Anyone looking to dive into ecommerce would do well to start with Etsy. This enchanting marketplace is brimming with charming products from countless creative sellers.
What makes Etsy stand out is the abundance of traffic it attracts. Shoppers visit the platform ready to make purchases, credit cards in hand. Unlike affiliate marketing, there’s less need to warm up Etsy shoppers.
If your product is visually appealing and your description is compelling, you’re likely to close the sale. However, new sellers on Etsy often find that reaching their first 100 sales can be quite a challenge.
Here’s why new shops struggle to get sales
At first glance, it may seem like many Etsy shops are thriving with thousands of sales. And this is true – but Etsy tends to prioritize successful shops by giving their products more visibility.
It’s important to realize that Etsy is a business too. They earn a small percentage of every sale you make, so it’s in their interest to promote the stores that generate the most revenue.
As a result, successful shops keep growing while new stores with no sales struggle to get noticed. It’s a classic case of the rich getting richer.
This creates a catch-22. Your products need visibility on Etsy to generate sales… but Etsy only promotes your products if they’re already selling. Without proof that your items can sell, your visibility will be severely limited.
It’s a tough situation, but that’s the reality.
Here’s what you need to do!
You’ll need to generate your own traffic rather than depending solely on Etsy. Simply creating and listing products won’t automatically lead to sales. You’ll need to take action and drive more people to view your listings.
We’ll explore this in more detail later. For now, just remember that there’s still hope. If you can send traffic to your listings and turn those visitors into customers, Etsy’s algorithm will recognize that your store is making sales.
At that point, Etsy will start showing your listings more frequently, and you’ll begin to see organic traffic from the marketplace. It’s up to YOU to get things moving instead of relying on Etsy alone.
As the saying goes, “To he who hath, more is given.”
The Basic Hacks
Before you start driving traffic to your store, you’ll need to meet some essential criteria.
Your products should target a popular niche. The best way to choose one is by observing what’s already selling well.
Spend at least 3-5 days researching successful Etsy stores. Pay close attention to their product descriptions, images, reviews, and overall offerings.
Using a tool like EverBee can provide valuable data analytics, helping you with product research and validation. It will reveal high-demand products that are likely to fly off the shelves on Etsy.
You’ll also want to take advantage of trends and profit from them.
For instance, if Valentine’s Day is in 6-8 weeks, you’ll want to have products in your store that make great gifts for the occasion.
It goes without saying that your products need to be visually appealing and high-quality. Use software like Placeit to create eye-catching images that showcase your products. If you’re taking your own photos, make sure they’re clear and aesthetically pleasing.
Etsy is a highly visual marketplace, and first impressions matter. Since shoppers can’t physically touch or examine the items, they rely entirely on images. Your photos must sell the product.
You may also want to sign up for Creative Fabrica to access professional, attractive designs for your products.
Additionally, your SEO must be spot on. Use a tool like Sale Samurai for competitor research and to find effective keywords for your product descriptions.
Once you’ve listed your first 3-5 products, you’ll have a solid grasp of the product listing process. From here, aim to list as many items as you can.
Etsy is a numbers game. The more products you list, the more exposure your store gets. The likelihood of making a sale increases significantly with each new product.
That being said, never compromise quality for quantity. Your products must be exceptional, but you’ll still need as many as possible in your store.
A general rule of thumb is that it takes around 60 listings before you’ll see your first sale. Sometimes it’s more, sometimes less. Either way, don’t give up too soon.
Belief comes after the work. Keep pushing and listing products.
Once the sales start rolling in, you’ll gain the confidence and belief that you have what it takes to succeed on Etsy.
The Intermediate Hacks
Social media
Once your store has around 60-100 listings, it’s time to focus on driving free traffic.
The first social media platform you’ll want to leverage is Pinterest. Since both Etsy and Pinterest cater to a predominantly female audience, it’s easier to direct Pinterest users to your store.
Pinterest’s visual format aligns well with Etsy. This is where branding comes in. Your Pinterest images and color scheme should match the colors of your store.
Consider using Coolors.co to create a visually pleasing color palette. Once you’ve got your colors, apply them consistently across all your web properties linked to your Etsy store.
To succeed on Pinterest, aim to post 2-4 new pins daily. Use the product images from your store, but create fresh visuals for your Pinterest boards.
Sign up for Canva to quickly and easily create Pinterest images by tweaking existing templates.
You might want to outsource this task to freelancers on Fiverr or Upwork, allowing you to focus on product creation while someone else handles your social media content.
