We love Etsy promoted listings!
When Etsy first introduced promoted listings, we were lucky enough to realize it’s full potential right from the get-go.
How do promoted listings work?
Buckle up your seatbelt because I’m going to share everything I know about how to use and abuse Etsy promoted listings.
The article is much shorter than it use to be because Etsy has automated most of the stuff you were able to modify before. I’ve deleted all the old, non-relevant information.
Which Listings to Promote?
You no longer get to set the bid price per listing so you now only promote your highest converting listings.
Listings with sales conversions greater than 1% (minimum).
Sales Conversions
If your item receives 100 views and you make 1 sale from those 100 views, your item converted 1%.
If you made 2 sales from those 100 views, your item converted 2%.
Above 1% conversion is good; above 2% is ideal.
Please note, if an item is converting less than 1%, you should spend time improving the listing, i.e., better pictures, etc. Something is wrong with the listing.
Punch the Numbers
You need to go through your entire shop and figure out the sales conversion numbers for every listing.
Yes, this does take a while, but you need this information to succeed.
The next bit of information you need, per item, is the profit margin. After all expenses, how much profit does an item make?
Profit * Sales Conversion = Max. bid
Example. If your profit margin on an item is $30 and it has a sales conversion of 1.25%, your maximum bid is 30*1.25%= 0.375 or 37.5 cents.
Place your focus on these items, with competitive bids up to but not over their individual maximum bid.
“But wait, I can’t set the bid anymore?”
Correct.
So now you want to just advertise your very best converting items and monitor closely the bid Etsy is setting for you. You’ll probably need 7 days of data before you’ll know the bid your item is receiving.
If the bid that Etsy is setting for your item is greater than the Max. bid you already figured out for that listing, you have to stop promoting it.
To continue promoting an item at a higher price than your Max. bid will allow, means you are losing money.
Seasonal Business
You have to remember, shopping on Etsy is pretty seasonal.
You’re promoted listing stats might not always look incredible.
Your success using promoted listings shouldn’t be solely measured by sales.
Branding
You also have to measure your brand exposure. Customers rarely buy products the very first time they are introduced to a new brand. They have no information to go on.
Do they like this brand? Does this company make high-quality items?
Promoted Listings is a great tool to introduce your shop to new customers.
Maybe you only break even, so what! Perhaps you don’t make money this time, but you need to factor in possible repeat business down the road.
Snapshot of Our Last 12 Months
We use promoted listings religiously.
The competition gets harder every day, but it still converts for us, so we have no reason not to keep using this service.
More Etsy Tips
This series aims to teach Etsy sellers on how to improve their shops and sell more items.
