Guest Blog Post by Monica Little from @monicalittlecoaching
If you’re a small business owner selling on Etsy, then you already know that the million-dollar question, of course, is… what are the best ways to actually get in front of as many Etsy shoppers as possible? And once they see your product… how do you get them to actually buy it, too? And come back for more?
The hard truth is… most small business owners don’t realize they’re making a mistake. That they are missing hundreds, even thousands, of dollars of sales by not marketing their products the right way to turn those Etsy shoppers into actual Etsy customers.
When it comes to marketing your products on Etsy to turn shoppers into customers, there are 3 components you need:
- First, you have to Appear in the search results and Attract the customer’s attention so they are drawn to your products instead of any of the competition!
- Then, you have to Confirm the customer’s expectations through your photos and listing details so they have no questions left unanswered and are ready to purchase now
- And lastly, you have to give Trust to the Etsy shopper so they trust your small business and that your products are the perfect fit for them
(And if you need help remembering these 3 steps, just think of the acronym A-C-T. In order to get in front of the right customers on Etsy who want to actually buy your products, all you have to do take A-C-T-ion!)
Let’s dive into giving trust to the Etsy shoppers, something so simple you can implement today.
To paint this picture of why this is so important, imagine you are booking a hotel for your honeymoon in Santorini, Greece and you come across the PERFECT hotel. The photos look absolutely stunning. The location seems great. The amenities, the pool, the restaurant are almost too good to be true. But… there are no reviews for this hotel. Or maybe there are a few reviews, but from a couple years ago.
Would you book this hotel? Would you take the risk?
You might be thinking “What if I arrive and the pool that looked so beautiful in the photos… is actually under construction? What if the rooms look so large and spacious, but the angle of the photo definitely portrayed it in a way that made them look large while actually, they are tiny in real life. Or if the walls are paper thin and we can hear the neighbors? What if the food at the restaurant straight up SUCKS?”
When there isn’t much real-life customer feedback… it becomes a risk.
And this same logic is also true for those that are shopping on Etsy.
As small business owners, we know how much love we put into our products, how excited we are with each and every order, and how much effort goes into every single thing that we do. But without customer reviews to share real-life customer experiences, shoppers will potentially think that buying from your shop is a risk… and even if you’re listing has ALL of the right details, the perfect description, beautiful photos… shoppers may turn away and buy from someone else, simply because the other seller has reviews that give them more trust.
Getting frequent 5-star reviews is one of the easiest ways to give trust to your customers so they feel confident to buy from you and your small business.
Not only do shoppers feel confident to buy from you when you have reviews, but frequent 5-star reviews will also help the Etsy algorithm to show your products higher on the search results page since you are showing Etsy that people LOVE your products… giving Etsy the gas it needs to keep working in the background, connecting you to more customers and bringing you more sales!
The best part is, getting frequent reviews is a lot easier than it sounds.
It’s as simple as this: once or twice a month, message your Etsy customers directly on Etsy and ask them for a review in exchange for a coupon on their next order. Most customers need a quick reminder to leave a review, so don’t think that if they didn’t leave a review yet, they didn’t like the product; I’m sure you can think of items you’ve purchased that you LOVE, but you didn’t leave a review for, so that’s the exact situation we are dealing with here! Send your customers a reminder and also give them an incentive to motivate them further to take action.
Use this template that you can easily send to customers when asking for a review:
Hi there,
Thanks again for your purchase and for supporting my small business, it means so much! I would appreciate it so much if you were able to leave a review on Etsy. If you are able to do so, I will send you a 20% coupon code afterwards which can be used on your next purchase! Just send me a message after the review is posted and I’ll message you back with the coupon code. If you have any concerns about the item, please let me know directly so I can help as much as possible.
Thank you!
The goal is to have a 25-30% review response, which means if you’ve had 100 sales on Etsy, you should have 25-30 reviews. If you don’t have a 25-30% review response just yet, here’s what you can do now:
Try This for your Etsy shoppers!
- Customers can leave a review on Etsy up to 100 days after buying the product. If you have orders in the past and haven’t reached out for reviews before, go to your previous customers and send this simple message!
- Then, determine how often you should reach out to your customers asking for a review moving forward; you should do this at least once per month, but think about the customer’s experience and how much time they need to leave an accurate review. Then add the date/task to your calendar and message your customers at that time.
- When they reply back, send them a thank you message with a coupon so they’re excited and ready for their next order!
- Want to take it one step further? Take a screenshot of your best customer review and add it as a graphic to your Etsy listing photos, so you are reinforcing how much your customers love your products for anyone who’s browsing today.
This is a super simple and effective tactic to give trust to Etsy shoppers to turn them into customers and to give trust to the Etsy platform so they show your listings to more and more customers. Frequent 5-star reviews will help the Etsy algorithm to show your products higher on the search results page since you are showing Etsy that people LOVE your products… giving Etsy the gas it needs to keep working in the background, connecting you to more customers and bringing you more sales!
What’s Next?
If you’re ready to learn the full A-C-T method so you know exactly how to Appear, Attract, Confirm expectations, and give Trust to get YOUR unique products in front of the RIGHT customers on Etsy, go to www.monicalittlecoaching.com/etsywebinar to sign up for my free training: How to Get Your Products Seen on Etsy!
For more information on how to get a five star review every time on Etsy, check out this post!