Are you an Etsy seller struggling to make sales without relying on ads? The good news is that Etsy is set up as a platform to make getting organic sales easy! There are several tactics you can use to increase your shop’s visibility and attract more customers. In this post, we’ll explore five effective strategies that can help you boost your Etsy sales without spending money on advertising.
Optimize your product listings for search.
One of the most important things you can do to increase your Etsy sales is to optimize your product listings for search. Etsy has 90 million buyers coming to their platform each year specifically to buy from small businesses like yours. So showing up in searches that those buyers are completing should be one of your top priorities.
To do that, you want to use long-tail keywords that buyers are using in their searches and optimize your tags and titles to tell Etsy that you’re relevant for those searches. Learn more about how to do in this podcast episode.
Don’t forget to use phrases that aren’t too competitive. It’s almost impossible to reliably show up in searches with hundreds of thousands or millions of results for competition. Part of your keyword research process needs to include assessing the competition for the search phrases you want to rank for in order to determine how tough it’s going to be to show up in those searches.
Add more Etsy listings.
The more listings you have available on Etsy, the more likely you are to show up in buyers searches. Now, don’t get me wrong, quality is just as important as quantity. I’ve seen Etsy shops with more than a thousand listings who weren’t even getting a sale a week. But if you are optimizing your SEO correctly, adding more listings and filling your product lines can help you get more sales quickly without ads. Learn more about product lines in this blog post.
Use social media to promote your shop and products.
Social media can be a powerful tool for promoting your Etsy shop and products. Share links to your shop and individual listings on your social media accounts, and use relevant hashtags to reach a wider audience. You can also create eye-catching lifestyle photos to showcase your products and share them on platforms like Instagram or TikTok. Engage with your followers and potential customers by responding to comments and messages, and consider running social media giveaways or promotions to encourage sales.
One thing you want to avoid, however, is promoting in Etsy seller Facebook groups. Groups filled with other sellers aren’t your target market and can hurt your shop stats by increasing views from nosey sellers without leading to any sales.
Use the Etsy Explore feature.
The Etsy Explore feature is a great way to get your products in front of customers who are browsing Etsy. This feature is newer in the Etsy app and can be a very easy way to get some traffic quickly.
Ask your friends and family to share.
Don’t underestimate the power of word-of-mouth marketing. Ask your friends and family to share your Etsy shop with their own networks. You can even offer them a discount code as a thank you for helping you share your business. Your friends and family want to help your business succeed so don’t be afraid to ask!
