How to Use Instagram Marketing for Etsy Stores

Do you know how to use Instagram in your Etsy marketing strategy? As an Etsy business owner, you’ve probably been gifted with one of those extremely creative minds that so many people are after. But if you have not already thought about using Instagram in your Etsy marketing strategy, that might be a key component you’re missing.

Creating awesome products for your business is only half the battle.

In today’s digital day and age, it is no longer enough to simply have the talent to produce incredible products.

You also need to be smart enough to know how to get the right eyes on your goods.

Why Instagram Metrics Matter To Etsy Stores? 

Number Of Followers

The number of followers is easy to measure – just check your brand’s Instagram account. A high follower count can show trustworthiness and credibility, which affects whether visitors become buyers.

However, follower count alone doesn’t give a complete picture. You also need to track your follower growth rate, which shows if you’re reaching new audiences. To calculate it, divide the new followers by your starting follower count for a specific period.

For example, if you gain 100 new followers in a month and start with 1,000 followers, your growth rate is 10%.

Setting Up Your Instagram Profile

A crisp, high-resolution profile photo that accurately captures your brand or identity is the first step in optimizing your Instagram account. Even at modest sizes, it should be noticeable.

Your bio should be a succinct, captivating introduction that highlights your qualifications. Emojis can be used to break up text and keywords can be used for simple discovery. Add a call to action, such as following your account or going to your website. 

Additionally, you can use tools like Linktree for multiple links or add contact information. Keep your bio interesting and up to date by updating it frequently.

Linking Effectively to Etsy

To link your Etsy shop from Instagram, add a direct link to your shop in your bio for easy access. Use link shorteners like Bitly or Linktree for multiple links and tracking. If you have over 10k followers, use Instagram Stories’ swipe-up feature to link to products or promotions. Create Highlight reels to organize your products or deals, making it easy for followers to explore your Etsy shop.

Crafting Engaging Content

Crafting engaging content is crucial for capturing and maintaining the attention of your audience on platforms like Instagram. It helps to showcase your products effectively, build a connection with your followers, and ultimately drive sales by highlighting the unique features and benefits of your offerings compellingly. Quality content that resonates with your audience can also enhance brand credibility and encourage customer loyalty over time.

Product Showcases:

• Close-Up Shots: Highlight the details and craftsmanship of your products with close-up photos. This allows potential customers to see the quality and uniqueness up close.
• Lifestyle Shots: Show your products in use or styled in everyday life scenarios. This helps customers visualize how your products can fit into their lives.
• Before-and-After: If applicable, showcase the transformation or process involved in creating your products. This adds depth and storytelling to your content.

Customer Testimonials and Reviews:

• User-Generated Content: Share photos or testimonials from satisfied customers using your products. This builds trust and authenticity among your audience.
• Reviews and Feedback: Highlight positive reviews or feedback you’ve received about your products. This social proof can influence potential buyers’ decisions.

 Behind-the-Scenes Content:

• Production Process: Take your audience behind the scenes to show how your products are made. This transparency can build a connection with your brand and showcase your dedication to quality.

Content Strategy

Creating a content calendar helps keep your Instagram posts consistent and aligned with your brand. 

Add seasonal themes or trending topics to stay relevant. Balance promotional content with educational posts like tips or industry insights to add value. 

Using storytelling in your posts strengthens brand loyalty and fosters meaningful interactions, helping achieve your business goals while keeping followers engaged.

Showcasing Products Creatively

Behind-the-scenes content shows the effort and care that goes into your products, helping build authenticity and connection with your audience. Share insights into your production process, showcase your workspace, and introduce team members to humanize your brand. 

Featuring customer testimonials and user-generated content builds trust and credibility. Highlighting before-and-after stories adds emotional appeal and shows the real benefits of your products, encouraging potential customers to engage with your brand.

Figure Out Who’s Your Target Audience

The beauty of Instagram comes from your audience, so you want to make sure you’re targeting the right people. If you don’t already know, you should work to identify your target audience so you can use Instagram most effectively.

For businesses that already have customers or a following on other social media platforms, look at your existing audience. 

What do they have in common? 

What demographics are your followers? 

