How To Increase Your Sales And Success On Etsy As An Artist
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Tips You Need To Know When Making The Most Of Your Etsy Store
Etsy sells more than just that personalised mug you got for your Mum last Christmas. Infact, artists and creatives alike are making good money on the online marketplace, fueling their life and artistic practice. Often, one of the first suggestions for selling your art online is to sell on sites like Etsy. But maybe you’re just starting out, and are wondering how you can get more sales on Etsy yourself?
What is Etsy Used For?
Before we start an Etsy business, we need to understand what Etsy is and the kind of products that are suited for it. In short, it’s another e-commerce marketplace, but with a creative twist. This isn’t Amazon or Ebay. Unlike those sites, Etsy has a focus on bringing customers handmade, unique and vintage goods, making it an ideal place for craft businesses and artists to sell.
So, what things are artists selling on Etsy? Something positive about Etsy’s targeted audience is that they’re looking for something individual and original. Of course there are product trends and statistics, but essentially artists are selling what they already love to make, including: paintings, jewellery, rugs, and sculptures. There are also items that derive from these original creations and suit Etsy’s gift-giving buyers, for example: art prints, stickers, tote bags, mugs, t-shirts and more.
Should you sell on Etsy?
Questions to ask yourself before opening an Etsy shop.
– Does my product align with what sells on Etsy?
– Have I got the time and patience that selling on Etsy requires?
– Am I prepared to package and ship my items?
– Will my art stand out in a saturated market?
– Do I understand the fees involved with Etsy?
How much money can you make on Etsy as an artist?
Of course, how much money you can make relies on the number of products you’re selling and their price points. You also need to factor in that not every seller on Etsy promotes their store as their full-time job. For others, Etsy is simply a place to sell the results of their hobby part-time. With this in mind, it becomes difficult to put a generalised figure on how much Etsy sellers make. Although, back in 2020, Etsy CEO Josh Silverman stated that sellers made $2900 on average a year. In essence, take these statistics with a pinch of salt, the money you can make on Etsy is completely reliant on individual factors that vary from seller to seller.
How to get more traffic to your Etsy shop
Now we have a bit of background knowledge on Etsy and what to expect from the online marketplace, lets begin exploring the stuff everyone wants to know, how to get more sales on Etsy!
Promote On Social Media
it’s vital to getting the word out there about your shop. Try to utilise all your social accounts, including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. Even Tiktok has proven useful for directing customers to shop from smaller businesses. This tip applies to all online selling ventures, not just Etsy, so is one to definitely take up.
Improve Your SEO
Search Engine Optimization (known as SEO) is an important tactic for Etsy shop owners to understand as it’s going to play a huge role in getting potential customers to view your products. When a shopper inputs words into Etsy’s search engine, their results will be ranked by a number of factors, and depending on how well your shop performs against the criteria, you’ll either be placed further up the list or somewhere lower.
– Consider your shop title, it will be the first bit of text that a customer sees when looking at your store. Maybe try to include a reference to what it is you sell, so that when a shopper searches for that item, your store will pop up as a great match.
– Keywords are critical in terms of good SEO content, so make sure you’re utilising them well. Include exact matches like ‘abstract painting’ instead of ‘abstract’ and ‘painting’ separately. Placement of keywords are important too, try including them at the beginning of your product title, description and tags so that Etsy recognises it easier. Unsure of what keywords to use? Put yourself in the position of a shopper, what would you type in a search bar if you were looking for the product in question. Sometimes, the answer isn’t always going to be the physical qualities of the item; consider its uses, styles, and meaning. And don’t include the exact same keyword across all of your listings, this won’t put more of your items on a search page. Instead, think of varieties of the keyword, for example, ‘custom rug’ and ‘bespoke carpet’.
– Etsy’s tags feature is an additional, optional section of a product listing that you can fill out and although it’s not compulsory, we absolutely recommend using all 13. Think of all the synonyms to diversify your list of tags, pushing your product out to as many potential buyers as possible. You need to consider what other people may call your item, not just what you name it. Don’t include multiple languages though, Etsy will translate your listing for you in order to reach buyers in other countries.
– Renewing your listings can give your product a small, temporary boost within the algorithm so you might want to employ this tactic during peak traffic times. This is especially applicable to popular, highly competitive item categories where the slight boost can have noticeable benefits.
– Inbound links are great at promoting your shop in general, but they also affect your SEO performance. Etsy and Google like to place a highly shared, discussed and visited shop above others as they deem it to be more relevant for the shopper, so try to gain some shares on your shop link, not just from your own personal accounts!
Try Using Onsite Ads
There is a reason why business owners continue to invest money into paid ads, it’s because they’re proven to work! The good thing is, they don’t have to cost too much either, making them a practical addition to the other tips you’re following to get more sales on Etsy. Etsy already has a large following of shoppers who regularly use the site, making onsite ads (appearing on Etsy.com itself) worthwhile. It works through a ‘pay per click’ system, so even if the ad isn’t performing very well, you won’t have wasted your money. Are Etsy ads worth it for your shop? Perhaps try the other, free tips and tricks before deciding and then make an informed decision.
Determine What Is Most Popular
As small as they are, stickers were actually the highest selling product of 2021, with the ‘Craft and Supplies’ category coming out on top. If your only goal is to get more sales on etsy, you may have to tailor the types of products you’re selling to what is most popular at the time. This doesn’t have to take away from the products you want to sell; instead it can act as a gateway to your shop where shoppers will then want to check out what else you have on sale. Drawing people in with the most popular items gains your Etsy shop attention which in turn, converts to sales.
