Monday, April 9, 2012

Etsy Treasuries - Do they help sales?

This was an really interesting question posted on my Beadscrumptious fan page and I thought it would make a really good blog post .... particularly because it gave me lots to think and ponder about......

I must admit I have 'ummed' and 'ahhhed' over this question many times.  What is the value of making an Etsy Treasury or being included in them? Do they help increase sales? Does listing them on Facebook or Twitter help increase sales?

.....this is my own interpretation of treasury lists....

It is a huge compliment to be included in someone's treasury list and considering the amount of time it takes to make one I like to return the compliment by listing the treasury on facebook and twitter.  I feel this is helping to promote myself, the person making the treasury and all the other sellers that have also been included.

Does this increase sales?

To be honest, I don't know without asking my customers where they heard about my shop.  But what I do know is that being included in a treasury does increase the number of people visiting my shop.  Therefore increasing my exposure.

I also know (from testing this myself) that when I list a new item in my shop on facebook and twitter this also increases the number of people visiting my shop.  This is getting me 'noticed'.  People are 'favouriting' my shop, my beads and 'liking' my facebook fan page directly from Etsy. 

This can also have a knock on effect because if someone on Etsy adds you as a 'favourite' it will come up on their activity feed.  If they are in 'circles' with other people, all of the people they are connected with will also see that they have added you as a 'favourite' on their activity feeds. This all increases your exposure, especially if people come across to your shop to view your products.

Etsy is such a huge market place that I have always worried that my shop could be lost within the hundreds of other bead selling shops on Etsy.  So all this exposure is very valuable to me.  As a new seller to Etsy I think it also adds credibility to my work.  Having admirers and people adding your work to their list of favourite items is a great compliment.

I also view Etsy as a big community of Sellers helping each other out.  At least this is what I have found so far....and in these difficult times we need as much help as we can get!  I have joined a few teams on Etsy aimed at Sellers helping to promote each others work and it is through these that I have learnt the value of making and being part of an Etsy treasury lists.  There are some very talented and kind people out there!

I know I am just scratching the surface of how this world of social media works (more blogs to follow I think...) and this is entirely my interpretation of a tiny aspect of it (Etsy).  I would be really interested in hearing your views.  Any advice would be gratefully appreciated.

One last thing......does being on the front page of Etsy help increase sales?

Sarah xx





















2 comments:

  1. This is an interesting topic although i'm not sure i have any answers to your questions!

    I agree that the handmade community is a supportive thing to be part of although i'm not sure that etsy sellers buy from each other all that much (i actually posted on FB today about this!) perhaps Etsy should address their marketing strategy to target non-crafty folk a bit more... there are so many sellers on etsy now so its getting more and more difficult to stand out and be found ...

    I think that being on the front page definitely leads to more shop views - a LOT more (as i discovered when i was on there for the first time a couple of weeks ago) - for me, none of these translated to sales... i have asked around a bit and apparently this is not unusual... i'm sure there are people who have had tonnes of sales out of this kind of feature - i guess to some extent it depends on the seller providing 5 great photos and a great description as well as a reasonable price on the product page...

    as far as treasuries are concerned i love creating them and i often feature them on my blog so i guess i'm doing my bit to promote others!

    great post Sarah :)

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    Replies
    1. Hello, thank you for your comment. It is lovely to hear from you. I agree with you about Etsy addressing their marketing strategy.

      I am not surprised about being on the front page, I did wonder if it would only increase exposure and not sales but I suppose every little helps!

      I love creating treasuries too. It is turning into a guilty pleasure ... it is nice to help promote others. What I have found though is how supportive some of the Etsy sellers are. They really work hard to help each other promote their shops. It is great!

      Sarah xx

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