Where are they located, how old are they, what gender are they, and what languages do they speak? 

If possible, try to discover what other brands they follow, what’s important to them, and why they love your brand.

Some of this information can be determined by looking at your Instagram analytics on social media. Sometimes your web analytics will offer this demographic information, too. So, start there and see what details you can learn about your audience.

However, this likely won’t let you know what other brands they love and what makes them unique. If you want to discover this, one of the easiest ways to do it is by simply asking your audience. Create a simple survey online that they can fill out.

They’ll be more likely to fill it out if you offer them an incentive, like a coupon code, for completing it.

Why You Need Instagram Within Your Etsy Marketing Strategy 

Sure, social media is great for this. But, one social media channel reigns supreme for Etsy businesses—Instagram.

Due to the people, products, and preferences that most frequently pertain to Etsy’s unique platform, Instagram is by far one of the best ways to generate real, high-quality leads for your digital business.

So, how can you take your Etsy marketing strategy and business to the next level by way of Instagram?

No worries—the answers you so dearly crave can be found in the following four Etsy marketing strategy tips for Instagram:

Use Your Profile to Dangle a Carrot of Sorts

While dangling a carrot—or any other kind of delicious food, for that matter—could very well be considered a form of cruel and unusual punishment, as a successful Etsy shop owner on Instagram, you use the tactic to take people from your profile, directly to your Etsy page.

Instagram has never been much for words, so use the little space you have to make your personality known. Be genuine, using an emoji or two along the way to help build an emotional connection with your account visitors.

Lastly, add a shortened link that leads back to your website. Even better, if you have some sort of gift waiting for them when they arrive. 

It could be a coupon, e-book or helpful template. You’ll not only be driving traffic, but you’ll also build a bit of PR clout with soon-to-be customers in the process.

Experiment to Find Out What Your Audience Wants

Digital marketers can’t seem to stop talking about “quality content.” At this point, the phrase has almost become a buzzword, but there’s a reason for it—it’s that important. 

Now, let it be known that there’s a tremendous difference between talking about the posting of quality content and doing it.

Anybody can chit-chat all they want, but few are the Instagram accounts that have wholeheartedly embraced the importance of quality images. 

If you’d like to soon find your Etsy business linked to a quality Instagram account, use a few of the following ideas to help you get there as quickly as possible:

• Your Personal Work Space What might seem like an old, run-of-the-mill desk or workshop to you might actually be something of real interest to your Instagram fans. Truthfully, it’s not that they’re interested in your workspace or anything. What grips them is being granted access to a behind-the-scenes look at a day in your life.
• The Various Stages of Production of Instagram Marketing for Etsy Stores Whether it be a jaw-dropping painting or simple knick-knack, showing how a product goes from a mere idea to a full-blown, bonafide product is nothing short of entertaining. Once again, it’s that exclusive look that your followers are hoping to catch a glimpse of. You have access to it—give it to them.
• The Final Product When on your site, people purchase what they can see. Sure, a product description will help them get a sense of what they could potentially invest in. But it’s usually a top-notch image that seals the deal. Your Instagram images—without being overly advertorial, mind you—do the exact same thing.
• Creative Inspiration Think about it for a moment—what truly inspires you? Here at Kicksta, this is a question we simply can’t answer for you. When approached correctly, this Instagram tactic allows you to tell a story of sorts to your base of devoted followers. They’ll love you for it, tell their friends and your account will grow.
• The Talent Your business isn’t a logo—it’s you, right? So, as a human of flesh and bone, step out from behind your smartphone camera, and feature yourself, from time to time. And no—it’s not self-absorbed; it’s smart marketing. No joke—this stuff works for your fiercest Etsy competitors, and it’ll work for you, too.

With all of this in mind, by no means should you confine yourself to our miniature list of image options. 

Use Hashtags and Handles Wisely in Your Etsy Marketing Strategy for Instagram

Few things are more painful than seeing an awesome Instagram post with either no hashtags or a series of silly, unusable hashtags that do little more than annoy users. 

Yes, there’s a place for it within the body of any post’s copy, but hashtags are primarily used more for the business side of things.

