Over the past few months, I have been meeting with owners of Etsy shops to help diagnose some of their growing (or lack of growing) pains.
I have met with several new shops and have helped them develop a strategy to launching a successful Etsy shop through these 7 steps.
If you are new Etsy and looking to launch your shop with success, then take note of these steps below.
1. Pictures
Pictures should be 70% of your time. This will be your number one factor when launching a shop. It’s no surprise that Etsy is an extremely visual platform. With a sea of competitors already trying to win your customer over, its important that you don’t get passed over because your pictures were not up to par.
I like to take the pictures of my competitors and put them on a google doc. I send those out to a few friends and ask them what picture they like best. I then model my pictures after what they like best (and add some original ideas) and then ask again which pictures they like best.
Also note, that with the lack of branding Etsy allows you to do, pictures are really the only way to be different. So be creative. Remember.. 70% of your time is going into pictures, so make them special!
Here is another blog I did about how to get pictures to pop: https://www.growmyetsyshop.com/post/what-over-50-people-said-popped-on-etsy-free-download
Long-term effect of good pictures: Your traffic will be slow as you are building inventory and gaining trust with Etsy. So by taking the time to make bomb listing pictures now, you will be able to pull in more clicks as traffic grows.
2. Offer/Price
This is the NUMBER one mistake I see new Etsy shop make. Pricing.
You see, we get really caught up in making money that we forget one small thing. That Etsy actually wants to make money too. So they are not motivated to help promote your new shop when they can give a store with a proven track record your spot on the front page.
I want you to picture your shop like this.
Every corner of your neighborhood has a lemonade stand on it. You decide to get in on the action and start your own lemonade stand. Would you just copy what your successful competitors are doing?
You can, but don't be surprised if you don't see the same success they do. You see, they have a good reputation with the neighborhood, clientele, and a smoother operation. The only way you would be successful is if you convinced their clientele to stop buying from them, and instead, buy from you.
This is what you need Etsy to do for you. You need them to remove people from the first page, and place you there. So, what if you offered your product cheaper than the competition. Would that motivate Etsy a bit more (and Etsy customers) to test you out.
Yup!
Here is what you need to change your mindset to.
You are not in the business of making money *yet*, you are in the business of getting sales and reviews."
The more sales and reviews you have, the more trust you gain with Etsy that you are a store that will make them money.
This won't be your forever pricing. You will increase your prices as you gain more authority with Etsy. But you must first earn that authority. So increase your sales by offering a product people would be dumb to pass up on!
Long-term goal with pricing: Lower your price to help improve SEO, gain more sales/ reviews, and earn trust with Etsy that you are a store that people love.
3. Consistency
This is important to Etsy. That you are not a set it and forget it shop. Etsy wants to see that if they invest in you and promote your stuff that you are in it for the long haul. That you will be able to handle their customers with the utmost professionalism and give them the most positive experience ever.
One of the ways they determine this is by seeing your activity on their platform. Are you logging in once a week or are you on every day, actively adding value to your shop?
The piece of advice I always give new shops is to add inventory throughout the week instead of in bulk. This allows Etsy to see your pattern as someone who is always adding value to their shop and who is considered "active"
Long term goal with consistency - Making a goal of consistency means that not only will you be adding value to your shop, but also earning trust with Etsy that you are in and committed to growing.
4. Find your Niche
You shouldn't even start selling on Etsy till you know this one question.
"Its not about understanding what you sell, but WHO you are selling to."
Just selling hats to people who want a hat is going to be difficult. You need to understand why someone would buy your hat instead of the competition, and then create your listing to speak to that person. Make them feel like you understand what they want and why your hat is what they are looking for.
This also works great for SEO
You will not be on any major keywords anytime soon. So the only way you will be seen is through niche keywords. Think of it this way.
If you sell shirts, you won't be seen under the keyword "shirts" till you have earned your way to the top. So how do you be seen in the meantime?
You create dad joke shirts. You become a store that sells funny shirts and locks in on the keyword "dad joke" Etsy wants diversity in their front page so as you grow your brand and sale through your niche, you can start to move to more major keywords.
Understanding how to make titles to grow can be found here: https://www.growmyetsyshop.com/post/the-keyword-formula-that-makes-headlines-convert-on-etsy
Long-term goal of niching: You will be in a smaller pocket of people and be able to compete so much better. This will help prove that people like your product and help grow your reach. This also allows you to be able to advertise easier in the future.
5. have an offer
Because you are in the business of making sales (not money.. yet) You will want to come up with an offer to help sweeten the deal. This can be a small discount code, a buy one get one, or anything else that encourages the buyer to take action.
The reason you want to do this (outside of getting people to buy) is that it gives you something to advertise.
If you open up a new shop that sells bathrobes, you can connect with some influencers over Instagram and offer your bathrobe (free of charge) if they post some stuff for you. You can then give them your offer so they can promote that to their following and help push people to your shop.
*Note* I have found that micro-influencer marketing is one of the quickest and most cost-effective ways to grow a following. I have a podcast episode all about that here: https://www.growmyetsyshop.com/podcast/episode/3c5a624a/how-to-create-partnerships-on-etsy
Long-term goal of having an offer: Build up your sales and use the offer to encourage those not on Etsy to come and buy. Etsy will "reward" you for bringing in your own traffic.
6. Encourage Conversations
When launching your products, you will not be perfect in answering every question going through the buyers head. By having a message in the description that simply says,
"If you have any questions, please feel free to personally contact me (name) and I will be happy to help!"
This can go a long way. By opening up conversations with your potential buyers you will not only be learning what's going through their minds and be able to improve your listings, but you will also be able to prove to Etsy that you are a responsive seller who can take care of their traffic.
Long-term goal of encouraging conversations: Your shop will receive more activity and allow you to prove that you are going to take care of Etsy people. In return, you will build trust, and learn more about how your buyer thinks.
7. Find Pain/ ultimate benefit
People buy through emotion first. They then back their emotions through logic. Most Etsy shops promote their product through only logic. If you can present your product through emotion you will be able to instantly stand out from your competitors.
Here is an example.
If you sell a pillow, you shouldn't only present it as "it's soft, looks good, and is professionally made." These are all logical points.
Instead, you will want to say something like:
"Neck pain is the worst.
And most people who experience neck pain get it from 7-8 hours of laying on a poorly made pillow every night.
However, you can completely erase neck pain from your everyday life by getting a pillow design to SUPPORT your neck, instead of leaving it tweaked all night long."
Do you feel the difference? Now, this is difficult to do when you sell a product that is just generic, which is why the ultimate benefit is where you may want to focus on.
Here is how you find out what the ultimate benefit is for your product.
Ask yourself these questions.
1. When someone buys your product, why are they excited to receive it?
2. What will be the first thing that someone does when they get your product?
3. Why would someone choose you over another product?
Once you understand these 3 questions, you can focus on them in your listing descriptions. Get people excited to buy instead of boring them with details they expect you say.
Full Steam Ahead
Once you get these 7 steps into your new shop, its time to put the work in. You cant expect Etsy to give you free traffic. You need to put the work in so that you earn that traffic from them and these 7 steps are a great way to do just that!
If you like what you read and are wanting more personal information on how you SPECIFICALLY can grow your Etsy shop, then check out some of my growth options here: