Developing EtsySocial for Targeted Marketing!

[ManAndStone]

Hi Team!

Let's brainstorm! Let's talk about what's next for EtsySocial. As a number of you have suggested, our tweeting/retweeting is great and some of you have mentioned an increase in shop traffic and sales however the name of the game is Targeted Marketing! So let's do that! Let's build features that will get us in front of our target audiences - more Etsy Shoppers in general and then our own specific ideal customers.

Feel free to share your thoughts & idea, big, small, far out...it doesn't matter! Any idea has the potential to spark another and another and another!

Here is an idea that I've been considering and had our developer do some work on, a mobile app with alerts for promoting our coupons to the people who favorite our shops. ie you create a coupon on etsy, pull it into your etsysocial dashboard and a few mins later, the people who heart your shop and have the app get an alert!

If anyone likes the sound of that and is interested in being on a 'special committee' to work on it...just let me know!

So that's one idea but the topic is really wide open!

EtsySocial - a social platform for Etsy shoppers??? what key engagements/experience might we offer shoppers - that they aren't getting here on Etsy or anywhere else - in relation to shopping on Etsy?

We're not going to beat etsy at search - but let's get inspired! - it will likely be some simple act that will be fun for shoppers...it will likely involve the ability to share their experience with others making it's social.

Once we have them coming to EtsySocial we can find all sorts of ways to send them to our shops!

Well hope that gets your wheels turning! but if not and you find this post at all confusing, you're are probably not alone - so feel free to ask questions for clarity!

And remember, we're just brainstorm/exploring ideas...a think tank!

Thanks Team!!!
Clarissa

[SwirlingOrange11]

My Brain hurts lol ...

[Lilyspad58]

Swirly - 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😇!

[BonnieLouLane]

I'm offering free shipping on everything now (except a few FRAMED pictures). I thought it would help, but so far it hasn't. I could do the coupon idea somewhat, or for a limited time, but can't cut pricing too much because I'm already doing the free shipping. I raised my pricing a bit for this ... but only a bit. I was more interested in getting sales going. But I'm not against the coupon idea, especially for items that are light and/or small and for short time periods to see if I can get buyers to respond quickly. Further, I guess the occasional almost FREE item during a very short window of time could generate some buying excitement if it were something that people are hearting ... perhaps like throwing "chum" out to attract sharks? Any other ideas?

[Lilyspad58]

Clarissa - I like the Idea of a mobile app to bring followers of our shops to our sales events. I agree we’re not going to beat Etsy in search, but maybe we can give some competition.

[SwirlingOrange11]

I think a mobile app would be great but I do NOTHING on my phone so if I were a customer I would not be using it ... I am the oddball but I am not a PHONE person at all. Even instagram is on my desktop ...

@Bonnie I did a coupon flash sale and advertised for a week (not spammed but definitely put it out there) I had one sale from it ... I am not sure what would work for the old and feeble (Myself) as I try to put myself in the buyer's shoes and say hmmm , how would I find/purchase/be enticed by what I am selling ... I am at a loss there LOL

I have not bought retail anything is so long I have no idea how to even begin (I am even allergic to the mall) ...

I am so open to doing something and my GUT FEELING is before a mobile app is to BUILD INSTAGRAM for the team ... I have seen some huge sales on instagram ... there are actual AUCTIONS going on ... I believe that is the next twitter and it is my intention to get a tablet after the holidays so I can build my own following.

We could even track the stats in Etsy as they give the social views in the stats ...

Meh, that is my two cents at 4am in the morning LOL ...

[BonnieLouLane]

DEFINITELY worth considering, SwirlingOrange11 ... in my opinion. Further, I find it interesting about the "no-go" results of your coupon flash sale. Discouraging! Apparently that approach doesn't work very well either.

[DoveJewelryDesign]

I want to join lend my support and ideas here but I am not coming up with a whole lot.

I know you are suggesting some new ideas in the realm of Etsy but I am a bit shy about this stuff. Each time I have done a sale as a lone shop or as part of Bam Sales or offered coupons I have netted exactly 0 sales. My sales figures are far from stellar, but I have yet to get a single sale from a 4th of July, Black Friday or any other sale.

The irony of it all is I used to work in direct marketing although mostly in its technical side -- database and analytics.

[SwirlingOrange11]

Yona, I have always felt this, this was my first and last sale ever. Too much work not enough return.

I have always offered a discount when asked and if someone uses pay pal, from the very beginning. This works best for my shop. So I am a non participant with any sale type things.

[ManAndStone]

COUPONS & SALES - work but not without visibility.

Last year I had $4736.00 in coupon sales and $3359.00 so far this year with just some visibility...not the amazing visibility that we can create!

The HOW TO's of offering discounts to ones best advantage will be part of our agenda, rest assured!

