How to promote your Etsy shop

As a seller of things on Etsy, you need to be equipped with an arsenal of tools to ensure success of your Etsy shop. So be prepared to spend quite some time to promote your shop and your items.

This article is broken into two parts: 1st, promotion tools that Etsy supplies, and 2nd, tips to promote your shop further.

• Search Ads - Promote yourself using the ad space, ensuring that your items come up at the top of searched items. When doing a search you may notice that the first four items have a baby blue background. These are the ads that people purchased for their shop. There are a few different options for ads in terms of how much you want to spend that is directly related to the number of impressions your shop will receive. You can set your shop to spend $5, $10, or $25 weekly on ads. For every amount spent remember it will generate about 1000x's that amount in impressions. Much like any web content, when you are using this feature to drive traffic to your shop, use appropriate and good tags that describe your products. Nothing more disappointing to type in a search for stuffed animals and coming back with ads for tube-tops.
• Coupon Codes - Pretty self explanatory, coupon codes work exactly like any other online coupon. What is awesome is that you can set several different features such as a percentage in savings or free shipping when a coupon code is used. I have used this feature on our facebook and twitter pages to attract followers to buy our items at a discount. I have also used the coupon codes as a way of saying thank you to buyers by including a coupon code in their package or in an email. This way I keep my buyers interested in checking back and not just shop and go.
• Showcase - This promotional feature lets you reserve a 24-hour slot for you to showcase your top items around Etsy. A tad different from the search ads in these showcases are assigned to a general category, such as clothing or furniture. The showcase is in the same location as the ads but are on a rotation with other shops items, and also features a scrolling marquee to view the showcase. There are some limitations in that your items wording and tags need to match the category that you are applying for showcasing, so make sure you label and tag items correctly!
• Etsy Mini - Perfect for your blog or other content you have on the web, Etsy Mini allows you to create a widget, which you can then place on places like your blog for viewers to find your shop and view your items from your blog. A good way to bring traffic directly to your shop outside of Etsy.
• Facebook - Of course, what would promotional tools be without social networking. By adding Etsy to your facebook you can easily promote items by sharing them on your wall and with friends. I created a separate facebook page dedicated to my Etsy shop so I wouldn't annoy my friends with the constant postings of vintage clothing in their news feeds. This way it ensures that those who liked your page are the ones getting the items on their news feeds. I suggest an occasional post from your personal account, or post a link so your friends will like your Etsy shop's facebook page as well.

• Post often - This would be the most important of them all, even more important than the promotional tools that Etsy offers. Reason being is most Etsy shoppers tend to look at newer posted items by utilizing Etsy's cool search features. Therefore, the more active you are on your shop, the more likely users will see your items listed on the newly listed feed. My wife and I try to post at least two to three items daily. What time to post items is a whole other article in itself. Also, posting new items keeps your shop fresh and appealing, making shoppers check back often.
• Bulk up your inventory - At least for vintage clothing it seems that buyers tend to gravitate towards shops that have a decent sized selection of items. Of course people like to have selections, that is given, but it also shows that you are a serious shop owner with good products, willing to take care of the buyer's shopping needs.
• Share - Be excited about your shop and share it with others, whether by word of mouth or social media, or whatever means possible! Business cards are a good way to spread the word. You can even include a couple in packages of items you mail out. Keep some with you as you never know when the conversation will turn to your shop or items that you sell. Vista Print is a good choice for amount and affordability. I recently got some cards from them and was pleased at the quality.
• Be active - While you may be thinking exercising (and could help give you more energy to promote), I am talking more about being an active participant on Etsy. Join teams to start networking with other Etsy members who are sellers and buyers, participate on the Etsy forum, answer emails promptly and professionally, and give feedback on your sales.
• Blog - Start a blog dedicated to your Etsy shop, giving shoppers a behind the scenes (without revealing too many of your secrets). We have taken pictures of people wearing our items and skateboarding. Others could give tips and patterns for small craft ideas. This personal look into your life and shop makes you more appealing to shoppers, as well as puts your Etsy shop's name out on google other places than Etsy.

The best of luck to you in your endeavor to promote your shop and becoming successful at selling on Etsy.