Let's talk about advertising - heartsabustin

This time a busy multiple shop owner is with us to answer a few questions about the effectiveness of off-Etsy paid advertising for both of her shops - heartsabustin and 1mADwoman.

Q.  Where did your ads appear? How long did they run?
A.  I've placed ads at EtsyStalker.com, Craftcult, Craftopolis, and PolymerClayDaily.com.
It's varied - I've run the ad at EtsyStalker for a month, and it's still up right now. Craftcult and Craftopolis, I've run as long as a month. I tried PCDaily for one week, and will probably try them again in the future.

Q.  What did the ad/s cost?
A.  Month-long ads at Craftopolis are $55, and week long are $15; the ads at Craftcult are similar, I believe. The ad at EtsyStalker is $20 a month for a sidebar, and the ad at polymerclaydaily was $15 for one week. With Craftcult, it depends on whether you're running a straight sidebar or doing their combo. Combo ads are sidebar for 4 days and the rotating carousel at the top for 7 days for $28. I find those to be very effective.

Q.  What results did you expect?
A.   I got (and expected) lots of hearts and views off the initial Craftcult and Craftopolis ads. The last few times have been a little slower in the rate of hearts and views, but I've still been getting them. The ads at EtsyStalker and PCDaily have been low, but it's advertisement. I may try one of the more expensive Shadowboxes at EtsyStalker soon. I'm not sure that I've ever gotten a sale directly from an ad I've run, but hey, there's always this week!

Q.  How did you measure your results?
A.   I used Google Analytics to measure where the hits were coming from.

Q.  How did the ads do? Were they effective quickly and/or over time?
A.  They're effective both ways, quickly and over time. Sources say that some people have to see an ad 15 - 20 times before they'll check it out. I try to make my ads beautiful and clickable and simple.

Q.  Would you advertise again?
A.  I will absolutely advertise again!

Q.  What, if anything, would you do differently in future advertising?
A.  I'll try to seek more off-Etsy venues (Craftcult and Craftopolis are awesome, but I'm seeing far fewer views with them than I used to.)

Q.  Anything else you'd like to add?
A.  I design ads, so if anyone is interested, I've got good rates. That's how my other shop - 1mADwoman - started out.

Let's talk about advertising - BigSkyArtworks

Our second interviewee has also given advertising a try off Etsy, and BigSkyArtworks has lots of insights to share with other Chatters about the experience.

Q.  Where did your ad appear? How long did it run?
A.  My ad appeared on Craftopolis. The ad ran for one week.

Q.  What did the ad/s cost?
A.  $15. Not a bad price, I think.

Q.  What results did you expect?
A.  I was, of course, hoping for a flood of sales. I got none. However, I did have massively increased views at the beginning of the week, and I was suddenly placed in five different treasuries. Shop hearts climbed considerably during that time, too.

Q.  How did you measure your results?

A.  I used the counter on Craftopolis, and kept track where my views were coming from through Google Analytics.

Q.  How did the ad do? Was it effective quickly and/or over time?
A.  I would say the ad was fairly effective in increasing the visibility of my store. However, since I did not experience any sales as a result, I'm not sure that increased visibility really matters. It may make a difference in the future, when people are surfing Etsy for holiday ideas.

Q.  Would you advertise again?
A.  Yes, I think so - although I probably would try a month-long package, and make sure it appears during the busy season.

Q.  What, if anything, would you do differently in future advertising?
A.  I would like to find a venue that, unlike CraftCult or Craftopolis, doesn't cater exclusively to crafters and sellers. Although many of my buyers have also been sellers, there is a limited buyer pool if you are focusing only on people who sell on Etsy. On the other hand, the Craftopolis ad was pretty affordable - just over $2 a day. It was a good way to get my feet wet in the advertising department.

Q.  Anything else you'd like to add?
A.  I know from years in the newspaper business that advertising takes time. It isn't a magic bullet; it simply keeps your store out in front of the customer, so that when she IS ready to make a purchase, she'll think of you. I will continue to find ways to promote my business, and I'll probably buy more advertising - but I really prefer promotions that don't cost money. I'd love ideas about how to get people to blog about my store, for instance. Thanks for the opportunity to talk about advertising. :)

Next time we'll talk about advertising with heartsabustin!

Let's talk about advertising - erinf115

Last week in Chat we were talking about paid-for advertising, and how effective (or not) it is for Etsy sellers. A few of the chatters in the room mentioned that they had experience with ads, and I've asked them each to answer a few questions about what they learned. Here's the first reply, from member Erin of erinf115:

Q.  Where did your ad/s appear?
A.  I ran a two week ad on Craftopolis in May and just a few days ago gave Facebook ads a try, and ran an ad for 3 days.

Q.  How long the ad/s run?
A.  With Facebook you can tailor to run as little or as long as you like, and set a daily budget so you won't exceed how much you like to spend. You can cast a wide net, or a tiny one, by targeting your audience.

It's a very interesting tool and I'm just starting to noodle around with it in the past couple of days. I recommend to everyone to take a peek and see what it has to offer!
Craftopolis ads run by the week.

