tag friends (with each tag counting as an entry; no limits on tags)
- Bonus entry for sharing in their Stories & tagging your account
After your post is all settled, use relevant hashtags corresponding to your business, brand, and niche. And then one of the most important parts – use giveaway hashtags to help people find your giveaway after it is posted. Some examples of hashtags you could include are: #giveaway #USgiveaway #Canadiangiveaway #handmadegiveaway #etsygiveaway #Christmasgiveaway. These hashtags will help get more eyes on your post, and create more followers and potential customers.
This brings me to my next point…
Team up with other sellers
Teaming up with other sellers in similar markets to you will help you both immeasurably. Two brains are better than one, and two businesses with two social media accounts are also definitely better than one.
You could collaborate on a product, or bundle your products together and both reap the rewards. Or you could support each other by cross posting and sharing each others work to your own followers. You could also co-host a giveaway together and reach an even further audience. Finding a virtual teammate is mutually beneficial, and will only cause your growth to be much quicker than it would otherwise.
Sell at a craft show as a vendor
A local event is the perfect place to sell your products for extra money and get your name out there at the same time. A great way to find out about local craft shows is to do a Google search and a Facebook search and see what information comes up. In my experience, craft shows are often held at halls and churches, so those would be great places to search as well.
Several years ago I attended my first craft show as a vendor. I didn’t fully know what to expect, but I gathered up my products, made extras of the ones that I thought would sell well, and brought any marketing materials that I had along with me. I was able to tell people about my online shop, and I popped a business card with a discount code into their bags with their purchases.
My first craft show brought me decent success and some sales that I was definitely happy with. About halfway through the day, a woman selling her own products across the room came over to my table and chatted with me about my business. She told me that she was hosting another craft sale the following weekend, and she had a cancellation and wanted to know if I’d be interested in filling the spot. So of course I jumped at this new opportunity, and I ended up making 4x as much as my first sale at this second sale that I wouldn’t have even known about if I hadn’t taken that first leap.
Starting with one show and one sale could lead you and your Etsy shop to an entirely new path and new customers at the same time. Let people know that they can find more of your products online, and they’ll be likely to check you out down the road!
If you want even more money making ideas for your handmade stores, I wrote this post sharing 9 of the best websites to sell your handmade products!
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