Prefer to listen instead of read? This episode is also available as a podcast, so you can stick it on while you’re making, packing orders, or staring at your social media stats wondering what on earth is going on.

One of the biggest questions that I get asked - especially from new people on Etsy is "Should I be turning on Etsy Ads?"

Usually, to be honest with you, it comes from a place of panic...

No sales, low views or views that are just not really converting.

And the answer isn't "No, you should never use ads. Never turn them on."

But the answer also isn't "Yeah, turn them on for all of your products and just hope for the best."

Because Etsy Ads work by helping your listings appear in more places.

But, and this is a big, big but, they're not a Band-Aid... They do not replace a clear product, strong photographs, good pricing or buyer trust.

Here's the thing...Ads cost money, okay? and every pound or dollar that you spend in your business, you need to be getting some kind of return on that investment... You might hear that called ROI, return on investment.

You want to make sure that when you're spending money in your business, you're doing it for the right reasons - not because you're panicking.

Unfortunately, for a lot of beginners, the shop feels quiet and they want a quick fix, and Etsy Ads kind of feel like that fix.

You think "If Etsy just showed my products to more people, then surely I'd get more sales."

Maybe.

But if the listing has weak photographs, an unclear title, confusing delivery information or important details missing - ads might just send more people to a weak listing.

So you're actually, like, literally flushing your money down the toilet.

More traffic is really only helpful if the listing can handle that traffic and convert that traffic.

Now, Etsy Ads aren't bad, by the way.

I actually think the return on investment you can get from spending money on a good listing can be crazy!

You can get some really good return on ad spend - however, they're not always the first move - especially for a beginner.

So when should you actually use Etsy Ads?

Ads are useful when the listing has already proven that it can convert well.

And that's why, personally, I wouldn't switch Etsy Ads on for listings that have never actually sold organically...

I want that listing to have shown me that somebody has found it, clicked on it, understood it and bought it without me having to pay for that traffic first.

Basically, you want the foundations of that listing to already be doing their job.

The product should be clear and easy to understand, and your first photograph should make somebody want to click.

Your title and tags should be relevant to the sorts of things your buyer might genuinely type into the Etsy search bar - then you've got the price...

The price needs to make sense for your target market, your brand and the value that your listing is communicating to that person about the product.

You also want your delivery details, personalisation, sizing, materials and all of those sorts of things to be really easy to understand.

You don't want to pay for somebody to reach the listing and then lose them because they can't work out whether something is 10cm or 40cm, or they don't know when it's going to arrive, or they can't work out what's actually included.

Basically, you're using ads to boost a listing that is already doing well... That's the keyword here... Boost what is already doing well.

You're using ads to pour fuel onto an already lit fire.

You're not trying to pour fuel onto a pile of damp sticks and then getting annoyed because nothing happened.

And if you're reading this thinking"Okay Steph, but I don't actually know whether my listing is ready for ads or whether there's something else stopping people buying..."

That's exactly what I'd check before spending any money.

Because if there's a problem with the listing itself, I'd much rather you find that now than pay Etsy to send more people to it.

Once you've checked the listing and you've got a product that's already shown you it can sell organically, then we can start looking at whether putting a small ad budget behind it makes sense.

 

Wondering why your Etsy listings aren't selling?

I've put together a free 72-page guide to help you figure out what's actually stopping the sales and what to do about it.

✅ Find out why people aren't buying

✅ See what needs fixing first

✅ Get a clear plan instead of guessing

GET THE FREE GUIDE →

What budget would I start with?

Now, a lot of you might be saying "Okay Steph, I've got one or two listings that have sold a few times on their own. What sort of budget should I be looking at?"

Simply, what I would start off with is around £1 a day or $1 a day per bestselling item.

So we're not suddenly turning the ads on for 50 products...

Pick one or two that have already got some evidence behind them, then I want you to run those ads for around 14 days without constantly touching them.

So, pretty much, you're looking at being prepared to invest £14 or $14 into that listing during that initial test - and you have to be comfortable with the possibility that you might spend that money and it doesn't work (that's part of testing).

Now, the reason I'm saying 14 days is that ads don't always work in this nice, neat, linear fashion... You could run the ads for 13 and a half days and then suddenly get five sales on that final half day!

Whereas if you'd turned them off on day ten because you decided "Oh, Etsy Ads don't work for me - that's it!"

You wouldn't have seen what happened next...

Ads can sometimes be a little bit all over the place, so give the test enough time to actually give you something useful to look at.

