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S05|L07 - how i use etsy ads to boost my free traffic & sales

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Tutorial Notes

Hey there and welcome back to a new video. And in this video, I’m going to explain how I use Etsy Ads to boost the FREE sales and FREE traffic that I get from Etsy’s organic algorithm.

But first, let me explain what Etsy ads are because they are VERY different from other forms of paid traffic and advertising that you will find online.

So, here’s the thing, right? When you come to Etsy and you do a search for a phrase, such as funny mugs, Etsy will show you a bunch of search results. Well, some of those search results will have a little word, ‘ad’, with them. If it does, it means that this is a paid ad. It isn’t an item that is organically placed there, for free, by the Etsy search algorithm.

file:../../_share/media/img/step_05/lesson_04/ex01a-funny_mugs.png

And just to clarify as well, you do NOT have to use Etsy ads to make sales or run a successful store on Etsy.

Nope. As I showed in earlier videos, I recently started a new store and within 2 weeks, I already had my first 2 sales, and I ran no ads: it was just free, organic traffic since, well, you have to wait 2 weeks to turn on ads anyway, even if you do want to run them.

file:../../_share/media/img/step_05/lesson_04/ex02a-sales_graph.png

So no, you don’t need to use them. They are indeed optional. In fact, truthfully most people I know who run successful Etsy stores, don’t even use ads. And that isn’t because ads are bad, or they don’t work. It’s just, well, understandably, most people don’t like paying for ads so honestly, most people don’t bother turning them on.

But I’ll be honest, I think that is a lost opportunity because not only as I’ll show you, they can be very powerful, but they’re just simple and easy to turn on and run. Yep. Because here’s the thing right. Let’s say that you decided to run a paid advertising campaign on a social media app, like Instagram, or Facebook.

Well, you have to provide Facebook with the data, to run that advertising campaign. So, for example, you have to provide Facebook with a picture, photo or video of your product to use in the ad. And you have to type out advertising copy that you want Facebook to use to, well, advertise your product.

Whereas on Etsy, as you can see, it’s literally just the listing. Etsy just shows your standard, usual listing, but they artificially inflate it in the search results.

file:../../_share/media/img/step_05/lesson_04/ex03a-listing_mugs.png

This means you don’t have to provide Etsy with a photo, or any advertising copy. All you literally have to do is open up your Etsy listing, and click to turn on ads for it. And it’s just a little toggle button inside of your Etsy item listing. That is all you have to do.

It is a very beginner friendly form of traffic. And it’s especially beginner friendly because, well, for better or for worse, you don’t even choose who Etsy shows your ads to.

Nope. Instead what happens is that Etsy’s ai will look over your listing and it’ll look for keywords that you added to your listing, when you created it, and they use those keywords to identify search phrases to show your product ad on.

So, let’s again take this funny Dachshund Mug for example, and say that you had titled it, Funny Dachshund Pun Mug.

file:../../_share/media/img/step_05/lesson_04/ex03b-dachsund_mug.png

Well, what Etsy does is it takes the keywords in your listing, and it will start to show your mug for search phrases that use those keywords.

So, for example, if somebody searches for the phrase, Dachshund Mug, the Etsy ad algorithm will start to show your mug to people who are making that search.

However, this also has a downside. Because let’s say that somebody was searching for the phrase, Funny Pun Mug.

Well, you used those keywords in your listing. So Etsy might choose to show your mug to that customer. The only problem though is that, in this scenario, the person who was making this search does not own a Dachshund dog. And so, chances are, they won’t want to buy your mug. So showing it on that search phrase is useless.

So as you can see, there are pros and cons of Etsy choosing your search phrases for you. On one hand, it means that it is less effort and it’s easier to get started compared to other forms of paid advertising, that make you select and pick your audiences.

But on the other hand, it means that Etsy will show your listings on search phrases that are not relevant. Luckily though, this isn’t quite as bad as it sounds. Because unlike other forms of paid advertising like Facebook ads, which charge you for views and impressions, Etsy only charges you money if somebody actually clicks on your ad.

