So, you’ve taken the leap and started selling on Etsy, but now comes the hard part – figuring out how to market your Etsy shop.
Selling on Etsy is an amazing side hustle that has given countless entrepreneurs financial freedom beyond what they had ever anticipated. But if you’re planning on posting a few products in your store, sitting back, and waiting for the sales to roll in, you probably won’t reach the level of success you’re hoping for.
Without the right promotion strategies, there’s no guarantee that you’ll make any sales.
Thankfully, we’ve taken the guesswork out of how to market your Etsy shop. By utilizing these marketing methods, you’ll be well on your way toward making your business successful.
1. Set Up Your Listings With Good SEO
It’s important to remember that Etsy operates as a search engine.
In other words, the platform’s goal is to serve up the most useful results to buyers.
Therefore, you can improve the chances of your products showing up in people’s search results by optimizing your listings for search engines.
To do this, I recommend checking out some of the top competitors in your niche, in order to see which keywords and phrases they are targeting within their listings.
Additionally, you can do some keyword research using a tool like Google Keyword Planner, Google Trends, and SEM Rush to find out which terms people type into the search bar when looking for a product like yours.
Then, be sure to include those keywords in your product listings and shop description.
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2. Partner With Social Media Influencers
It may seem intimidating at first, but another effective way to market your Etsy shop is to engage social media influencers.
But here’s the thing, you don’t need to partner with influencers who have hundreds of thousands of followers. Even those with a couple thousand followers could make a big impact on your business.
Just do your best to find influencers who already have a following that matches up with your target audience.
For instance, if you’re selling a product geared toward women, look for partnerships with influencers who are already attracting an audience that skews female.
You’ll likely have to pay influencers for promotional posts, or you can establish a longer-term contract by asking them to be your brand ambassadors.
3. Start A Blog
Blogging is one of the best (and cheapest) ways to gain traction for almost any type of online business.
And the best part is, starting a blog is easy!
As you produce more content that revolves around your products, you’ll have more content to share on your social platforms and more opportunities to increase brand awareness.
But what should you write about? Well, our #1 recommendation is that you use every blog post to solve a specific problem for people in your niche.
For example, if you sell coffee-related products, you could create blog posts about how to use your products, the best coffee brands, or different coffee recipes.
Ultimately, every blog post should focus on a phrase or question that someone in your niche might search.
And seriously, it doesn’t matter how specific the question is. You’d be amazed how much traffic a seemingly obscure question can drive to your website!
4. Create Product Roundups
One of the best ways to market your Etsy shop is to create product roundups.
This type of content is widely searched for, so it greatly increases your chances of getting your products seen by more people!
To create a product roundup, choose a few of your own products that you’d like to market.
Then, decide on a general theme that your product roundup will focus on.
Search around on Etsy to find products that fit your theme but aren’t too similar to your own products; you want the other products on your list to complement your products, not compete with them.
After you’ve compiled your list of products and formatted your roundup, send it to the other Etsy shop owners whose products you’ve featured.
You can even encourage them to promote your roundup to their own audiences for even more exposure.
5. Grow Your Social Media Following
It goes without saying, but the more social media followers you have, the larger your potential pool of buyers.
But here’s the thing, when it comes to growing a social media following, remember that quality is much more important than quantity.
In other words, it’s much better to have an engaged audience of 1,000 followers than it is to have a disengaged audience of 10,000.
To build your social following, focus on showing up consistently on just a few social media platforms. And always make sure to post content that’s valuable to your ideal customers.
6. Offer Sales Or Discounts
Another way to market your Etsy shop is to put on periodic sales or discounts.
Sometimes, a lower price is all you need to get people off the fence about purchasing from you.
In addition to price discounts, you could also offer free shipping or discounts when people spend a certain dollar amount.
This will encourage shoppers to buy more than a single product from you.
7. Sell On Instagram
Now, you can promote and sell your Etsy products directly in the Instagram app.
This offers a great user experience for your customers because it decreases the number of hoops they have to jump through to buy from you.
Therefore, if you want to increase your revenue, create product posts or link up your Etsy shop to your Instagram shop!
8. Run Google Ads
Many shoppers search for products on Google rather than shopping directly on Etsy.
Therefore, you can increase the chances of your product being seen by relevant shoppers by running PPC (pay per click) ads on Google.
When you run PPC ads, you’ll only be charged when someone clicks on your advertisement.
Just make sure to constantly assess how well certain keywords are performing, and adjust your strategy accordingly.
9. Create Freebies For Your Audience
Giving something away for free may not seem like an effective way to boost sales, but it’s actually a vital long-term strategy.
In fact, freebies are some of the most important tools for building an email list (see our next tip). So, by providing free value to your audience, you’ll be building up one of your most important marketing tools.
As with all of the other tips in this article, make sure the freebie you create is relevant to the product you’re selling and the market you’re targeting.
After all, your goal with a freebie is to build an email list of people interested in the kinds of products your selling…not just a list of people interested in free stuff.
10. Start Email Marketing
To put it simply, the people on your email list are the most qualified leads you have. Not only have they shown interest in your niche, but they have opted in to receive news and information from you.
