Chapter 24

Ten Strategies for Marketing Your Etsy Shop

In This Chapter

Bringing folks to your Etsy shop (and keeping them there)

Using technology to your advantage

Marketing your wares in the real world

Marketing is the key to any successful business, your Etsy shop included. Here, we offer ten tips you need to know to successfully market your Etsy shop (flip to Chapter 16 for even more guidance).

Offer Tiered Pricing

If all you had to offer were $25 gumball machines, you’d really be limiting your customer base. By offering a $5 item as well as a $100 item, you open your shop to buyers with different-sized pocketbooks. With so-called “tiered pricing,” you can include big-ticket items to make your shop seem more exciting, while at the same time offering goodies for entry-level shoppers so they can test the waters of your shop, so to speak.

Understand That Giving Begets Giving

Helping someone by giving her more than she asked for makes that person want to return the favor. Build trust and develop relationships with your customers by offering something for nothing, whether it’s advice on your blog or a gift with a purchase.

But don’t go the cheap route — it may actually work against you by turning off customers. Make sure that you offer only good-quality stuff.

Provide a Guarantee

No doubt about it, you can engender a lot of trust by offering to replace or refund an item if the customer isn’t happy for any reason. Buying online can be a scary proposition; you can break down a barrier by letting shoppers know that you’re willing to work with them. We guarantee it!

Consider a Loyalty Program

A loyalty program or frequent-customer card can be a great way to bring back return customers. Your loyalty program may offer prizes, future discounts, and other incentives designed to keep customers doing repeat business with you.

As you develop your loyalty program, don’t forget your branding. Design customer cards that reflect your shop’s color, logo, design, and feel.

Impose a Deadline

Research shows that procrastination is the leading factor in delaying doing things. Overcome the customer’s natural tendency to put things off by offering a sale with a deadline. Add a sense of urgency to your marketing message, and customers will respond.

Create a Great E-mail Signature

Most e-mail programs enable you to create an e-mail signature — a bit of text or an image that appears at the bottom of every e-mail message that you send. Take advantage of this feature! Creating an e-mail signature gives you a chance to share your contact info and reinforce your branding.

Your e-mail signature is the last thing the person reading your message will see — you want it to reflect your personality!

Connect with Social Media

It’s really easy to get so caught up in sharing our own stories online that we forget to listen to others. Instead of using Facebook and Twitter as one big opportunity for you to advertise your wares, use them to reach out to others. Read and comment on others’ posts. Congratulate a fellow seller on his successful sale or cheer up a Twitter buddy who’s down in the dumps. It’s karma, baby!

Make Google Your Best Friend

With this newfangled interweb thingy, you can find the answer to literally any question you have (including marketing questions). Don’t be afraid to turn to Google as you grow your Etsy shop! You’ll find everything from tips on developing a logo to the best marketing strategy for your craft business.

Use Your Items in the Real World

One of the simplest ways to promote your work is to use or wear your pieces in everyday life, and to always have a business card handy. That way, when Aunt Sarah compliments you on your beautiful feathered and bedazzled bracelet, you can hand her your business card and tell her where to get one of her very own (and one for Uncle Frank, too).

Help Your Community

Get your craft business some publicity by doing something to benefit your community. For example, create a special breast cancer awareness necklace to honor a neighbor, or hold a special sale to help someone in the area. Make sure you let the local paper know what you’re up to!