So, these ads that got shown to me here: well, as long as I don’t click on them, then it costs the store nothing to advertise them.

file:../../_share/media/img/step_05/lesson_04/ex03c-listing_mugs.png

But, if I did click on one, then Etsy would charge them money regardless of whether an item sells or not. And they usually charge around 50 cents per click. Sometimes more, sometimes less. But it’s around 50 cents on average per click.

Now, while this is annoying, I personally would not be too upset by this. And that is because, if you think about it, if you did not own a dachshund dog, then even if Etsy did show you an ad for a funny mug featuring a Daschund pun – what are the chances that you’d actually click on it? It’s very small.

And so in my experience, while a lot of people complain about this, I don’t think it’s too big of a downside. Most people are worried that if they run ads, they’ll rack up a bill for a bunch of useless clicks, and lose a bunch of wasted money. But in my experience, that isn’t the real downside of this strategy since usually those sorts of people don’t click anyway. The real downside is instead the time lost.

Because what Etsy will ask you to do when you turn your ads on, is it’ll ask you to keep your ads running with them for 30 days, before you consider turning them off. And that is not a requirement, by the way. You can turn your ads off at any time that you choose. But, they will recommend that if you can, to keep them running for at least 30 days.

And that is because that gives their algorithms time to learn more about which search phrases actually match best with your product. So they’ll take the keywords in your listing, and use that for a bunch of search phrases, and see which search phrases actually result in clicks, and then overtime narrow it down and only show it on the search phrases that get clicks from viewers.

But of course: all of that takes time. So, it can be slower than expected for your ads to actually start making you money while it figures out which search phrases actually get bites.

Whereas on other more advanced advertising platforms, such as Facebook, since you pick your audience, if you pick it right, you can find your target customers faster – overnight even.

But I view business more as a marathon, rather than a sprint. So: since I treat it like a marathon, I don’t mind waiting that time as a trade-off for how simple and easy they are to turn on and run. Plus, in my experience, I haven’t actually needed to wait 30 days, which is something that I’ll discuss later in my next video, where I show my exact $5 a day Etsy ad strategy.

But yes, that is what Etsy ads are, and how they work. So then, here’s the next question. Sarah, You said that Etsy ads help you boost your FREE sales by giving you FREE traffic. Yet here you are, talking about how much money they cost. What gives?!

And that’s a good question. So, here is the thing, right? A lot of Etsy content creators will, rightfully so, point out that Etsy has said that the search results are not influenced by Etsy ads. Which is somewhat true. Etsy does not inflate your organic free traffic if you run ads. So, you can’t brute force your way to higher search engine rankings, by buying clicks from Etsy ads, unfortunately.

However, consider this. On Etsy, in my experience, anywhere from 5 percent to 30 percent of customers will leave your store a review. And, in my experience, the more reviews you have, the higher your store conversion rates. And do you know what is one of the biggest factors that the Etsy algorithm considers, when raising up a listing in its search results?

It is conversion rates. If Etsy sees a high number of customers clicking on an item, and then purchasing it, then it is going to want to show that to more people.

Etsy is financially incentivized to promote listings with high conversion rates. Because that increases the number of sales their website makes which makes them more money from seller transaction fees. And so that is why I love Etsy ads. Especially for new stores.

Because it helps you get eyeballs on your listing. Which can help get you more sales. The more sales you get, the more reviews that you get. And once you’ve got a small collection of reviews, then it’s going to be much easier to get organic, free traffic because people will trust your store more and convert at higher rates.

And plus, in my experience, while Etsy have said that the search algorithm is separate from their Etsy ads, and that they don’t influence each other, I have never personally seen Etsy say that their discovery pages are not influenced by the data that they collect from Etsy ads.

Nope. Because as I said, my new stores don’t really get search engine traffic anyway, and that isn’t the traffic I care about either. It’s traffic from the discovery pages like the homepage. That is where my sales come from.

file:../../_share/media/img/step_05/lesson_04/ex03d-discovery_listing.png

And: if you’ve watched my previous videos on how to get more traffic from these pages which, by the way, I STRONGLY recommend you do if you haven’t already.

