To start your Etsy store is easy. There is no cost to start an Etsy store. Furthermore, you will only be charged when submitting a new listing to Etsy and also a transaction fee once you have made sales. However, to build a successful Etsy store is more than that. There is much work and strategies to get your first Etsy sales.
Since the entry barrier for starting an Etsy store is low, there is huge competition selling on Etsy. You need to differentiate your store and products from your competitors to stand out in the competition and get sales.
Today, we will share 7 different ways to increase your Etsy sales.
7 Ways to Increase Your Etsy Sales
There are different strategies that you can implement to stand out from the competition and get more sales on Etsy.
#1 Conduct Competitor Research – Etsy Sales
On Etsy, many sellers are selling similar products. Even if not, they can recreate and sell it in no time. Hence, the importance here is to ride the wave and follow the trend.
There are many research tools out there that you can use to conduct competitive research to see what others are selling and what is best selling at the moment. Then look for what you can do to outbeat your competitors.
Tools like EverBee are one of the most popular Etsy analytics tools out there. You can use it to identify best-selling products and see their titles, keywords, and tags as well as their sales and revenue data.
This will give you a good idea of what’s working. And EverBee does offer a free trial and hobby plan. You can check it out for free.
#2 Implement Etsy SEO – Etsy Sales
Once you have done your competition research, you should now have an idea of what’s working and the keywords that people are searching. With these keywords, you will need to optimize your listing around the keywords to rank higher on the search results.
As we talked to most Etsy seller, Etsy’s search is one of their biggest traffic sources still.
What you can do here is to target the same keywords that your most successful competitors are targeting and optimize your product titles, descriptions, and tags around them.
Besides, you should also do your best to include as much information as possible for your products. This will help in ranking your product higher.
#3 Invest in High-Quality Product Images – Etsy Sales
Investing in high-quality product images for your Etsy products is crucial for several compelling reasons. Firstly, visually appealing images grab the attention of potential customers and create a positive first impression. In the crowded online marketplace, where numerous products compete for attention, visually striking images help your products stand out. High-quality photos showcase your products in the best possible light, highlighting their features and quality. This can significantly impact a buyer’s perception of your brand and increase the likelihood of them making a purchase.
Secondly, quality product images contribute to building trust with your customers. Clear, detailed images provide transparency and allow buyers to closely examine the product before making a decision. When customers can see the product from different angles and in various contexts, it reduces uncertainty and helps them make more informed choices. Trust is a crucial factor in online transactions, and investing in high-quality images communicates professionalism and a commitment to delivering a top-notch product.
Moreover, Etsy’s search algorithm often prioritizes listings with high engagement, including those with appealing images. Investing in professional-quality photos can enhance your product’s visibility within Etsy’s search results and increase the chances of attracting potential buyers. Etsy buyers are more likely to click on listings with eye-catching images, leading to higher click-through rates and, ultimately, improved sales performance.
Lastly, high-quality images benefit your Etsy shop and contribute to a positive overall shopping experience for your customers. Clear, well-lit photos help customers visualize the product accurately, reducing the likelihood of disappointment upon delivery. Satisfied customers are more likely to leave positive reviews and become repeat buyers, contributing to the long-term success and growth of your Etsy business.
#4 Improve Your Product Descriptions – Etsy Sales
In crafting compelling product descriptions for your Etsy items, it’s essential to understand the distinction between features and benefits. Features are the qualities or functions of a product, such as “These shoes are waterproof.”
On the other hand, benefits represent the value the customer derives from the product, as in “These shoes will keep your feet dry!” While Etsy product descriptions often focus on features, highlighting the benefits can set your listings apart from the competition.
When describing your products, ensure that you not only list the features but also emphasize the corresponding benefits. This approach helps potential customers understand how the product can meet their needs or solve their problems. Additionally, addressing common objections preemptively within your product descriptions can be highly effective. A brief sentence addressing a specific concern can help build confidence and alleviate doubts, potentially turning browsing customers into buyers.
To refine your product descriptions, analyze the descriptions of your most successful competitors on Etsy. Identify areas where you can improve or provide additional information that may resonate with your target audience. This strategic approach will contribute to creating more compelling, informative, and persuasive product descriptions that stand out and drive engagement.
#5 Get at Least Five Reviews For Each Product – Etsy Sales
Customer reviews play a pivotal role in the success of an Etsy store for several compelling reasons. Firstly, reviews serve as social proof, offering potential buyers insights into the experiences of others who have purchased from your store. Positive reviews act as endorsements, instilling confidence in new customers and influencing their purchasing decisions.
In contrast, negative reviews, while not ideal, provide an opportunity for transparency and improvement. Addressing concerns and showcasing responsive customer service can turn a negative experience into a positive one, demonstrating your commitment to customer satisfaction.
Secondly, Etsy’s search algorithm considers reviews as a ranking factor. Stores with higher ratings and positive reviews are more likely to appear in prominent positions within search results. This visibility is crucial for attracting organic traffic and increasing the chances of converting visitors into customers.
A well-reviewed store not only stands out in Etsy’s competitive marketplace but also signals trustworthiness and reliability to potential buyers.
