Do you want Etsy Ads that work for you?

I'm sure the answer is yes!  I'm going to be sharing with you my Etsy ads strategy and how I manage my ads, how I recommend that you guys do, how to turn them on, what they're all about and so much more.

Where to find your Etsy Ads

In your Etsy dashboard go to marketing and click Etsy Ads - here you will see your Etsy ads dashboards. You’ll be able see your click, revenue and spend. You can switch between a graph and a table - whichever works best for you.

Measuring your performance

I recommend when you're looking at overall performance to look at the last 30 days. In your Etsy ads dashboard you can compare to previous periods, which can be a good comparison. 

Managing your budget 

As you scroll down the dashboard you can see the ‘manage your budget’ section - if you've got Etsy plus you get five dollars of Etsy ad credit. 

One of the biggest questions I get asked is ‘what should my budget be? how much should I be spending on Etsy ads?’ I would only advertise listings that sell well for you, your best selling items.

BOSS! Do you want to make more sales on Etsy? Then you need to increase your conversion rate! DON'T PANIC! I'm going to explain exactly how to do that in my FREE 90 minute masterclass - The 3 Step System To Skyrocket Your Etsy Conversion Rate 🙌🏻

Click the button below and save your seat!

I would pick maybe three to five to start off with and put a dollar a day behind them. This helps if you are in a competitive market, such as jewellery like me. You only get charged when someone clicks on your ad. You've got to make sure that you have a decent budget behind it in order for it to be shown and clicked on enough times for you to get orders.

Let's say your conversion rate on a listing is 5%, you need 100 views before you get five orders or let's say it's 1%, you need 100 views before you can get one order.

If you're splitting your Etsy ads budget, by a dollar a day across your whole shop it’s not going to work for you - you’re spreading yourself too thin. This is probably one of the main reasons why people say I've got Etsy ads running, but nothing is working, I'm not getting orders.

How long should I run my ads?

Let them run for two weeks, and then come back to your dashboard and look at the stats. You need to give them a chance to build traction and for more people to see them. 

Come back once a week to see how the ads are performing. You can change the length of time to look at your stats. You can analyse things such as views, clicks, click rate, orders, revenue, spend, etc. There’s a handy glossary that explains all the different terms.

Making Bulk Changes

If you have looked at your Etsy ad listings and your stats and you're thinking there are definitely some listings that aren't doing so hot and you want to bulk turn them off. 

Go to your Etsy ads dashboard, select active and select all. Then unselect the ones that you want to keep on and then you can toggle them on or off.

You can also bulk turn listings on as well if you're wanting to really bump up the volume when it comes to your advertised listings.

What is ROAS - Return on Ads Spend?

When it comes to ads, this is the only metric I really look at. What this means is essentially your return on investment. 

So, if you go to your Etsy ads dash look for the last 30 days, at least. I would recommend that you wait at least 30 days before you make changes 

I’d then look at what listings have had the best ROAS. You've got to be looking at at least a 2.5x return on investment. For every dollar or every pound that you spend on ads, you get $2.50 or £2.50 back.

What’s working well?

When you click on a listing with a high ROAS Etsy provides you with a lot of detail and they are going to highlight what's a good keyword for you, what's really working.

You’ll also see words that are not performing well for you and are not right for your target market - you can turn these off.

Once you have two to three months of data, you can duplicate particular listings and keywords that are working well and just put the top-performing keywords from this table in that listing. This means you can add more budget knowing you’ll get a high ROAS.

Every week to come in here and make sure that your budget is being spent accordingly.

Here are some questions which I know that you guys might have, the answers are directly from Etsy.

How is my Etsy Ads Budget used?

When you set a daily budget for Etsy ads, it's a maximum amount of money that you could spend a day in advertising.

You might not use your full daily budget, essential charge, it’s only when a buyer clicks on your ad. 

So if you've got your Etsy ads wrapped up to $50 a day, but you're only spending two bucks a day, it means there's probably something wrong with either the keywords that you're using or the pictures, because people are not enticed enough to click on that ad.

Where are my advertised listings shown?

Your ads can be shown on search and browsing pages across Etsy.com and the Buy on Etsy mobile app.

What do my Etsy ads look like?

When I go onto Etsy they’re going to look something like this…

What determines your cost per click?

Etsy sets a bid amount for each listing based on the expected sales from an ad click. This is why, if you are in quite a highly competitive niche, you might use your budget quicker than someone who's not.

That's why it's really hard when people say to me, what budget should I set? because it depends on what niche you're in and how much traffic that you get.

For example, if the Etsy ads algorithm determines a person very likely to purchase an expensive listing, the bid will be higher to ensure that your ad shows.

Why am I seeing a drop in views or sales?

It may be because there are fewer buyers searching for your product, or more sellers competing for the same buyers.

It could also be buyer shopping trends as they will evolve throughout the year.  

But if your advertised listing views have stayed the same, and your clicks have dropped, there may be room to further optimise your listings.

It could be your keywords or your pictures as well that are not resonating for your audience anymore.

Are Etsy Ads worth it?

So overall, are Etsy ads worth it? The short answer is yes they are, but you've got to have a strategy about it and you've got to be quite intentional.

It's not a set it and leave it, and it's not like the money-vending machine that I feel like a lot of other coaches on YouTube kind of lead you to believe it is, it does require some work but once you hit that sweet spot, it's an absolute chef's kiss.

If you'd prefer me to visually teach you this blog post, then you can watch it HERE.

Don't forget to check out more blog posts from Handmade Bosses, and follow us on social media!

> Instagram is where you need to be for top tips, and behind the scenes sneak peeks into how I run my 6 figure business.

> Join THE most supportive Etsy Facebook group there ever was, and connect with motivated, like-minded people.

> YouTube is the place to be for hundreds of super informative videos, packed full of actionable advice.