* How I Hack Algorithms By Choosing A Store Niche

Then you’ll know that a big way to get that is to provide Etsy with data on your ideal type of customer. So, for example, if you’re selling this mug, then you want to help give Etsy data that your target customer is Dachshund owners.

file:../../_share/media/img/step_05/lesson_04/ex04a-dachshund_mug.png

That way, they can pick some customers to test your product on by showing it on their homepage. And if any of those customers that Etsy shows it to click on your product or, even better, buy it, then Etsy’s algorithm can look through its customer database, and try to identify customers similar to those and show it to them. This is how clicks and sales can grow and snowball on the platform.

file:../../_share/media/img/step_05/lesson_04/ex04b-discovery_listing.png

It’s like a chain of dominos. But, that one domino has to first of all fall in the chain, so that the rest can fall after it. And so, I’ve found that by turning on paid ads, that ad can be the domino for a product. If my ad can get a sale, then Etsy will still be able to use the data from that customer profile to find other similar customers, and show it to them.

And so do you have to use Etsy ads if you would prefer not to? Absolutely, no, you don’t. But, if you can, do they help speed up the process of improving your position in the Etsy algorithm to get free traffic from its recommendations on the platform?

Well, in my personal experience, yes. Yes they do. So, now that we know what the ads are, how to use them and turn them on, in my next video I’ll share with you my low budget Etsy ad strategy. So, go ahead, watch my next video, and I’ll see you over there

Review

Core Idea

Etsy ads are paid placements inside Etsy search results.

They can help new listings get early clicks and sales, which may indirectly help organic traffic by giving Etsy more customer data and helping the store collect reviews.

What Etsy Ads Are

When someone searches Etsy, some listings show the word “Ad.”

That means:

  • the seller paid for placement
  • the listing was not placed there organically
  • Etsy is boosting the listing inside search results

Etsy Ads Are Optional

You do not need Etsy ads to make sales.

A new store can still get organic sales from:

  • Etsy discovery pages
  • Etsy search
  • strong product design
  • clickable photos
  • good niche targeting
  • test impressions

Etsy ads are useful, but not required.

Why Etsy Ads Are Beginner-Friendly

Etsy ads are much simpler than Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok ads.

With Facebook-style ads, you usually need:

  • ad images
  • ad videos
  • ad copy
  • audience targeting
  • campaign settings

With Etsy ads:

  • the ad is just your existing listing
  • Etsy uses your listing photo, title, and product data
  • you turn ads on with a simple toggle

How Etsy Chooses Who Sees The Ad

Etsy uses the keywords in your listing to decide where to show your ad.

Example product:

  • funny dachshund pun mug

Possible matching searches:

  • dachshund mug
  • funny dachshund mug
  • funny pun mug
  • dog pun mug

The Weakness Of Etsy Ads

Etsy may show your product for searches that are not ideal.

Example: A dachshund mug may show up for “funny pun mug.”

That searcher may not own a dachshund, so they may not be the right buyer.

Why This Is Not Always Terrible

Etsy usually charges per click, not per view.

So if someone sees the ad but does not click:

  • you do not pay

This makes irrelevant impressions less dangerous than they would be on platforms that charge for views.

Approximate Cost

Etsy ad clicks often cost around:

  • about $0.50 per click

Sometimes:

  • more
  • less

Real Downside: Time

The bigger downside is not usually wasted clicks.

The bigger downside is time.

Etsy recommends keeping ads on for about 30 days because the algorithm needs time to learn:

  • which search phrases work
  • which customers click
  • which searches lead to sales
  • which keywords are a poor match

Etsy Ads Need Learning Time

At first, Etsy may test your listing across many related search phrases.

Over time, Etsy may narrow the ad placement toward searches that get better results.

This can take time.

Etsy Ads Compared To Facebook Ads

Facebook ads can sometimes find an audience faster because you manually choose the audience.

