Getting eyes on your products can be difficult in today’s fast-paced, ever-changing world.
Just a heads up! This blog post may contain affiliate links. That means if you make a purchase through one of those links, at no additional cost to you, I may make a commission from your purchase, which helps me provide this content to you!
So, how do we get buyers connected to our products then?
One way to market your Etsy products is through social media platforms.
This, in itself, can be overwhelming when you think about the number of platforms that exist today. Just remember, you don’t have to be on all of them. Pick the ones that work for you and ignore the rest. You can add another one later on if you change your mind.
Here’s my list of top 8 ways to market your Etsy products on social media.
My top pick for marketing my Etsy products on social media is Pinterest. Probably always will be.
Pinterest is more of a visual search engine, showing images of products, videos and other content to its viewers.
A good keywords strategy and a little SEO optimization, good photos and product videos, and you’re off and running and driving traffic to your Etsy shop in no time at all.
The thing I love most about Pinterest is that the Pins you save are there forever. Your product pins could be clicked on for years, not like other “social media” platforms that are only discoverable sometimes for just a few hours.
For me, Pinterest doesn’t require me to constantly be replying to messages like more traditional social media platforms either, and I can go more at my own pace and work it in around other business tasks, orders and my family’s needs and schedules.
I can also batch a TON of pins and schedule them out for years in advance, if I really wanted to, using a pin scheduler like Tailwind.
Software like Tailwind also helps me format my pins to meet Pinterest’s preferred sizing formats so I know my pins are going to take up more real estate on Pinterest and get shown to more people in their Pinterest feeds. It will even write my pin descriptions for me if I want, hello AI ghost writers. Tailwind also has a feature called Create, which creates the pins for you!
You can get started with a FREE trial of Tailwind here. It has a free plan and upgraded plans for when you really get rolling. It also started integrations with Facebook and Instagram for cross posting content! Big time saver for marketing on Pinterest, FB and IG all in one.
Facebook Page
I always recommend setting up two things on Facebook for new Etsy shop owners, a business Facebook page and a Facebook group. This gives you direct access to those who follow you online. They can see what you’re up to and behind the scenes in your business, what’s new with your business and what they should buy from you next.
I love the idea of behind the scenes posts the most when they pop up in my feed. This really helps your followers see you for who you really are and what your business is all about.
Facebook also helps people find you. Facebook likes to show people you may know and suggest businesses and other pages to follow based on what you’re already into. It makes the search for your peeps and products so much easier since it’s doing some of the leg work for you.
With Facebook posts, you’ll probably want to include some kind of text as well as photos to try to drum up a conversation around the post. Facebook likes engaging content that gets people talking. This can help surface your content to more people on Facebook if it’s engagement worthy.
You can also post video and other content forms like quizzes and polls too.
Facebook Groups
Facebook groups are similar, but it tends to be a more intimate connection to your followers. Those followers that really want a deep exploration of what your business is about.
Facebook groups can be private or public so you get to determine how people join your group. This is all done with the group settings, like if other group members can invite new members, auto joins based on other groups they are in and more group management features.
I also like that in a FB group, your posts are for your followers’ eyes only. You can offer special promos and other content that is just for them. It also makes conversations easier and more friendly. You can have full conversations with followers without all the prying eyes of just anyone who lands on a Facebook page.
When showing your FB group a behind the scenes post, I like the unfiltered nature of behind the scenes as well. No filters making everything pretty. Just the real chaos of running your business. It’s a great trust builder with your followers. But not something you want the whole world to see.
Instagram is also another great visual platform. I know people who can scroll on IG all day long and never get bored.
Swipe. Swipe.
Similar to a Facebook post. A little bit of content with images or a video, some text and let the likes roll in. In case you aren’t familiar with IG, likes are a good thing.
Instagram to me, has a little more fun to it than Facebook does and appeals to a younger demographic. You can still post images, videos, reels, polls and quizzes, but you can also add filters, stickers and more.
One thing to know about Instagram is you’ll need a good hashtag strategy, as hashtags are kind of like keywords there, and a good following to get your posts seen. Things like high engagement through likes and comments, doing lives, etc. can help boost your content to other people on Instagram and expand your audience.
You also need to find ways to connect your products to Instagram itself as IG doesn’t allow links in posts until you have a massive following. You may need to put things like “link in bio” and switch that link out with new links as you post new content.
YouTube
If you have a product that is highly video-friendly, this one is definitely for you. From product demos to full on tutorials and course-like content, I’ve seen some amazing results for Etsy sellers who enjoy video and teaching their customers about their products and services.
Shops who cater to niches like sewing, knitting and painting all do super well on YouTube as many of us need to see what we’re doing. It’s hard to know how to use a cross stitch pattern without initially being shown how to cross stitch something.
Or being able to watch the artist actually paint the painting you want to buy. How cool is that?!?!
