Etsy is a fantastic marketplace for selling one-of-a-kind handmade and vintage items or craft supplies, but it can be hard to be found when solely relying on Etsy's search. By connecting your Constant Contact account with Etsy, you can build a contact list. Then, sending email updates promoting your shop and your items will help you reach your audience in a more consistent way, and help you keep in touch with your most loyal customers.
 | Be a better marketer: Read our guide to marketing your Etsy shop to increase sales. |
Etsy doesn't incorporate email marketing into their marketplace, but as long as you have permission to send to your contacts, Etsy doesn't prohibit you from sending emails to them. When setting up our integration with Etsy, you can choose to create and send Opt-In email. However, if you choose not to proceed with this option, you will need to get permission from your Etsy customers on your own. The following are additional methods you can use.
During the course of a current transaction, communication with your customer is built into the Etsy flow. Take advantage of the Etsy Message to Buyers. By including a link to your sign-up form or the information for text-to-join, your current customers will see it when they receive the Etsy order confirmation email at the close of their purchase.
 | Did you know? The Shop Story in the About section of your Etsy shop is another good place to include a link to the landing page version of your sign-up form. Be sure to include a brief description of the kind of content you'll be sending and how often you plan on sending emails. Think about using your emails to offer exclusive promotions or discounts too! |
Etsy prohibits using unsolicited Etsy Conversations to ask for sign-ups or sending unsolicited emails to the people who've bought from you in the past to ask them to sign-up for your list. Though you can't contact your previous customers, there are a couple of things you can do to increase the chances they'll join your list:
Remember, it's also against our terms of use to email people who haven't given you permission to mail to them!
The timing and content of your emails is important and depends on your business. As a hobbyist, sending a weekly newsletter can feel like an overwhelming chore unless you actually have things to share. If your shop is a full-time job, you may not feel like a monthly newsletter is sending enough. Sometimes you even have to adjust your frequency seasonally or based on your own production schedule.
Etsy shoppers are looking for unique and personal items, otherwise they would be shopping the big box retailers, so making your email seem like it's written just for your customers is a great way to keep them engaged! Short emails with a clear call-to-action, sent to a targeted segment of your contact list, have the highest chance of being opened. You may even find that different list segments prefer different frequencies for receiving email, which helps take some of the guesswork out of when to send.
| Tip: When you add a button, text link, or clickable image link to your email, make sure to enable click segmentation so that you can automatically add the contacts who click on it to a specific list! |
If you specialize in one-of-a-kind-items, sending an email to a large group of contacts to sell a single item may not be the best use of your email—once the item is sold, you're going to disappoint the rest of your contacts. Sending an email generally promoting the kinds of things you sell or giving a more generic notification when your shop is fully stocked is a better way to go! Your goal is to promote your Etsy shop and keep customers coming back to see what you've got next. Once you've got your list segmented by your customers' interests, you'll be able to send more targeted mailings to customers only interested in specific items.
If you make custom items to order, your email is a great place to showcase examples of what you've created for past customers and direct your contacts to the "Request Custom Order" button in your Etsy shop. Include your favorite feedback quotes and photos of your items. Explain the different variations you can make and the turn-around times for creating each item. Your goal is to show off your skills and make sure your customers think of you first when they need an item you create. Sending a monthly email to cover birthdays or using a calendar to plan around seasons and holidays can help you create your email schedule.
If you sell supplies, emails are great for informing your customers when your products are in stock or when you have new items they may be interested in. Include links to your specific Etsy listings and showcase pictures of how your supplies are used to help inspire your customers to buy them. Your goal is to send targeted emails to the people who are using specific products to remind them they need to make another order. Your sales history can help you come up with a frequency—see if any of your customers seem to be ordering at a certain frequency and send reminders out a little beforehand.
No matter what type of seller you are, the reporting for your email can help you determine how often you should be sending by comparing opens and clicks for different emails. You can start by sending weekly or monthly emails and increase or decrease your frequency as you learn your customers preferences and get your lists segmented. Try to stick to your mailing schedule, and if you're at a loss for content, talk about your creative process, share your blog posts or videos, interview other crafters, or maybe even send out a poll asking your contacts what interests them!
Etsy has strict branding guidelines that prevent you from using their trademarks to promote your business. It's fine to insert a button into your email that says, "Visit my Etsy Shop," or to display the Etsy URL for your shop, but it isn't okay to insert a branded Etsy logo as the button to your shop. Think of it this way: you're promoting your own shop and not Etsy, therefore you should be promoting your own brand and not Etsy's.
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