Etsy ads are slower but easier.

Tradeoff:

  • Facebook ads = more control, more complexity
  • Etsy ads = less control, much easier setup

Why Etsy Ads Can Help Organic Traffic

Etsy has said that paid ads do not directly boost organic search ranking.

So Etsy ads do not simply “buy” organic ranking.

But they can still help indirectly.

The Indirect Boost

Etsy ads can help generate:

  • clicks
  • sales
  • customer data
  • reviews
  • conversion history

Those things can help the store/listing perform better organically.

Reviews Matter

A percentage of Etsy customers leave reviews.

The transcript gives a rough range:

  • 5% to 30% of customers may leave a review

More reviews can help:

  • build trust
  • increase conversion rate
  • make customers more comfortable buying
  • improve the store’s perceived reliability

Conversion Rate Matters

Conversion rate is important because Etsy wants to promote listings that make sales.

If customers:

  • click a listing
  • buy the product

then Etsy has a reason to show that listing to more people.

Etsy makes money when sales happen, so it is incentivized to promote listings that convert.

Search Results vs Discovery Pages

Etsy says ads do not directly influence search results.

But the transcript makes an important distinction:

  • search results
  • discovery pages

Discovery pages include:

  • Etsy homepage
  • Etsy app recommendations
  • personalized product suggestions

The claim here is that Etsy ads may still provide useful customer data that helps Etsy understand who likes the product.

The Domino Effect

Etsy needs data to know who should see your product.

If an ad produces a sale, Etsy can look at that buyer and ask:

  • Who is this customer?
  • What do they like?
  • What have they bought before?
  • What similar customers might also like this product?

Then Etsy can potentially show the product to similar customers for free.

This is the “domino” effect.

Example: Dachshund Mug

If someone buys a funny dachshund mug through an ad, Etsy now has a buyer profile.

Etsy may then test the product with similar customers, such as:

  • dachshund owners
  • dog lovers
  • people who buy pun gifts
  • people who buy mugs
  • people who buy funny pet products

Why Etsy Ads Are Useful For New Stores

New stores have little data.

Etsy ads can help create early data by getting:

  • initial views
  • initial clicks
  • initial sales
  • initial reviews

This can help Etsy understand the product faster.

Main Strategic Use

Do not think of Etsy ads only as direct profit ads.

Think of them as a way to:

  • get the first domino to fall
  • create early sales data
  • gather reviews
  • help Etsy identify the right customer
  • speed up the organic discovery process

Important Warning

Etsy ads are not magic.

They work best when the listing already has:

  • a strong product idea
  • clear niche targeting
  • relevant keywords
  • a clickable thumbnail
  • a good price
  • a trustworthy store/profile

Ads cannot save a bad product.

When Etsy Ads Make Sense

Etsy ads may be useful when:

  • the product is niche-specific
  • the product photo is clickable
  • the title uses accurate keywords
  • the product fills a gap in the market
  • the store can afford a small test budget
  • the goal is early data and early sales

When To Skip Etsy Ads

Skip or delay Etsy ads if:

  • budget is too tight
  • listings are not optimized
  • product photos are weak
  • the niche is unclear
  • the title has messy keywords
  • the store is not ready for buyers
  • the product is generic and low-effort

Key Takeaway

Etsy ads do not directly buy organic ranking.

But they can help create the early activity Etsy needs to understand your product.

That activity can lead to:

  • better customer matching
  • more reviews
  • higher trust
  • better conversion rates
  • more organic discovery traffic

Bottom Line

Etsy ads are optional, but they can be powerful for new listings.

Use them as a low-friction way to get early clicks, sales, reviews, and customer data.

The goal is not just paid sales.

The goal is to help Etsy learn who your product is for, so the organic algorithm can later show it to similar customers for free.

Transcript 

00:00
Hey there, and welcome back to a new video. And

00:02
in this video, I'm gonna explain how I use paid

00:05
Etsy ads to boost my free traffic and my free

00:09
sales that I get from Etsy's organic algorithm.