Collect Good Customer Reviews
We all like some positive feedback, it boosts our confidence of course. But in terms of establishing a reputable Etsy store; good customer reviews are vital. These reviews will take time to trickle in as you make sales but there are a number of ways to encourage your buyers to come back and leave a comment. Firstly and most importantly, give them a shopping experience they want to praise you for! Thank your customer for buying and politely ask that they don’t forget to leave a review. You could even screenshot some reviews and share them on social media to promote your product. This also goes a long way to forming positive relationships with your followers and customers.
Offer Varied Price Points With Originals And Prints
What’s a better way to get more sales on Etsy than offering your customers price points that suit all budgets! You don’t want to miss out on Etsy’s huge art print market by only selling originals and vice versa. By having a variety of products, you are increasing your target audience to appeal to more consumers, which works well on a site that already has their own shoppers.
Invest in high quality photos
Investing in quality photos is important when selling on any site. Good photos can really make all the difference when it comes to a customer’s decision to buy from you or not. When a shopper searches for a keyword and your listing appears high up, they are only going to click on it if the photo entices them. As a general rule, make sure the photo has good lighting, is in focus, has a clear, clean background and has little distractions. Etsy gives you the option to add multiple photos as well, so you should use these to display your photo from different angles, upclose, and in a way it may be used/displayed in the buyer’s home.
Space postings across a couple of days
Resist the urge to post all those listings at once, it won’t benefit the exposure of your shop. Instead, space them across a number of days. The way this works is that Etsy temporarily boosts a new listing near the top of the results page
You may want to employ this tactic through renewing your existing listings, especially during peak times like Mother’s Day and Christmas. The boost that these listings will receive is smaller than a brand new post however it could be something to try within competitive product categories. Although this isn’t a long term way to get more sales on Etsy, it can be beneficial when used in conjunction with other techniques.
Use your personal stats
If you didn’t already know, there’s a lot you can find out about your Etsy shop performance from within the Etsy site itself. All these freely accessible Etsy statistics provide the insights a shop owner needs in order to adapt their marketing techniques or to know what is working.
For example; look at what your most popular product is. Should you make more of this product? What about your conversion rate? When were your orders at a peak and what caused this? Did you do extra social media promotion that month?
Improve product descriptions
What’s the next thing a customer will look at after seeing the photos and clicking on your product listing? The description! Because of this, Etsy product descriptions need to be well constructed, covering a number of important factors. In order for the buyer to complete a purchase, the description should tell them why they need the product, grabbing their attention and matching what they’d set out to find. It should clearly lay out the key elements of the product, it’s selling points and resolve any queries the consumer may have that’s preventing a sale. Don’t waste time including things like material, colour and so on, this basic information should fill out the ‘highlights’ section of a listing. Leave the description as a place for you to sell the product with writing.
What are the busiest and slowest months for Etsy?
Is this month seeming quieter than usual? That may be because it’s one of Etsy’s slower selling months. As with all ecommerce businesses, there are highs and lows in terms of profit and completed orders which depend on the time of year. After sifting through some Etsy Forums, it appears the months of June to August are a seller’s slowest, with it picking back up towards the end of Summer. Unsurprisingly, December sits as Etsy’s busiest time of year (as is the case with most businesses). This could be important information to note if you want to be able to rely on Etsy as your main source income, as planning ahead may be necessary for those quieter months.
Getting Your First Sale on Etsy
You’ve put all your efforts into getting more sales on Etsy, now it’s simply a waiting game. But how long before you actually make that sale? It’s different for everyone, but new Etsy sellers should expect to wait for a couple weeks to a couple months for that first Etsy sale. It can be hard for brand new shops to get off the mark as they have no reviews, no traffic and limited experience. Keep at it though, it’s something that comes with time, alongside tailoring your marketing techniques.
When you do finally make that first sale (congratulations!) you should receive a notification email and be able to view it in Sold Orders. It’s now down to you to package and ship your product, making sure it safely arrives in time. It’s good practice to keep communication with your customers at this time, making them aware of when the parcel has been dispatched for example. You also have the option to add tracking details, giving your customer reassurance and trust. This will improve their shopping experience with you and in turn, make them want to buy from you again.
And once the sale is complete and the order has arrived? Why not offer that buyer an exclusive discount to entice them back to your shop? Ask them how they found the product and the process. All feedback (both through reviews and messages) can be used to further enhance the success of your Etsy shop.
Does etsy limit your sales? At this moment in time, there are no caps on sales, nor the amount of listings you can put up. Etsy is here to make money too, so the more you sell, the more money they make from you in turn. If you’re not making sales or seeing a decline, there may be something else going on. It’s worth running through these tips to see if you could be marketing your shop differently.
Let us know your experiences with selling on Etsy below and recommend any tips we may have missed!
Also, don’t forget you can always share your art with us. Become the next Artist of The Month, tag us on Instagram @darkyellowdot and submit your work to be in our next exhibition!
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NEED MORE ADVICE?
ARTICLES TO HELP:
How To Package And Ship Artwork Effectively
12 Tips For Selling Your Art Online
SITES TO HELP:
CED Commerce – Top Selling Items On Etsy 2021
COURSES TO HELP:
How To Create Etsy Listings That Get Seen
Selling On Etsy – How To Create A Successful Shop Online
How To Make Money As An Artist