Q.  What did the ad/s cost?
A.  With Facebook, you set how much you'd like to spend, and you choose if you'd like to pay per "impression" (how many times they put the ad on "out there") or per click (if someone actually clicks your ad and gets taken to your shop or Facebook fan page) I chose a very small amount of $4.00 per day (something like $.60 a click) just to get my feet wet and see what the results would be.
With Craftopolis, a two week ad ran for $22.00.

Q.  What results did you expect? (views? clicks? hearts? convos? sales?)
A.  With both Craftopolis and Facebook, I wasn't sure quite what to expect. I chose to do them as a "test" - and expected views to go up and perhaps some sales.

Q.  How did you measure your results? (Google Analytics? Other tools/sites? Observation?) How did the ads do? Were they effective quickly and/or over time?
A.  For Craftopolis, I did this a few months ago before I had Google Analytics set up. I went to Craftopolis and Craftcult to check my views and hearts. My views skyrocketed, as did my hearts.  Before the ad ran, I averaged about 2 new shop hearts a day.

When the ad ran, I jumped to about 7-9 hearts. My views skyrocketed as well (this was pre-Google Analytics for me though, so I don't have the history anymore) The thing is, though - you are advertising to other Etsy sellers, not necessarily your market - so I assumed that that's pretty much where it would end, with more hearts and views, but it was a bit more exciting than that. I suddenly noticed a big influx in treasuries that I was included in, which turned into more hearts and views. And then, two weeks after the ad ran, with much more exposure and many more hearts, I had the best month of sales since I started selling in February of 2010.

Q.  Would you advertise again?
A.  Oh yes!

Q.  What, if anything, would you do differently in future advertising?

A.  I am not sure that advertising on Facebook is helpful. I did read an interesting thing in the forums recently, that linking a Facebook ad to your Etsy fan page on Facebook will help get more fans, but linking folks to your shop doesn't seem to work for most.
I noticed a slight bump in views on my Google Analytics over the three days that I ran my Facebook ad, but nothing like the huge influx when I ran my Craftopolis.

Q.  Anything else you'd like to add?
A.  I would like to add my Twitter success story too. Now, Twitter isn't necessarily advertising, but when I first signed up for twitter I began searching for people twittering about The Tudors, (Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth the Ist, etc) and then I 'followed' them and sent them messages with links to my Tudor and Elizabethan line of product. This was a pretty bold-ish move, as it can be seen as "spammy" but I found a woman who runs and amazing historical blog called The Anne Boleyn Files and she fell in love with my Tudor sachets of the Six Wives of Henry VIII's Royal Badges and bought all 6, and then asked me to make a larger Anne Boleyn Royal Badge framed wall hanging

When I sent them to her she brought them to an event she was running called the Anne Boleyn Experience which was an event at Anne Boleyn's childhood home, Hever Castle, in Kent, England. For me, this was as if I was starring on Broadway. It was such an honor, she displayed them there, and explained each of the wives Royal Badges and their meanings in a pre-dinner talk, and told me the people who were there fell in love with them too! I just sold another full set of all Six Wives to an attendee of that conference, and a week later she bought an Elizabethan piece as well. Twitter has led me to my largest sales and shouldn't be ignored as a wonderful advertising tool (and it is free!)

Up next, we'll talk about advertising with BigSkyArtworks.

Where are you? Your buyers want to know!

So there you are, searching Etsy for a few gifts, and the shipping deadline is coming up fast! Maybe some luscious soap from Team member Lyn4078? Especially great if you're in Australia!

And who wouldn't love to receive a piece of beautiful jewellery from balanced in Ireland, or one of zeropumpkin's witty critters, direct from Malaysia? 

That Blame the Dog bowl from sseloske in Seattle would be perfect, and if you or your recipient are in the Pacific Northwest, you can certainly get it quickly. 

Etsy buyers are all over, and fortunately so are Etsy sellers. To help ensure that they can find each other, it's so important for shops to include their location - at least the State or Province, and Country - in the Location field of Public Profile.

Without that accurate information, shoppers who search with Shop Local, or who click on Location to see where you are might not get the facts. For example, I checked Geolocator for Paris, without specifying what country, and look at all the choices!

Make it easy on your buyers and yourself by putting your shop on the map. Resources:
   •  How to Sell Local
   •  Shop Local Tool
   •  Geolocator
   •  Adding Location to Public Profile

SEO and your Etsy shop

Search Engine Optimization. It sounds big and complicated and an awful lot of bother when all you really want to do is make and sell your art or jewellery, scarves or toys or cards! But, there is lots of information available on the site to help make SEO work for you.

If you really want to dig into it, there is a substantial (25-page PDF) file Etsy Guide to SEO that you can download.

However, if you want the short course, and some step-by-step practical changes you can make today, head to this article How do I improve my shop's Search Engine Optimization? in the Help section. After making some important points about having a great product, and using your tags to best advantage, it moves on to some of the highlights of SEO. There are rules for how many characters will appear from your Shop Title and Item Titles, and it spells out what elements work for you from your Shop Sections and item descriptions too.

Image from sudlow, thanks!