00:13
But first, let me explain just what exactly Etsy ads

00:17
are because as you will see, they are very different

00:20
compared to most forms of paid traffic and advertising

00:24
that you will find online.

00:26
Yep. So here's the thing, right? When you come to

00:29
Etsy and you do a search for a phrase such

00:31
as funny mugs, Etsy will show you a bunch of

00:34
different search results.

00:35
Well, some of these search results will have a little

00:38
word

00:39
ad with them. If a search result has this, it

00:42
means that it is a paid ad. It isn't an

00:45
item that was organically placed there for free by the

00:49
Etsy search algorithm. So yes, those are what Etsy ads

00:52
are. And I do just wanna clarify, by the way,

00:54
if you're watching this and you don't want to run

00:57
Etsy ads, don't worry. It is entirely optional

01:01
if you choose to run them or not. Yep. As

01:04
I showed in earlier videos, I recently started a new

01:07
store, and within 2 weeks, I already had my first

01:11
2 sales in this new Etsy store, and I ran

01:14
no ads. It was just free organic traffic since, well,

01:17
you have to wait 2 weeks to be able to

01:20
turn on ads on Etsy anyway,

01:22
even if you do wanna run them. So no, you

01:24
don't have to use them. They are indeed optional. In

01:27
fact, probably most people I know who run successful Etsy

01:31
stores

01:32
don't use ads. And it's not because of the fact

01:34
that Etsy ads are bad or they don't work. Nope.

01:38
It's just that, well, understandably,

01:40
most people don't like paying for ads. So honestly,

01:44
most people I know don't bother turning them on. But

01:46
the truth is is that I do think that's a

01:48
little bit of a missed opportunity because I do think

01:51
that they are super powerful. And what genuinely makes them

01:55
so remarkable

01:56
is that they are

01:57
incredibly simple and easy to run. Yep. Because here's the

02:01
thing. Right? Let's say that you decided to run a

02:03
paid advertising on a social media app like Instagram or

02:06
Facebook. Well, you have to provide Facebook or Instagram

02:10
with the data

02:11
to run your advertising campaign. So for example, you would

02:14
have to provide Facebook with a picture, a photo, or

02:17
video of your product to use in the ad, and

02:20
you'd have to type out the advertising copy that you

02:23
want Facebook to use to, well,

02:25
advertise your products.

02:27
Whereas on Etsy, as you can see, the ad is

02:30
literally just your listing. Etsy just shows your standard usual

02:34
listing,

02:35
but all they do is artificially inflated in the search

02:38
results. This means then that they are super simple to

02:41
set up because you don't have to provide any extra

02:43
videos

02:44
or photos or copy. All you literally have to do

02:48
is open up your Etsy listing and then click turn

02:51
on ads for it. It's just a little toggle button

02:53
inside of your Etsy item listing, and that's all you

02:57
have to do. As I said, it is a very

03:00
beginner form of traffic.

03:02
However,

03:03
they can also be for better or for worse, and

03:06
1 of the things that makes them a little bit

03:08
controversial in this regard is that you also

03:11
don't have to tell Etsy

03:13
who you want them to run your ad for. Nope.

03:17
Instead, what happens is that Etsy's AI will look over

03:20
your listing if you turn ads on, and it will

03:23
look for keywords that you added into it when you

03:25
created the listing. And it then uses those keywords to

03:29
identify search phrases

03:30
to show your product on. So let's again take this

03:34
funny Dachshund mug as our example product. And let's say

03:38
that you had titled it funny dachshund

03:41
pun mug.

03:43
Well, what Etsy is now going to do is it's

03:45
now going to show your product on search results that

03:49
utilize

03:50
those same keywords.

03:52
Yep. So for example, if somebody searches for the phrase

03:55
dachhand mug, the Etsy ad algorithm will start to show

03:59
you a mug to people who are making that search.

04:01
However, this also has a downside because let's say that

04:06
somebody was doing a search for the phrase

04:09
funny pun

04:11
mug.

