Advertising

[MakinTheBest]

Thank you, thank you, thank you!  I've had this argument any number of times with the Etsy groups.  All getting tons of views or hearts does is skew my stats.  I don't care if another crafter "hearts" my item -- they aren't going to buy it.  I want buyers to look.


I do street fairs/art shows.  Though I'm new here, I've had an Etsy shop for several years.  I do have my own website, but being pretty much technologically incompetent I refer potential buyers to my Etsy shop for photos and ease of purchase. 

I have been amazed at how few of my potential buyers have ever even heard of Etsy.  And to date I've not come across anyone who is familiar with HAF.  And remember that I am in contact with folks who are actively seeking out handmade arts and high quality crafts.

The only other method I can think of is the old-fashioned print ad in popular magazines.  I'd be happy to chip in or have a bake sale if that's what it takes, but IMHO buyers simply aren't going to stumble on handmade sites -- instead getting hung up on Amazon, E-bay, Overstock, etc.

Agreed...We do shows as well and there are many that don't even realize there are handmade sites out there.  Etsy is getting so big that it is getting much more well known but the rest are still a bit lost in the shuffle.


As far as print ads, I will look into some prices and see what I can find out and we can discuss them.

[MakinTheBest]

Any suggestions to where you would put ads?  If we are gearing towards vendors it would be more supply skewed but what about customers?

[Sifistickate]

Do you have Quantcast information to figure out where the members here (buyers and sellers) spend their time, and what kinds of magazines and such they read?

[chainmaille]

I have an account but I have not put the code up for Quancast yet. We do get server stats and there are some other demographic stats that we use.
As far as advertising goes, we have upped our google adwords and project wonderful advertising budget since we just got rid of the submission service. So hopefully that will help continue to build our audience.

[ArtfulFolkStainedGlass]

I know that opinions are like elbows -- everybody has them -- but IMHO it seems that attracting buyers (purchasers, customers, the folks that pay for our goods) would be the way to go.  If sales are good across the board it seems a no brainer that sellers would find out/hear about (it's like gossip -- it's like wildfire) FLOCK to the watering hole.

Which would enlarge the site.

Which (hopefully) would bring more customers.

If I tell two friends, and they tell two friends, and they tell two friends, etc., etc.,

[chainmaille]

I agree, when we advertise, I personally do not target buyers or sellers, I target everyone. Because we need both, so I totally agree anything to get the word out helps!

[Larissa]

Which is why I hung flyers in the area (potential for both buyers & sellers) and plan to bring business cards AND flyers to Sunday's market - to target the buyers there as well as the other vendors.