Have you opened an Etsy shop, but since you’ve opened your digital doors you’ve been solely focusing on make beautiful handmade items…that you forgot to brand you’re small business? In todays episode I’ll be sharing 6 things you need to take action on now to up-level your brand game. So you can build more trust with your online customers and watch your sales start stack up! If you’ve got one to many things on your to-do list, i’ve got you covered. Listen this whole post on the go – Episode. 021 Available on >>Apple Podcast<< or >>Spotify<<
Get a Logo Design For your brand Pronto!
Time: 00:26
Yes, even your Etsy shop should have a logo! Most of you hopefully already do do but even if your shop is only hitting 5 sale a month or a week, actually even if you haven’t made a sale yet you should have a brand logo in place. If you’re waiting until you’ve got more sales or more customers, you’re thinking backwards. By having a professional logo from the get go whether you’ve DIY it or I would recommend purchased a pre-made one, you already look more trust worthy from the get go! And you customers need to trust you before they will buy from you. It will also help those first time customers to recognise and spot you more easily the second time. Therefore logo design is a non-negotiator. If your did DIY your own Logo I would highly recommend you go listen to episode 11 after this episode to avoid the 5 most common logo mistakes I see, so you can make the best first impression.
Show Your customers you care with Beautiful Packaged orders
Time: 01:28
So you’ve taken minutes maybe even hours creating your handmade items you sell. But then you chuck it in a deliver box or mailing bag and pop it in the post. Hold up your packaging mean something to your customers, if your packaging has been intentional thought about it’s subconsciously tell your online customer that well you don’t really care and I know that not true! So make sure your giving yourself time to actually create beautiful packaging. When deciding how to package your item think about A. appropriateness if you deliver candles or something fragile that could break make sure your properly protecting them for the post. If it really delicate and your worked test run send a packaging to a friend good rule of thumb anyway they can say what did work and didn’t things you wouldn’t of realised. Moving on to the second thing to think about the experience your customers will have when they open said package. I not suggesting you add confetti or glitter inside your delivery boxes because honestly that would frustrate me and lead to more mess! But you want your packaging and mailer box to be a joy to open up! This is an opportunity to really show your unique different within your brand personality. Make sure you even look at the font and type size you use on label suit your product and represent your brand. Feel free to get inspiration from my packaging Pinterest board link is in description bar.
Focus On Your Post-Sale Game Plan
Time: 03:20
I’ve spoken about post sale in episode 4 and 12, but here it is again post sale is the thing that occurs after closing the sale with a customer. Most businesses are hooked on pre-sale getting more and more customers, make sure you appreciating the once you’ve already receiving. You can do that with post sale, post sale is good because it also can help you get another sale from an exiting customer. You actually have a higher change around 60 to 70% to converting a repeat customer than a complete new one, so make sure your valuing the ones you already have! Here are some example the one I personally like is including a small beautiful designed booklet that show your making process with each order. You can include more personal things about said order the person who made it, the hours it took the material that was used. You know how people say when you order from a small shop their a real person doing a happy dance, show them your face and thank them for your order!
You could if you wanted to include a free be only do this is your profit margin permits it, I recommend include this only when a customer has ordered a large amount of items and invest a good amount of money with your brand.
Before you think I’m already offering a discount code, I do have some advice… Discount codes in a delivery personally for me as a customer feels a bit quick! Like I’ve just order and your already wanting/asking me to spend more money with you. I advise specially for small brands to handle discount codes differently.
Use the fact your currently small, to your advantage. Think about corporate or large-scale shop they have to use printable to and email list to reach everyone.But these tools do look rather mass produced and make people feel I’m of many who got this, nothing very special about it.
Where as if you wrote a hand write discount code for your customers, maybe even mention something about they product they’ve ordered you’ll show that your customer that you really do care. Out own handwriting is unique to us and is more personal, it will helps your customer connect more to the maker and seller behind the shop screen, making them trust you even more!
I would also suggest you hold back from include these written discount code/letters in the delivery, the likely hold they’ll keep it is low. Send them out a couple weeks after when their candle might be running low, or there is a present giving holiday, maybe if you know they have a birthday coming up!
Brand Story
Time: 06:08
Don’t brush over you brand messaging, on Etsy they provide shop owners the opportunity to talk about their brand. Use it and use it wisely! We as customers base majority of our decision-making on a gut feeling. We don’t use a rational thought or feature and facts to decided!
This means when someone does asks us why didn’t you buy that and all you can muster is “I don’t know it just didn’t feel right!” We need feeling to push our decisions-making to buy from your shop.
If we we do this we provide our customer a bigger reason to why we exist, and your reason can’t be because you love making and sell and it pays the bills. Your reason needs to make them feel a part of your story, you want to show them how you’re different and why you do what you do. If you can do that within you Etsy shop description I promise you it will help your customer feel less torn about which small shop to buy from.
Get Social Online
Time: 07:05
If you don’t have social you need one, setting up a social media account will streamline and boost sales through gaining more brand exposure online. Customers love to see the process of your handmade items, so show them. Customers like to be involved with the making, the picking, so start a conversation and start connect online. The main thing also this is the biggie, if you’re a newbie on Etsy and it show that you’ve had zero sales or very few. Show your face show you are real on Instagram show that you can trusted!
Your Own Branded Website
Time: 07:46
If you have the money to, I think it’s always good practice own your own website with your products on it. I’m not saying Etsy isn’t great platform it is, but it’s hard sometimes to get noticed and stand out from the crowd. By having your own website for you brand and business you can personalise it exactly how you want. Show more personality etc. It also gives your potential customers more ways to find you online and that’s never a bad thing. You want to be found easily, not just on your Etsy shop, having your own website shows your customers that you’ve invested both time an money into it, this helps provide you business with that extra layer of professionalism and sort of tell them that you are taking this maybe very small shop very seriously.
A short and sweet recapping
Time: 08:30
It’s time to realise that your business needs a brand, and start implementing today a brand identity and these brand touch points to elevate your shop even further. Remember to be recognisable and professional with a logo, give them an experience they wont forget with your packaging, always keep them wanting for more with a personal post-sale goodie, let your meaningful brand drive decision making, use social media as opportunity to connect and grow a community, own your own brand website to stand out from the crowd. Your handmade products should be celebrated and enjoyed with your ideal customers, these actionable brands tip will help you get notice! Never underestimate the power of building a brand for your Etsy shop.