04:12
Well, remember, you use those keywords in your listing, so

04:15
Etsy might choose to now show your mug to that

04:18
customer. The only problem though with this is that in

04:21
this scenario, this example person who was making the search

04:25
does not own a Dachshund dog, and so chances are

04:29
they won't want to buy your mug. So showing it

04:32
on that search phrase is useless.

04:35
So as you can see, there are definitely some pros

04:38
and cons of not having to tell Etsy

04:41
who you want them to show your ad for. On

04:44
1 hand, it makes it a lot easier compared to

04:47
other forms of paid advertising out there like Facebook, where

04:50
you have to go in and pick the audience

04:54
that you want to see your ad. But on the

04:57
flip side, this also means that Etsy is inevitably

05:01
going to show people your ad that probably don't want

05:04
to buy your item.

05:06
Luckily though, this isn't quite as bad as it sounds

05:09
because unlike other forms of paid advertising like Facebook ads,

05:13
which will charge you for views and impressions,

05:16
Etsy only charges you money if somebody actually clicks on

05:20
your ad. So these ads that got shown to me

05:22
here, well, as long as I don't click on them,

05:25
then it costs the store nothing to advertise them. But

05:29
if I did click on 1, then Etsy would charge

05:31
them money regardless

05:33
of whether an item sells or not, and they usually

05:36
charge around 50 cents per click. Sometimes it's more, sometimes

05:40
it's less, but it's around on average about 50 cents.

05:43
Now while this is admittedly annoying,

05:46
it's not something that I get too bothered with. And

05:49
that is because if you think about it, if you

05:52
did not own a dachshund dog, then even if Etsy

05:55
did show you an ad for a funny mug featuring

05:58
a dachshund pun, what are the actual chances that you'd

06:01
bother to click on it? It's very small. And so

06:04
in my experience, while people will complain about this with

06:06
Etsy ad, understandably,

06:08
I don't actually think it's that big of a downside.

06:11
Nope. Because most people are worried that if they run

06:14
ads on their items, that they'll rack up a bill

06:16
for a bunch of useless clicks and lose a bunch

06:19
of wasted money. But in my experience, it isn't actually

06:22
the real downside of the strategy

06:24
since usually those sorts of people don't even click on

06:27
your item anyway. The real downside is instead

06:31
time lost because here's the thing. When you turn on

06:34
your Etsy ads, Etsy is gonna tell you that they

06:37
would prefer it if you were to keep your ad

06:40
on for at least 30 days.

06:43
And that is not a requirement, by the way. You

06:46
can turn your ads off at any time should you

06:48
choose to. But Etsy will recommend that if you can,

06:52
to keep them running for at least 30 days. And

06:56
that is because that gives their algorithm time to learn

06:59
more about which search phrases

07:01
actually match best with your product. So they'll take the

07:04
keywords in your listing and use it for a bunch

07:06
of different search phrases and see which search phrases actually

07:09
result in clicks. And then over time, they will narrow

07:12
it down and only show it on search phrases that

07:16
get clicks from viewers. But of course, all of that

07:19
takes time, doesn't it? So it can be slower than

07:21
expected for your ads to actually start making money

07:24
while their algorithm figures out which search phrases

07:27
actually get bites. Whereas on more advanced advertising platforms, such

07:31
as Facebook, since you pick your audience, if you pick

07:34
it right, you can find your target customers faster, overnight

07:37
even. But personally, I view business more as a marathon

07:41
rather than as a sprint.

07:42
So I actually like to treat it like a marathon,

07:45
and I don't mind waiting that time as a trade

07:48
off for how simple and easy the Etsy ads are

07:51
to just turn on and run. Plus in my experience,

07:54
I haven't actually needed to wait the full 30 days,

07:57
but for getting results, and that's something that I'm gonna

08:00
talk about in my next video. But yes, that is

08:04
what Etsy ads are, and that is how they run.

08:07
So the next question then is this. Sarah, you said

08:11
that Etsy ads boost your free traffic and your free

08:14
sales, yet here you are spending all of your time

08:17
talking about how much money they cost you, what gives?