Furthermore, customer reviews offer valuable feedback that can guide your business strategy. By understanding what customers appreciate about your products or services and identifying areas for improvement, you can refine your offerings and enhance the overall customer experience. This customer feedback loop is essential for staying attuned to market preferences, refining your product descriptions, and adapting your marketing strategy to meet the evolving needs of your target audience.
Ultimately, actively seeking and managing reviews is integral to building a positive online reputation, fostering customer trust, and sustaining the long-term success of your Etsy store.
A simple tip here is to get at least 5 reviews. This will give you some credibility to start with.
#6 Create a Product Designed to Be a Best Seller – Etsy Sales
When selling on Etsy, you are not only selling on your own. Your products will be compared with your competitors. So, it will be good if you can use EverBee to see what type of products are the most popular in your niche. And then, figure out how you can create a better one and optimise it to rank higher on the Etsy search result.
This will give you some clues on what’s working. Don’t copy blindly, but learn and improvise from what your competitors are doing. They are there because it works. At the same time, no point in copying their design or product as it will end up being a price war only.
By creating your design and product, you can differentiate your products from your competitors.
#7 Build an Email List – Etsy Sales
Possessing an email list stands as the most invaluable asset for an online business. It provides the means to connect with existing customers, informing them of product launches, limited-time sales, and more. In contrast to Amazon, Etsy grants sellers access to buyers’ email addresses. This emphasizes the importance of obtaining consent before adding individuals to your email list.
We recommend using a lead magnet, in exchange for their email addresses to grow your email list. This lead magnet can be either a physical item sent to new subscribers or a digital offering, such as a discount code for their next purchase.
Regardless of the chosen lead magnet type, it is crucial to build a dedicated landing page for it. Then, craft a compelling offer around it to get your potential customers to get the lead magnet.
Once they subscribe to your email list, you can have a short video to explain what to expect from your upcoming emails and where to look for them. You can include the timing for the email to be sent out, the sender and the subject line so they can find it easily.
Onboarding Email Sequence
For your onboarding email sequence, you can craft a six-day email sequence to build your stage and present your real offer. You are not going to promote your product as soon as they sign up. This will scare them off. Instead, build the stage and your reputation first before you show your offer.
- Email #1: Introduce yourself to the new subscriber.
- Email #2: Share the backstory of your business. Why did you start it? This story will make it more relatable for your customers to resonate with your business.
- Email #3: Explain in more detail what it is that you are selling and what makes your product different from other competitors.
- Email #4: Explain what makes you qualified to make and sell these products. Share relevant experience, credentials, and accomplishments.
- Email #5: Show some testimonials and reviews for your product. Your past customers’ reviews speak better than your sales letter. These are the honest and real feedback from someone who has tried your products.
- Email #6: List your most popular products and encourage the new subscriber to check out your Etsy store.
You can set up your welcome email sequence on an autoresponder so that when someone signs up to your email list, the email can be sent out automatically.
Why You Should Launch Your Online Store – Etsy Sales
While Etsy is a good marketplace to start your eCommerce business, you can’t rely on it forever. It’s someone else platform anyway. They can decide when to suspend your account and limit the traffic to your store.
Here are some risks you have:
Suspension Risk
Etsy can suspend your account at any time. Yes, it happens quite often to new sellers when they are not aware of the terms. And of course, they won’t give you any reason for that.
You can try to appeal for it, but it’s solely up to them on whether to reactivate your account. Hence, that’s the risk of losing your business overnight.
This includes all the customers, reviews and reputations for your store. It takes time to build everything. So if it’s your main business that your life is dependent on, you want some backup plan that you can control.
Fee Structure
Etsy’s fee structure poses a financial challenge for business owners. Transaction fees, listing costs, and expenses related to advertising on the platform can erode profit margins, especially for smaller enterprises.
While it’s good that most fees only happen after a sale is made, those fees will increase your cost. You will need to manage these fees carefully to ensure sustainable and profitable operations while winning in the competition.
Competition
The Etsy marketplace is diverse, with some product categories experiencing high saturation levels. Differentiating oneself and standing out among competitors can be a considerable challenge.
You need to fight for your product’s uniqueness and also advantages to win the war. Success demands effective marketing, unique product offerings, and a keen understanding of the competitive landscape.
Brand Control
Etsy is a marketplace designed for a consistent shopping experience. There are rules imposed to ensure the branding of Etsy. The sales process and the store design are all controlled by Etsy.
You will have some limited customization rights for your shop’s appearance but it will need to still follow Etsy rules. This will be a limitation for you if you want some deep business branding and process optimization for your business.
Search Algorithm Changes
Despite paid ads being one of the most effective marketing strategies for Etsy stores, search result visibility is equally important. Most successful Etsy stores get most sales organically through Etsy search.
Hence, ranking your product on the top for popular keywords is one of the keys to success. However, the search ranking relies heavily on the algorithm. Etsy will update its algorithm to serve its customers better and these changes may affect your ranking.
Dependency on Reviews
Customer reviews hold significant weight on Etsy. It’s how it shapes the reputation of a seller. Negative reviews or a lower overall rating can impact sales and tarnish the overall perception of a business.
