Having an Etsy shop is fun, offers a wonderful creative outlet, and can be a really significant source of revenue. But at the heart of every successful Etsy shop, there is a shop owner who knows how to effectively promote their business and get it seen by the right pair of eyes. I'll outline 10 ways that you can start promoting your Etsy shop today - and only ONE of them will cost you money!

1. Instagram

Instagram is my number one recommendation when clients ask me what's the best way to promote their business. It's free advertising, used by BILLIONS of people worldwide, and it allows you to curate an aesthetic that Etsy doesn't, due to the lack of personalization options. You can post more photos than Etsy will allow, use a never-ending list of hashtags to get in front of your target market, reach out to potential clients, form a community of like-minded sellers, and naturally increase your Etsy visits! If you take one thing away from this article, it's that you should be using Instagram every day for your business. And if you don't believe me yet, check out these stats:

- Instagram has over 1 billion users every month

- 130 million users tap on shopping posts every month

- 50% of people have visited a website to make a purchase after seeing a post about a product or service

- The average instagram business account posts once per day

- Instagram reaches 140 million US users (an 8% increase over Q3 2020)

If you'd like to branch out on Instagram but haven't figured out how just yet, my Instagram Management plan may be perfect for you!

2. Facebook

Although Facebook seems very similar to instagram, there's quite a few differences in terms of audience, posting style, and effective techniques to get noticed. First and foremost is that hashtags aren't as widely used on Facebook as they are on Instagram, meaning you have to rely on different techniques to get your posts in front of a wide range of potential shoppers. Facebook is the worlds third most visited website and has over 2.74 active monthly users, making it a HUGE platform for you to promote your shop on. In order to run an effective promotion, you have to know your audience. Check out this bar graph from Statista to help you understand who you're marketing towards:

3. Pinterest

Pinterest is extremely aesthetics based, meaning your main focus when promoting on this platform is to have eye-catching, beautiful photos that represent your work and draw in potential shoppers. Pinterest is widely used by Etsy sellers to promote their small business, and I would consider this to be one of the more effective platforms for promotions (next to Instagram). One important thing to note: 77.1% of Pinterest's ad audience is female, so you shouldn't rely on Pinterest to market towards men.

Pinterest has over 459 million active users every month, and is only growing - check out this graphic to see Pinterest's US and international growth over the past few quarters:

Source: Pinterest

4. Etsy Ads

Etsy ads are the only paid promotion idea on this list. Etsy is inundated with a variety shops, some of the most popular being jewelry shops, drinkware, apparel, and party & paper supplies. To break it down a bit more for you, there are:

- 22 million search results for "Jewelry"

- 7.4 million results for "Women's Clothing"

- 7 million for "Party Supplies"

- 2.3 million for "Drinkware"

So how can you possibly compete?

With Etsy ads you can place your listings in a better position in the search system, even when there's high competition level. Etsy likes to refer to their paid ads system as an "auction system", meaning that you're competing against other shops on a few different factors. These factors are: listing quality (how likely a shopper is to click on your particular listings), likelihood of making a sale, relevance to the shoppers search, and bid amount. Read my article on Etsy ads to learn more!

5. Influencers and Cross Promotion

Influencers on Instagram and Facebook are an extremely popular way for businesses to promote their shops. Some influencers ask for free product and a payment, while others will be willing to post about your shop for just free product. Since online shopping is increasing exponentially, more and more businesses are turning to influencers to help them get the word out about their shop. According to Instagram, 87% of people say that an influencer has driven them to make a purchase. They also note that 70% of “shopping enthusiasts” turn to Instagram for product discovery.

Cross promoting is another style of promotion on instagram that can helpful for both you as well as other shop owners. Try reaching out to a shop that's either similar or complimentary to your shop, and offer to post about their shop in exchange for them posting about yours. It's a win-win !

6. LinkedIn

I know, this is kind of an unusual one! Use LinkedIn to connect with small businesses in your area that you could partner up with to sell your work in their brick and mortar store. This can take you down a really amazing path of connecting with other entrepreneurs, finding different selling avenues, and expanding your business exponentially! Another way to use LinkedIn for your business is to stay up to date on your industry and learn from different leaders in your space. Try to connect with people who inspire you, and be sure to read your news feed to make sure you're on the up and up of what's happening around you.

If you are going to use LinkedIn for your Etsy shop, it would be most effective to have both a personal and company page. Check out LinkedIn's help page to learn how.

And check out these stats on the huge range of LinkedIn users worldwide (Source: LinkedIn)

7. Twitter

Twitter can be a great way to be more personal with your followers, share glimpses of behind the scenes work, and branch out to a new group of potential customers. The average twitter user follows five businesses, and 80% of all Twitter users have mentioned a brand in a tweet! 60% of a brand's followers are more likely to purchase or recommend products after following the brand on Twitter. If you're going to create a Twitter account for your business, be sure to use hashtags, stay up to date on the latest trends, and follow other Twitter accounts that will either motivate you or inspire you. You can also follow other accounts that you see as future customers.

8. TikTok

TikTok has suddenly become HUGE for small businesses! One viral video can equal hundreds of followers, and more importantly, sales! TikTok has over 689 million users worldwide, but beware of the audience: 62% of TikTok users are ages 10-29. A lot of users are very young, and likely not going to be customers. However, if you have a process based business that people enjoy watching (soap making, art, jewelry design), you're likely to capture the interest of a wide range of viewers that can turn into customers!

9. Etsy Teams

There are thousands of teams varying in size, missions, goals, and shops. Some are solely for promotion, some are for discussion, some are to sell items, and others to talk about anything, even if it’s not related to Etsy! You can compare these teams to groups that you see on Facebook, there’s something for everything, and they all have different rules, guidelines, and specifications. Click here to learn more and start joining some Etsy teams.

10. Word of Mouth

The age old classic - word of mouth marketing! Word of mouth marketing isn't just mentioning your shop to the cashier at Michael's (although I'm not knocking that!), Word of mouth marketing is a strategic and active effort to influence conversation around your shop that sparks a discussion. According to Yotpo, "Word of mouth advertising is essentially seeking to kickstart an exponential referral chain that drives continuous traffic, leads, and sales for the brand.". 92% of consumers trust their friends over traditional media, so making sure that your current customers are satisfied with your work is the best and easiest way to begin with WOM Marketing. Be sure to exceed your customers expectation, provide exceptional customers service, and offer exclusive discounts and information to consumers.

So what are you waiting for?! Choose one of the promotion platforms above, and get started showing off your beautiful shop!

If you're struggling with getting your Etsy shop noticed, my 5-week, self-paced Etsy Masterclass may be perfect for you! It covers everything you need to know in great detail to get your shop to its first 5 figure year. You can read more about that here.

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