08:21
And that's a good question. So here's the thing, right?

08:24
There are a lot of Etsy content creators out there

08:26
that will point out, rightfully that Etsy has said that

08:31
the search results

08:32
are not influenced

08:34
by Etsy ads, which therefore I believe is true, that

08:39
Etsy does not inflate

08:41
your organic free traffic

08:43
if you run ads.

08:45
So unfortunately, this does mean we can't brute force our

08:48
way to higher search engine rankings

08:50
by buying clicks from Etsy ads. However,

08:53
consider this. On Etsy, in my experience, anywhere from 5

08:57
percent to 30 percent of customers will leave you a

09:00
store review. And also in my experience, the more store

09:04
reviews you have, the higher your store conversion rates. And

09:09
do you know what 1 of the biggest factors is

09:12
when Etsy considers who to rank highly inside of its

09:16
search results?

09:17
It's conversion rates.

09:19
If Etsy sees a high number of customers clicking on

09:22
an item and then actually purchasing it, then it is

09:26
going to want to show that item to more people.

09:29
Etsy is financially

09:31
incentivized to promote listings with higher conversion rates

09:35
because it increases the number of sales their websites makes,

09:38
which makes them more money from seller transaction fees. And

09:41
so this is why I absolutely love Etsy ads, especially

09:45
for new stores, because it helps you get eyeballs on

09:48
your listing, which can help you get more sales. The

09:51
more sales you get, the more reviews that you get.

09:55
And once you've got a small collection of reviews, then

09:57
it's going to be much easier to get organic free

10:00
traffic because people will trust your store more and will

10:04
convert at higher rates. And plus,

10:07
here's the thing. While Etsy have indeed said that their

10:10
search results are not influenced

10:13
by their paid ads,

10:15
I have never personally seen Etsy say that their

10:19
discovery pages

10:21
are not influenced

10:22
by the data that they collect from Etsy ads. Nope.

10:26
Because as I've said in previous videos, my new stores

10:29
don't really get search engine traffic anyway, and that isn't

10:32
the traffic that I care about either. It's traffic from

10:35
discovery pages like the homepage.

10:37
That is where my sales come from. And if you've

10:40
gone ahead and watched my previous videos on this on

10:42
how to get more traffic from these discovery pages, which,

10:46
by the way, I strongly recommend that you go do

10:48
if you haven't already, then you'll know that a big

10:51
way to get this free traffic is to provide Etsy

10:53
with data on who your ideal customer is. So for

10:57
example, if you're selling this mug, then you want to

11:00
help give Etsy data that your target customer

11:03
is Dachshund

11:05
dog owners.

11:06
That way, they can pick some customers to test your

11:09
product on by showing it on their homepage. And if

11:12
any of these customers that Etsy shows it to clicks

11:15
on your product or even better buys it, then the

11:18
Etsy algorithm can look through its customer database and try

11:21
and identify customers similar to those and show it to

11:23
them. This is how clicks and sales can grow and

11:27
snowball on the platform. You could think of it like

11:29
a chain of dominoes,

11:30
but that 1 domino of course has to fall first

11:33
in the chain so that the rest can fall after

11:36
it. And so I've found that by turning on paid

11:39
ads, that the ad seems to be able to be

11:42
a domino for a product. If I can get an

11:45
ad to make a sale, then Etsy will still be

11:47
able to use the data from that customer profile to

11:50
find other similar customers in their database

11:53
and show it to them for free. And so do

11:56
you have to use Etsy ads to be successful on

11:59
the platform? Absolutely not. But if you can use them,

12:03
do they help speed up the process of getting free

12:06
traffic and free sales

12:08
within the platform?

12:09
Well, in my experience,

12:11
yes, they absolutely can. And so now that we know

12:15
what ads are, how to turn them on, and why

12:18
they can be so powerful, in the next video, I'm

12:21
gonna share with you my low budget Etsy ad strategy.

12:24
So go ahead, watch my next video, and I will

12:27
see you over there.