Are Etsy Ads Worth It?
Just two years after the website was launched, Etsy has already earned over 500,000 users and $26 million in sales.
In 2020, the website’s revenue skyrocketed to a whopping $1.72 billion, while its active users increased by 76%. Currently, the site has over 96 million active users and over seven million sellers.
Given these facts, are Etsy ads worth it? The quick answer is yes.
With millions of sellers within the same niche as yours, sponsoring an ad campaign gives you an edge over the competition.
However, there are a few things you should know before you place an ad on Etsy to make sure you maximize your return on advertising investment.
Keep reading to know how you can sign up for an Etsy Seller Account and how keyword research tools like Alura can help you run Etsy ads successfully.
Creating an Etsy Seller Account
If you haven’t joined Etsy yet, and you have amazing crafts and products to sell, you could be missing out on millions of potential customers.
It’s free to open a shop on Etsy, but it’s worth noting that they have a transaction fee of just five percent per sale.
In addition to the transaction fee, they also have a listing fee of $0.20 per item for four months.
The good news is that when you open an Etsy shop today, your first 40 listings are free. You can use your free listings to list new products or renew a previously listed item.
Moreover, free listing credits do not expire, although you cannot use them once your account has been closed.
What Are Etsy Ads?
Etsy is an online marketplace where artists, crafters, artisans, and collectors can sell handmade, vintage, and custom-made products.
It competes with similar platforms like Amazon Handmade, eBay, Big Cartel, and Shopify, to name a few.
If you’re new to the platform, you might consider purchasing paid advertising space to boost your sales and get more traffic to your shop.
Onsite vs. Offsite Ads
You have two advertising options on Etsy: onsite and offsite ads. Onsite ads are promoted listings running exclusively inside the marketplace.
When you run an onsite ad, your shop gets promoted in visible spots within the Etsy market pages, categories, and search results.
On the other hand, offsite ads are those placed outside the Etsy marketplace.
When someone searches the internet using a keyword related to the products you sell on Etsy, your Etsy shop comes up.
For example, if a random person searches “handmade bracelets” on Google and you sell such products, your listing could show up somewhere on the search results.
Aside from search engines, Etsy offsite ads can pop up on other channels, such as social media platforms and popular blogging websites like Buzzfeed and Google Shopping.
How Much Do Etsy Ads Cost?
The advertising fee on Etsy varies. For onsite ads, you pay Etsy every time a shopper clicks on your listing, regardless if that person actually purchased your product.
There was once a time when Etsy sellers could bid on the price of the click, but Etsy has since changed its advertising terms.
In general, the fee for advertising on Etsy ranges from $0.2 to $0.5 per click.
For offsite ads, you only pay when a shopper buys from your shop after clicking the ad.
Etsy charges a 12% fee for sellers who make over $10,000 in the last 12 months and 15% for those who made less than $10,000.
The offsite ad fee is capped at $100 per order, and they are calculated and capped monthly. Take note that the fee is on top of the listing fee, transaction fee, and Etsy payment fee.
In addition, the cost per conversion changes depending on the price of your products.
For example, if the Etsy ads algorithm finds that a potential buyer is likely to purchase an expensive listing, the cost of your ad increases.
What Are the Benefits of Running Ads on Etsy?
Why bother paying Etsy to advertise your shop?
By advertising on Etsy, you can get more eyes on your products and encourage potential buyers to check out your shop.
Another advantage of advertising on Etsy is that it gives you helpful insights about your products and customers.
You’d be able to know what they like, what they engage with, and which ad streams could give you a bigger return in the future.
Are Etsy Ads Worth It?
Now that you know what Etsy ads are, how they work, and how much they cost, it’s time to answer the question, “Are Etsy ads worth it?”
Yes, they are worth it as long as you know how to run the ads properly. The advertising cost on Etsy varies.
In general, shops that sell higher-priced products can benefit the most from Etsy ads because the ads are charged the same way regardless of the item price.
Thus, if you sell items with a slim profit margin, the 12 to 15% ad fee takes a big percentage of the cost.
Established shops also benefit largely from Etsy ads because of their higher conversion rates.
Since it only requires a few clicks before a shopper makes an actual purchase, the ad fee becomes much more affordable.
Furthermore, Etsy shops with a powerful presence in the community are more likely to generate more profit from their ads even if they pay much less.
Are Etsy Ads for Everyone?
For newer shops, Etsy ads may serve as an investment to gain visibility and more positive reviews quickly.
It can also help your listings show up higher in the Etsy search results. However, it’s important to understand that Etsy ads are not for everyone.
It is a good idea to conduct your own advertising experiment to see which type of ads can give you the most return.
Tips and Strategies for Successful Etsy Ads
Before you run an ad on Etsy, consider these tips and tricks to ensure your success:
1. Promote Your Entire Shop
If you are new to Etsy, promoting your entire shop is an effective strategy.
It allows Etsy’s ads algorithm to analyze how people interact with your shop and which of your products are more popular.
It also gives you an idea of which terms or keywords show up for you so that you can optimize your Etsy promoted listings.
Take note that the algorithm for ads is not the same as an organic search algorithm search.
2. Promote Your Best Sellers
After some time of promoting your entire digital shop, you will have an idea of your most popular listings.
You could give them a boost by promoting them on the Etsy marketplace.
A good way of determining your strongest contenders is by looking at which listing items are driving more return per advertising spend.
This way, you can focus your daily budget on the items that will give you more profit.
3. Find the Right Keywords Using Alura
Take your Etsy ads campaign to the next level by using the right keywords.
You can bring more traffic to your shop by finding the right keywords that shoppers use to search for products on Etsy.
Luckily, keyword search query tools like Alura makes this task easy. This app makes product research simple and helps you find winning products to sell.
With the right keywords, you can optimize your listings so that your products show up on organic search results.
On Alura, you can get numerous keyword suggestions and compare keyword metrics based on views and competition.
Regularly reviewing your data helps you optimize your advertising in response to inventory changes and seasonal trends.
It also helps you determine which listings produce the best return on advertising expenditure.
4. Set an Advertising Budget
You must determine an advertising budget before you start promoting your shop.
We recommend setting a daily ads budget of $3 to $10 to have enough data on which promoted listings work and which product listings don’t.
Take note that increasing your budget doesn’t always guarantee an increase in sales.
5. Use Great Listing Photos
Photos are one of the most important advertising components on Etsy.
Upload high-quality photos of your products to draw customers in. Etsy lets you include up to eight photos with your ad.
Make sure you use the most relevant and attractive images to showcase what you are offering as clearly as possible.
Be mindful of the file size, and make sure it’s no larger than 4MB to prevent slow load times and enhance user experience.
Aside from adding high-quality photos, you must also create good Etsy descriptions.
Descriptions appeal to the emotional side of buyers and provide them with the information they need to make a purchase.
Etsy Ads Are Worth It!
Etsy’s advertising process is a powerful marketing tool to promote your active listings and generate more sales.
Remember to start small, as impactful marketing boils down to analyzing data and paying attention to what works. If something isn’t working, change it.
Lastly, make your life easier by choosing third-party tools like Alura to optimize your ads and get more people to notice your shop.
If you haven’t joined this popular community yet, now is the time tosign up for Etsy and get 40 listings for free.