Seriously, your email list is the most powerful marketing tool you have at your disposal. And the better you get at utilizing it, the more money you will earn on Etsy!
Important: When it comes to email marketing, make sure that every email you send provides value to your subscribers.
In other words, don’t just send emails pushing sales–unless you want people to click “Unsubscribe.”
11. Collaborate With Other Sellers
One of the best ways to market your Etsy shop is to join forces with other Etsy sellers in similar markets!
However, whenever you’re participating in any sort of cross-promotion, it’s important to make sure your products aren’t competing with those of the seller you’re collaborating with.
One great way you can collaborate is by creating product bundles with other Etsy sellers.
This is a fantastic way to gain exposure to each other’s audiences which usually translates into more future customers.
12. Ask For Reviews From Bloggers Or Youtubers
Another way to promote your Etsy shop is to reach out to bloggers or YouTubers who have a following in your niche.
You could agree to send them some free product samples and ask them to write or film an honest review.
Just be prepared to offer compensation if the blogger or YouTuber you reach out to has a large following.
However, similar to Instagram Influencers, If you have a smaller budget, consider engaging small creators.
13. Market Your Business On Facebook
Facebook is one of the best social platforms for engagement and connecting with your ideal customers.
With that in mind, you should post content on Facebook whenever you publish a new blog post, launch a new product, or have relevant information to share with your audience.
Depending on your niche, you could even create a Facebook group to foster discussion among your loyal customers.
While organic Facebook traffic is great for your business, you may also consider running paid Facebook ads.
14. Market Your Products On Pinterest
Pinterest is an underrated platform, especially when it comes to selling products.
Since Pinterest is essentially a visual search engine, you can connect pins directly to the products on your Etsy shop, making it easy for people to buy.
The Pinterest algorithm favors new content, so it’s a good idea to consistently create new pins to showcase your products in different ways.
Oh, and if you use blogging as a promotion strategy, you should create pins that link to your blog posts as well.
15. Run Paid Social Media Ads
After you’ve started gaining some traction through organic social media, you can also market your Etsy shop through paid social media advertising.
You see, many people on Instagram and Facebook are ready to buy. And if you’re looking for a great way to promote your Etsy shop, this is something you should capitalize on.
For the best results, try to gain as much information as you can ahead of time about the demographics of your customers. This will make your ad targeting much more effective.
16. Start A Youtube Channel Or Tiktok
Another way to promote your Etsy shop is to start a YouTube channel or TikTok and make videos about your products. You could create many different types of videos depending on the products you sell. Here are a few examples:
- Product Tutorials: Give people a thorough overview about how to use your products.
- Behind the Scenes: Show people the behind-the-scenes work that goes into creating your products, packaging them, and selling them on Etsy.
- Q&A: Answer common questions people have about your products and/or niche.
Just get creative!
Video is one of the best methods for promoting your business because it’s engaging, and video platforms aren’t quite as saturated as online marketplaces like Etsy.
17. Pitch To Media Outlets
One way to get more eyes on your Etsy shop is to get featured in the mainstream media.
While it may sound daunting, many media outlets are always on the lookout for new businesses and products to feature in their publications.
All you have to do is look for media outlets that make sense for your particular niche or industry.
Then, reach out to them, describing what types of products you sell and what makes them valuable. Most importantly, explain why you think a feature on you would be beneficial to their audience.
Getting featured in the media is a great way to boost brand awareness, improve your credibility, and increase sales.
18. Participate In Online Communities Or Forums
If you want to promote your Etsy shop effectively, it’s important to go where your customers are.
In other words, take advantage of the online communities or forums where your ideal customers spend their time. Then, make an effort to spend time there, too.
Remember, the products you sell in your Etsy probably provide much-needed solutions to your customers. And when you engage with people in online communities, you have the opportunity to help them find the solution you’ve created for them.
Side note: Be sure to always follow community guidelines for any forum you join, and don’t spam people or over-promote. Be an active member of the community, and focus on providing other members with genuine, helpful responses to their questions.
19. Try Guest Blogging
If you’re looking for another great way to market your Etsy shop, you should consider guest blogging as a marketing tactic.
While reaching out to bloggers in your niche and asking them if they accept guest blog posts can be time consuming, this is a good strategy because it gives you access to a blogger’s following, and it allows you to link to your Etsy store or website from the blog post you write.
20. Market Your Etsy Shop Offline
Word-of-mouth advertising is anything but dead! So, to round out your promotion strategies, always be sure to promote your Etsy shop offline.
This could mean joining networking groups, participating in events that are relevant to your market, or simply sharing about your business with friends and family.
Look for new and unique opportunities to share your products with people in person.
Bottom Line
If you want to increase the revenue from your Etsy shop, you need to learn how to get the word out about your business.
Whether that means building a big social following, taking advantage of influencer marketing, starting a blog, paying for ads, or any of the other items on this list, the more people that know about your shop, the bigger your business can grow.
So, how do you plan to promote your Etsy shop? Be sure to drop your answer in the comments!