But first, we create the POSSIBILITY - we can create a resource that will expose our sales and coupons (and such) to tens of thousands of Etsy shoppers resulting in tens of thousands of dollars in revenue for our shops.

Anyone who would like to work on that with me, just let me know.

[DoveJewelryDesign]

Ok you sold me. I'm in.

[BonnieLouLane]

I'm in too. I'm guessing one doesn't have to put their whole shop on sale with coupons, just selected items. Some items in my shop will lend themselves better to a hefty sale price than others, and could generate interest and exposure.

[ManAndStone]

Yaay Yona and Bonnie! and yes, Bonnie, Etsy's newly updated coupon tool offers lots of flexibility/control!

[ManAndStone]

And Team we can also build our presence on Instagram! I would love to do more myself there but I must confess I don't know a lot about it just yet.

[DoveJewelryDesign]

I started an account there under my old shop name a couple of month ago. I am not that big on mobile devices but i did figure out how to spoof a mobile device on a computer. I have to find my notes. More about this later guys if you are interested.

[SwirlingOrange11]

Clarissa,

I am completely open to suggestions BUT Etsy is no longer my full time gig and my time is really limited so it would have to be something I could fit in along with my schedule. I have been looking at "ETSY's" numbers and their visits/views whatever thru Alexa are down 26% both from last year and month to month. This is huge and for me to invest in ETSY further, I would have to see the actual results for me to truly put my whole heart in it again. I have truly lost faith since they went public, it is evident in my shop. I used to make an actual living on Etsy, now I couldn't support a flea on what I am doing. Granted I have not put much into it this year, but why? They are making money on ME I am not making money THROUGH them ... just does not equal my invested time. But I am open if there are proven results.

Also, what you sell, you can utilize via wholesaling and retailing outside of Etsy, I sell vintage which is a whole other animal all unto its own. It does not have the same sort of ability to create what you are talking about just by mere inventory alone. But again, i am completely open to see what may be offered!

[BonnieLouLane]

Yona ... could this be what happened to my sales ... Etsy going public? I used to sell fairly regularly, now, not at all. Going public meaning that Etsy was privately owned, and now it is publicly owned by sales of shares in the company? I don't understand why that would have such an adverse effect on my sales ... but something sure has? Can someone explain to me why "going public" has wreaked such havoc on our sales ... at least mine??? Discouraging! ALSO ... when did Etsy GO PUBLIC?

[DoveJewelryDesign]

Etsy went public in April of 2015, so that happened a while ago. I am not on top of that, really.

Here is what I know, and I suspect Clarissa and some of the others on the team know much more than I do. The problem is that by being public they now have share holders and analysts to answer to. Although Etsy continued to be profitable and continued to grow the growth rate has been slowing for a while now. Because of that slowing growth rate Wall Street had been punishing Etsy with reduced price shares. In response, Etsy Board, I assume, replaced the top management team in May of this year and cut the work force by 8%. Their charge was to increase profitability and growth rate and thereby increase stock prices.

Since the new Team has been in power, there have been constant tests and change which the shop owners have found disconcerting. Also, many very successful shop owners who were making a living off of Etsy found that their sales plummeted in 2017. Some shop owners have closed their shops, moved them to other venues or opened secod shopsin other venues to hedge their bets.

I am not sure what caused us to see a decline in sales. My sales have been laughable from the very beginning so I am not someone who can speak from personal experience. In fact, early 2017 until June, was the best period for me at Etsy. So while everyone was complaining I was optimistic.

There are specific gripes that shops have about Etsy's changing policies aimed at upping Etsy's revenue which shops are objecting to.

No one seems to have a convincing answer as to why sales have plummeted for some historically successful shops.

What may come close the answering that question is that it appears Etsy has been mucking with search algorithm. The new CEO wants to improve the search engine to help customers find what they are looking for. They have been testing all sorts of things and in the process may have made things worse. Shops that used to enjoyi page 1 status in key word searches are finding themselves on page 8 or 9 and this is reflected in their bottom line.

[BonnieLouLane]

Hummm ... very interesting ... thank you , Yona. I wonder what page I would find my shop on ... probably 500 something ... or worse. It's a good thing this is just a hobby for me, a place to exhibit by work online (regarding the artwork). However, a sale every every four or five weeks would be nice, which I used to have until Feb. 2017. Then something happened.

[JoyfulByNature]

I like the app idea.

[BonnieLouLane]

I just about fainted. I actually made a sale today. It doesn't involve very much money at all, but it IS a sale and gets added to my total count. Wonder of wonders! I used to have more regular sales, but apparently with Etsy messing with the search algorithm, I'm now at the very bottom.

[DoveJewelryDesign]

Congrats Bonnie!

[BonnieLouLane]

Thank you, Yona. :) .... and Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to each and every one of you. Blessings!

[cardsbymormorjan]

Way hey Bonnie onwards and upwards. Happy Christmas to one and all. Jan