The good thing here for products is that you can link right to your Etsy shop’s products in the video description.
I have been known to click through to products from YouTube videos descriptions. Yep, raising my hand here.
Here’s a quick screen capture video tutorial of me editing a digital file I had listed in one of my Etsy shops.
I’ve also watched probably thousands of videos from funny cats videos. Who hasn’t by the way. If you sell cat or dog products, make some funny animal videos with real pets wearing your products! People LOVE animal videos.
Or if you’re an artist, record the making of the painting, example of how to make a flip cup pour painting, then link to the product in your online store.
YouTube is one of my all-time favorite all-around platforms for product promotion no matter what the product is!
Did you know I have a few YouTube channels myself. Check out my YouTube channel for Etsy sellers here.
TikTok
This one seems to be the wild card in my book. I don’t use TikTok, myself, but man is it everywhere right now!?!
I’m seeing TikTok videos reposted to Facebook, YouTube and Pinterest like crazy!
This one also feels like it’s catering to a younger demographic with its super viral videos, and singing and dancing so if you have a fun, quirky brand and you like making videos, this one may be a winner for you.
That aside, I have heard many Etsy sellers using TikTok to post their product demos and tutorials, sell products, etc.
It’s one I should probably figure out.
Run ads on social media
Is it worth it to run ads on social media to my Etsy shop?
Many Etsy sellers are aprehensive when it comes to spending money on advertising when just getting started. I get it. It’s expensive when you don’t have a lot of cash just sitting around to start testing ads.
Whether social media ads are worth it for your Etsy shop is subjective, but as a general rule, it depends on whether the ad produces a good Return on Ad Spend.
I tend to tell newbie Etsy sellers and those who just don’t have the money to burn to stay away from advertising on social media. Unless you already have some experience running ads in your former life, I mean the job you left to run your own business (Go you, by the way!), it can get costly quickly.
There is a lot that goes into a successful social media ads strategy, and I just don’t want you to burn a hole right through your pocket here. I speak from experience.
I remember running some Pinterest ads when I first got started with my Shopify store and a few directed toward Etsy as well. I didn’t really know what I was doing. It drove traffic but not nearly enough in sales came from it. I didn’t help that my pins weren’t quite the most ascetically pleasing either back in the day.
My better looking pin ads far outshined the not-so-hot ones. All lessons learned along the way to understanding and running an e-commerce business.
Now that I have years under my belt running my online businesses, running ads has become so much easier and also results in a much higher Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) than it used to.
I have seen so many Etsy sellers trying to run social media ads without seeing much success because when you drive traffic from social media ads to Etsy, the buyers can get lost in the sea that is Etsy and end up buying someone else’s products instead of yours. A social media ad that you paid for.
In my experience social media ads work best when directed to your independent website where only your products are shown.
Where can I run social media ads for my Etsy shop?
Social media ads are available on just about any social media platform these days. So places like…
- TikTok
These tend to be the most common places that I have seen other Etsy sellers running social media ads these days.
Can social media ads work to drive traffic? Yes. Can they work to drive sales? Yes. But spend your money wisely here if you do. Don’t get in over your head and do lots of research on your target buyers before jumping in.
And definitely don’t go spending money that you don’t have. Use free ways to advertise first, ads once you really have a handle on your Etsy shop, SEO and your buyer’s purchasing habits.
Influencers and Sponsorships
I’m not a fan of this one either, but it has made some companies MILLIONS so it is worth noting. Within some niches, this is a gold mine. If you have the budget and can afford to give away your products for free or a paid sponsorship in exchange for a mention on someone’s feed that nurtures your target buyers, go for it.
Connecting with the right influencers can be a great way to get exposure for your Etsy business, but, again, it can be costly and time consuming to find the right people and other companies to work with that’s within your budget and that you can afford either monetarily or in product.
Similar to running ads, you have to pay attention to your ROI or return on investment.
Social Media Don’ts
As you start exploring social media marketing just remember to give more than you receive. Don’t make tons of spammy posts or only post product posts as “buy my stuff” posts. That most likely won’t do well if abused as that doesn’t feel genuine to your followers or potential followers.
As more businesses start advertising and marketing on social media, people are quickly becoming annoyed by ads. Posting too many “buy” posts can irritate your buyers and make them stop following you.
Social Media Dos
Make sure you are posting a variety of post types. Be it product images, lifestyle images, quotes or demos.
Also, make sure you are posting videos. Everyone is loving video these days. Add some music (many platforms now have some free sound that is available to be used on-platform) and you’re on your way to catching your potential buyers’ attention.
If you are looking for options for music and sounds that aren’t already available for free by the native platform, check out these.
- Epidemic Sound
- Soundstripe
- Artlist.io
These can be done in standard posts on Facebook, Pinterest pins, Facebook and Instagram reels and stories, YouTube Shorts and long-form YouTube video and TikToks.
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