SOCIAL MEDIA

I am sure you are all aware of the many changes occurring on Etsy during the past few weeks.  For those who may have missed these changes, Etsy is asking all Team’s to stop and remove the very popular “favathon” games; ex: “Fav” (heart) 5 items above yours, or post one item – fav 10. According to Etsy Administration, these games have no relevance in promoting items in our Shop.   

Recently Etsy had what they called an “Etsy Up” Conference in NYC, where one topic discussed was the elimination of “favoring” (hearting) items within a Team.
I have excerpted a few of Etsy Admin’s comments sent out to the various Leaders of Etsy Teams.
“It appears that some sellers have organized with teams or member groups to systematically view and favorite one another’s items to influence search placement. We’re actively working on ways to better discern between these different types of favoring activities and when an item is trending or gaining bona fide interest from buyers. We’d like the search algorithm to rely on signals that mirror common shopper behavior. While clicking and favoring activities do not currently have a negative impact on an item’s search placement, we are monitoring this behavior to ensure that it does not improve an item’s placement in search. “

 “Clicking and favoring activities with the intention of increasing search ranking is not something we encourage. To help improve your search placement, we recommend spending your time on improving your listing quality by working on your tag and title relevance.”

One of my first BBATeam’s Blog was regarding the importance of promoting on      Social Media sites, such as Twitter, Google+, Pinterest and Facebook. Hopefully        many of you have started promoting your lovely items on these sites. Even posting items of other Team Members onto these sites is helping bring yours and their items to the attention of potential Buyers.       Posted 7.24.16   https://pjkbaker.wordpress.com/2016/07/24/promoting-through-social-media/

As much as I enjoyed playing some of these games myself, I do agree with Etsy Admin that it is a not just waste of time “hearting” items within your own Team, but you are missing the opportunities of reaching “the outside world”.
As I also mentioned in the past Article on my Blog, the relevance of correcting Titling and Tagging your Shop items is of most importance. Have you ever searched for one of your items on Google?  You may eventually find that specific item, but perhaps only on p. 4.  As we all know, most people (ourselves included) that most potential Buyers will only view the 1st page. So that is your goal – getting your items seen on page 1!  Often I may try varying the Title of one of my items, when it shows on page 1 in a Google Search, I know I have found the Title I need to market my items.

The same is true when tagging a specific item. Once you have finished tagging your new item, adding it to your Shop, do you then do a search of that item in Etsy’s Search which is found at the top page of your Shop?  If you don’t correctly tag your item, you may find your item at the bottom of the list of items. Do you ever wonder why some Shops have all their items on the front pages of Etsy’s Search Engine?  It is all based on the Titles and Tagging that contribute to your item’s relevance.

I am referencing this item from my MagdaleneKnits Shop as an example: https://www.etsy.com/listing/268801479/crocheted-victorian-fingerless-gloves

       When I type Crocheted Fingerless Gloves Alpaca Yarn in the Etsy Search – because of an exact Title, my item shows up on the first page of the Search. https://www.etsy.com/search?q=Crocheted+Fingerless+Gloves+Alpaca+Yarn

You may also want to focus your energy on driving traffic from your Shop and listings to outside of Etsy (through Social Media and Blogs) which will also help to improve your SEO outside of Etsy.  Start by using those buttons next to the “heart” – even just pinning someone else’s item, helps gives it a lot more exposure.

I am posting this comment from  one of my Team Member’s regarding the many changes on Etsy, and her response to using Social Media:    “I’ve been experimenting with twitter and google+.  My views have been going up on a daily basis and while I cannot directly attribute a couple of sales to these, I have been making sales to people who sign up on the day they purchase from me. I didn’t get that from the treasuries and favathons in the past.”

We are now also faced with Etsy’s new decision to eliminate Treasury’s as of October 5.  Again, I am posting an excerpt from Etsy Administration regarding this decision.
“Our data shows that few buyers view Treasuries, and even fewer purchase from them. Based, in part, on this information, we are removing this feature, which will allow us to dedicate more resources to proven marketing efforts that will increase exposure to your shop. As of October 5, members will no longer be able to create new Treasuries or edit existing ones.”

Since I do love doing Treasury’s – I will continue occasionally featuring specific items through my You Tube Video’s. 

I will be glad to help anyone in working on their Titles or correctly Tagging their items; and will certainly help and/or explain how to promote on many of these Social Media sites. I know I have seen many of you there already, but hope to get more Shops out there promoting themselves and their teammates.