Hence, prioritizing customer satisfaction and managing reviews effectively is vital for maintaining a positive brand image. Most sellers recommend at least 5 positive reviews for your business to get started.
Build Your Own Sales Funnel for Your Etsy Store
Selling on e-commerce marketplaces like Etsy is a good start as it will handle the traffic part. There are existing active buyers on the marketplace that are ready to buy.
However, it takes effort for you to rank top and get them to buy from your store. This is very hard if you start from scratch as they are not convinced to buy from you yet.
Hence, we will build a sales funnel before the Etsy store to nurture them and get your first sales before sending them to your store on the marketplace.
Here’s a proven three-step process that you can use to get a brand-new e-commerce store off the ground:
- Identify your best-selling front-end product.
- Build your product sales funnel for that product.
- Start driving traffic to your sales funnel.
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1. Identify Your Best-Selling Front-end Product
Your front-end product needs to be in high demand. You can start with your best-selling product. That’s something proven to work.
All you need is to build a dedicated sales funnel with an irresistible offer to get people to buy it. It isn’t necessary to make a huge profit from this first product as it’s an entry point to convert your potential customers to your customers.
After they become your customer, you can upsell them more products later. The action of breaking the barrier is hard. But after you complete that with your front-end offer, the real profits lie in the next sale.
2. Build Your Product Sales Funnel
A cart funnel is a sales funnel designed to convert your potential customers into paying customers.
It’s a 4 step sales funnel that works to sell your products and get them to buy more.
- Sales page.
- Upsell page.
- Cross-sell page.
- Thank you page.
Sales Page
The sales page aims to promote and sell your front-end product. You only focus on your best-selling product and design the page around it. On this page, you can have a 2-step checkout form where you collect their contact details in step one before completing payment. This is crucial because you need to collect their contact details first. This is because if they did not complete payment, you can too contact them to get the sales back.
Upsell Page
Once they complete the purchase, the next page will be an upsell page where you upsell them a more expensive product or the same product but with more quantity and a better offer. Most of them will purchase it as they are in the hype of purchase.
Cross-sell Page
Next, will be another cross-sell page where you sell another complementary product that they would most probably interested in buying based on their first purchase.
Thank You Page
After they complete the purchase, the last page will be the thank you page where you thank them for the purchase. On this page, you can also list your other products in your Etsy store. This will give them a chance to buy more items from you.
This cart funnel works because it simplifies the buying process. Your customers will only need to fill in their payment information on the first sales page. The upsell and cross-sell page will only have a “yes” and “no” button. When they click “yes”, their payment details from the first page will be copied over and complete payment.
This process simplification is important because it simplifies the decision-making process. Instead of taking too many actions, they just need to make a simple decision of “yes” and “no”. And it’s a one-click checkout and payment process. Their purchase is completed before they even notice it. You are guiding them to make a simple decision step by step. It will reduce the difficulty of making the buying decision.
You can build the entire cart funnel easily with ClickFunnels. There are proven cart funnel templates available in its template library. All you need is to choose one that fits your branding and start customizing it. All the one-click payment feature is also supported by ClickFunnels.
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3. Start Driving Traffic to Your Cart Funnel
Paid advertising is still the best way to drive traffic to your cart funnel. The paid advertising is immediate and you can target the right audience group. Compared to other organic methods, this is instant. Once you start paying and run your ad campaigns, the ad platform will start driving traffic to your cart funnel.
And if you want to scale up, you simply increase your daily budget and it will drive more traffic to your cart funnel.
Major social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, and TikTok, provide ad platforms for you to run ads. Look at where your target customers at and start running your ad on that platform. If you don’t know which to start, Facebook and TikTok are the best for you to start now.
Initiate an ad campaign spotlighting your best-selling product, commencing with a modest daily budget. Once you achieve profitability with your ads, gradually increase the daily budget to scale your campaign. If your initial cart funnel is not performing, don’t worry.
You just need to keep optimizing it to make it work. It’s an ongoing process to optimize your sales funnel to increase your conversion rate. Building a sales funnel is not a one-off process. Instead, running split-test and optimising it is crucial to get a winning one.
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Final Thoughts: 7 Ways To Catapult Your Etsy Sales This Year
These strategies serve as powerful catapults to elevate your Etsy sales to new heights. By implementing a combination of compelling product listings, strategic SEO techniques, and leveraging social media effectively, you can create a robust foundation for success.
Don’t overlook the significance of optimizing your shop’s visual appeal, as captivating imagery and cohesive branding leave a lasting impression. Furthermore, embracing Etsy’s unique features, such as the use of coupon codes and participating in promotional events, can give your shop a competitive edge and attract more buyers.
The best way to sell your products online and get more leads to your business is via a sales funnel. By creating a high-converting and optimized sales funnel, you can also scale your Etsy store successfully.
To do this, you can use ClickFunnels. ClickFunnels is one of the best funnel builders out there with extensive e-commerce functions, email marketing functions and a sales funnel for you to start easily.
You can start with the free 14-day trial. There is no risk for you to do that and no cost to you at all. All you need to do is to take action now and start building your sales funnel for your Etsy store.