I'm going to be talking about Etsy vacation mode and how to pull back your sales when you have put your Etsy shop on vacation/ holiday mode. 

You're probably thinking "what's so bad about Etsy vacation mode?", but it can seriously impact your shop and sales for a few weeks after returning if you've been away for longer than a week. 

But don't panic, I'm going to talk to you all about how to get your sales back when returning from Etsy holiday mode. 

If you have had your Etsy shop on vacation/holiday mode for less than a week, you should be able to turn your Etsy shop back on and start getting sales again almost straightaway. Etsy isn't going to wipe your search history and your rankings for the sake of a few days.

If you've had holiday mode switched on for longer than a week, then keep reading the rest of this blog post. 

Build Hype

The best way to do this is to list new items in your shop. 

Now, from experience, I know that as a maker you have a list of items that you want to make/ create and list. Now is the time to do this. 

By listing something new in your shop, you're letting Etsy and all of your target market know that you are back and ready for orders. 

I would recommend spending a day (or an afternoon) bulk listing your items and then save them to drafts. Then, publish one new listing a day from your drafts section for as long as you can until all of your items are published. 

This lets Etsy know, and others who have favourited your shop (they'll get a notification when you list something new) that you are back and raring to go. 

Focus on Your Own Audience

We don't just rely on Etsy here at Handmade Bosses, and we don't recommend that you should either. You might be saying "Steph, I don't really have my own audience apart from a couple of followers on Instagram!". Then listen up! It's homework time. 

You NEED to focus on growing your own audience for the next 3-6 months. 

Why? Because if you ever have a slow time, you can go to that audience and put out a post or an ad and bring people in from your own world into your Etsy shop. 

Basically, what I'm saying is that you need to drive traffic from your own audience to your Etsy shop just to get that activity going again.

Run a Promotion or Sale

Once you've built your audience, I want you to run a promotion or sale to them. 

You can say "I'm back guys, and I'm offering 10% off for 24 hours, don't miss out!". Make it short and snappy and give it a sense of urgency so that they have to act now.

Build excitement and hype to get those sales coming in thick and fast, and you'll find that in 24-48 hours Etsy will be like "Oh, I'm going to put this shop at the top of search results because they're doing so well".

Etsy Updates

Post on Etsy updates and keep people updated as to what you're doing and what's new. Post about a flash sale or your new product that you've launched. 

Etsy Updates has recently been redesigned and is looking very snazzy. They're a bit like TikTok now where you can post a video!

Why not post a video of you saying "hey, I'm back and this is what I have to offer you"? Treat it like an Instagram story. It's very underused as a feature, but it can be awesome for your Etsy shop. 

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!

 

 

 

 

Do Not Redo Your Etsy SEO

There is no reason for you to redo your Etsy SEO and start changing your titles and keywords. 

Don't change anything about your listings because we want to bring your views and orders back. If you change something it's going to confuse Etsy, your target market and YOU, and you won't get sales for months. 

Consider Running Ads

Running ads to your best selling items that were doing well for you before holiday mode can be a very lucrative way of bringing in sales quickly again. 

Now, I would say that you really want to be doing $2-3 per item per day, just to get things moving again quickly. 

When I tested holiday mode in my own shop for 2 months and switched ads on when I returned on my best sellers, my sales started returning back to normal within 2 weeks. 

Avoid Holiday Mode

If you really want a break for a while, or you want a week off to catch up and get organised, then consider extending your shipping times by the amount of days that you are away. This will be a much better way to have a break without using holiday mode, and it will not affect anything in your shop. 

You will still be able to receive orders and people can browse and shop as normal. You can also put an announcement on your Etsy shop to say "I'm away until X date, but I've left my shop open so that you guys can still shop with me. I will post your order on X date when I return".

Be Patient

Please do not panic. Your sales will come back, you haven't RUINED your Etsy shop! There are always ways in which you can claw it back and start bringing in sales again. 

If you would prefer to watch me visually teach this blog post, then watch my YouTube video HERE

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