Link your pins to your store, and you’ll start driving some of Pinterest’s traffic to your Etsy shop.
The next platform to tap into is Facebook.
Create both a page and a group for your Etsy store. Make sure they have the same name as your store, and use the same color palette for your profile and cover images.
Join popular Facebook groups related to your niche and engage with the members there.
For example, if you sell t-shirts or mugs for nurses, join nursing-related Facebook groups and contribute to the discussions—or at least interact with the members.
Don’t rush in and promote your store right away.
Instead, include your store URL in your Facebook bio. Once you’ve become a familiar face in the group, send friend requests to group members. Many will accept and become your friends.
Once connected, they’ll see your posts on your personal wall.
Post images of your Etsy products on your Facebook wall, using the same visuals you’ve already created for Pinterest.
Now that you have friends from the nursing group on your feed, some will inevitably click on the links in your posts and purchase your items. From there, word-of-mouth will help spread your products’ popularity within the niche.
This strategy works for any niche where relevant Facebook groups exist.
Once you’ve built a presence on Pinterest and Facebook, create short videos showcasing your products and share them on YouTube Shorts and TikTok.
Another tactic is to reach out to influencers and send them one or two of your products. Ask them to create a video showcasing your items and mentioning how much they love your store.
Be prepared to pay them $20 to $50 for this service, but avoid spending too much unless they have over 100,000 followers.
Ensure they include your store’s URL in their post—and make sure your post is the only one they share that day.
You don’t want your post to get buried under several other updates they might post later, like a selfie in a bikini by the pool.
Generating your own traffic may seem like a lot of work—and it is. But this effort is essential to building momentum on Etsy. Your efforts across these platforms are NOT wasted.
You’re establishing an online presence for your store. The more content you produce, the more traffic you’ll attract over time.
Results will start as a trickle and eventually snowball into an avalanche of traffic. So stay persistent and front-load the work so you can enjoy the rewards later.
Discounts, coupons and reviews
As your store gets more views, you’ll notice some customers ‘favoriting’ your products. A smart strategy is to offer these users a 15-20% discount for liking your item. This process can be automated for convenience.
The same approach applies to customers who add products to their cart but then abandon the purchase.
These potential buyers have shown interest in your product. They may be unsure or could have been distracted during the checkout process.
By offering a discount, you’ll entice them to complete the purchase and recover potential sales you might have otherwise lost.
For those who have already made a purchase, offer a 20% off coupon for their next order. It’s much easier to sell to an existing customer, and the discount will motivate them to return to your store for more products.
Positive reviews on your Etsy store can significantly influence future buyers by building trust. Make it a practice to reach out to your past customers through Etsy’s internal messaging system and ask them to leave a review.
Once they’ve left a review, you can send them a promotional code as a thank-you gesture, offering them a discount on your products. This will encourage loyalty and further purchases.
The Advanced Hacks
Now that your store has a sufficient number of products to appear ‘respectable,’ and you’re already tapping into the social media giants for free traffic, there’s just one final step—paid traffic.
It’s time to start running Etsy ads and directing them toward products in your store. Etsy’s advertising platform is very affordable, and you should use ads to promote products you believe will be popular.
As with any paid advertising, there’s a learning curve, and not all your campaigns will be successful. This is to be expected.
With experience, your ability to run effective ads will improve, and a winning campaign will more than make up for the losses from those that didn’t work out.
At first, focus solely on Etsy ads and ignore other ad networks. It’s entirely possible to achieve high profitability just by using Etsy ads. However, as your business grows, you may feel like you’ve reached an income ceiling.
By that point, you’ll be a much more seasoned marketer and advertiser. You can then branch out and experiment with Facebook ads, using the carousel format, which has been proven to work exceptionally well for Etsy products.
Putting it all together
Everything discussed in this article will help you increase your sales on Etsy. While these strategies may seem overwhelming at first, they are actually quite manageable.
There’s a lot to tackle, but it’s nowhere near as daunting or complex as building a six-figure niche website or managing an Amazon FBA business.
In comparison to other online business models, Etsy is relatively straightforward and can be just as lucrative.
Implement the tips from this article step by step, and don’t hesitate to outsource tasks whenever possible.
Give yourself a timeframe of 6-12 months to focus solely on making your Etsy business thrive. With consistent and dedicated effort, you’ll become proficient with the platform and could potentially generate a steady income of 4-5 figures per month—or even more!
Many successful Etsy store owners earn a full-time income from their shops. If they can achieve this, so can you.
This article serves as your roadmap to success on the platform. Follow it, and you’ll excel on Etsy.