What return should you be looking for?

A quick rule of thumb I use is that I'd want the return on investment to be at least around 2.5 times what you've put into the Etsy Ads.

So, very simply - if you spend £1, you'd want to see around £2.50 coming back in revenue.

If you spent £10, you'd be looking for roughly £25 back.

That's just a rough rule of thumb - it's not some magical Etsy law that means 2.49 is terrible and 2.51 is amazing.

It just gives you a number to start evaluating the ads against rather than looking at the dashboard and thinking "Well... I got some clicks?" because clicks cost you money... We ultimately want those clicks to be turning into sales - and obviously you also need to think about your actual profit margin.

£25 of revenue is not £25 of profit.

You've still got your materials, your Etsy fees, your time, packaging and everything else that sits behind that sale - so don't judge your advertising purely from the revenue number either... You want the numbers to make commercial sense for your particular product.

When are Etsy Ads a bad idea?

There are definitely situations where I would personally wait...

I would wait if the listing has barely been checked and you're only turning ads on because you're feeling stuck or because you think "It's just not getting enough views."

Because if you don't know why the listing isn't selling yet - paying for traffic isn't necessarily going to answer that.

I'd also wait if your photographs - if you're being really honest with yourself, are anything less than about a seven out of ten.

Your thumbnail image - especially when you're running ads, is really important... You're paying to get yourself seen - you still need somebody to actually want to click.

I'd wait if your title is honestly just keyword soup.

If you've basically stuffed every possible Etsy search term into it and a buyer has to decode the thing to understand what you're actually selling, tidy that up first.

I'd wait if your description is missing key buying information...

Things like:

• Size
• Materials
• Delivery
• Personalisation
• What is actually included

If buyers are reaching the listing and they're still left with obvious questions, sort those out before paying Etsy to send more people there.

I'd also wait if you don't know whether your problem is traffic or conversion - those are two different problems.

If hardly anybody is seeing the listing, then yes, visibility might be an issue...

But if lots of people are already reaching the listing and they're just not buying, you don't necessarily need to pay for more traffic - you need to understand why that existing traffic isn't converting.

And I'd wait if you're simply not comfortable spending that first £14 or $14 on the test.

If losing that money is going to make you panic, don't spend it - because advertising always has an element of testing.

You cannot go into it thinking "I'm spending £14, so Etsy now owes me sales."

Unfortunately, that's not how it works.

What would I do instead?

The better first step would be to pick one listing that has already generated sales organically on its own.

Ideally, choose one of your better products.

Have a look at it.

You can tidy it up a little bit if there are really obvious things that need improving, although I wouldn't suddenly change absolutely everything.

Make sure the photograph is strong, make sure the title makes sense, check the price, check delivery, check your description, check that a buyer has everything they need to confidently make the decision...

Then, if the listing already has evidence behind it, that's the sort of product I'd consider putting a small ad budget behind.

Start at around £1 or $1 per day, per product, run it for at least 14 days... Try not to fiddle with it constantly, and then look at what happened.

How much did you spend?

How many sales did it generate?

What revenue came back?

Did it give you at least that rough 2.5x return?

And, importantly, once you account for the cost of actually making and fulfilling those products, did it still make financial sense?

That's a much better way of approaching ads than turning them on because the shop has been quiet for three days.

Don't use Etsy Ads as a panic button

This is probably the main thing I want you to take from this... Ads are a tool - they're not a rescue mission.

If your listing is already strong and has shown that people want the product, ads can be a really useful way of getting it in front of more people.

But if the listing isn't selling because buyers don't understand it, don't trust it, don't see the value or have unanswered questions, paying for more views can just make that problem more expensive.

So before you turn Etsy Ads on, ask yourself "Is this listing ready for more traffic?"

Has it sold organically?

Is the first photograph strong?

Does the title make sense?

Does the price work?

Can buyers understand delivery, sizing, materials and personalisation?

And do you actually know what you're trying to test?

If the answer is yes, then great!
Start small, give it some time, look at the numbers...

If the answer is no, I'd put the money back in your pocket for now and work on the listing first.

And if you're still not sure whether your listing is actually ready for more traffic, use the free guide I linked earlier and check that first.

I'd much rather you fix the thing that's stopping the sale before you start paying to send more people there.

So, Etsy Ads for a new seller?

Not automatically yes.
Not automatically no.

Make sure the listing has some evidence behind it first.

Then use ads to boost something that's already working, rather than hoping they rescue something that isn't...