Hashtags allow your posts to be discovered by people who are looking for content just like yours, yet are unaware of your Instagram-for-Etsy account’s existence. 

When they search for keyword-specific content using Instagram’s search bar, if your posts contain corresponding hashtags, yours are the posts they’ll see. Here are a few hashtags that, as an Etsy shop owner, you should highly consider using:

• #Etsy
• #EtsyFinds
• #Mompreneur
• #ShopHandmade
• #HandmadeBusiness

… and the list goes on and on. As such, don’t feel like you need to take random shots into the dark as to which hashtags will work best for your Etsy business. There are plenty of free tools online to help you find the best hashtags for your business’s Instagram posts.

Make Meaningful Connections With Others

We get it—you’re painfully busy and probably barely have enough time to snap a few Instagram-worthy photos throughout the day, right? Well, if that’s the case, we’ve got a tough pill for you to swallow. 

If you’re serious about this whole Instagram marketing thing, you’ll need to up the ante with plenty of real-time engagement. That’s right—you’ll need to do your absolute best to respond to each and every one of your fan’s comments.

But that’s not all you can do—liking others’ photos and interacting with your fans’ content will make your work not only more approachable but much easier to engage with. This is a long-term commitment. But soon enough, you’ll find that you’ve connected with a customer or collaborator somewhere along the way.

Tips For Your Etsy Marketing Strategy on Instagram From Artists & Crafters

So clearly, your Etsy marketing strategy for Instagram is key to get the right traffic over to your business. But don’t take our word for it.

Here are some tips from actual artists and crafters on how to Instagram to market your business:

“Do what feels like you! It’s easy to fall into using the same presets and filters that are trending, but sometimes it’s better to stand out than blend in. Make sure your posts are authentic and meaningful rather than what’s popular.” Cassie Gaston Crafted to Create, @craftedtocreate

“Do research around hashtags and use them wisely. Have some hashtags that you always go for depending on your niche, where you can build your followers. Try to include a mixture of more popular hashtags and more specific ones to maximize exposure and coverage. And don’t forget to engage with the hashtags you use by liking, following, and leaving thoughtful comments on posts using the same hashtag.” –Yilin Wang Creative Voyagers, @creativevoyager

“A good tip would be to take the time to research your hashtags. Create a couple of different lists that you can use and switch up now and then so you are not being repetitive. Also, it’s “not all about you” If you want to slowly build don’t be afraid to engage with others. It is important to also share other accounts, comment on their posts, and create genuine relationships. Networking is a wonderful thing and so is being authentic.” – Carrie Augie by Carrie Jewelry, @augiebycarriejewelry

“Take a perfect picture in the natural light, use an Instagram filter to make it more clear. A beautifully captured photo always helps to attract more followers, but make sure you are using relevant hashtags too. Flatlay clicks are trending. Place the products or things nicely on a flat surface & also try to tag the brands, sometimes brands repost creative content so you can get new followers.” – Khadija Creativekhadija.com, @creative_mind_khadija

“Test audiences to promote your content to. You can start with $5-10 per post. Test as few audiences at time as you can. You will learn who your content does well with in addition to getting additional exposure.” – Luz Donahue Luzdonahue.com,  @luzdonahueart

“Be vulnerable. Life isn’t perfect, so your Instagram feed shouldn’t be perfect either. Rather than focusing only on your wins, show when you fail too. Talk about those harder times and you’ll better relate to your followers and inspire them to continue pushing toward greatness themselves.” –Sandy Pell Pellvetica, @sandypellart

“Stay true to who you are and what you do. Social media is like the lunchroom. You find your clique and make other people watch you.” –Robinne Adams-Smith, @youngeruditesociety

“Instagram has been a great platform for me to tell my story and engage with genuinely interested people. Because of them, I found even more motivation to become a better more evolved man. My stories have had replies from people all over the world, places I never thought of reaching. My products have been shipped to over 8 countries. It gave me a great confidence boost by just being who I am. And sometimes, my followers helped me realize ven better who I am not.” – Andy Kirchner 2nd Life Curacao, @2ndlifecuracao

Wrapping Things Up

Instagram is a great way to showcase your products and reach a wider audience, making it perfect for boosting your Etsy marketing. 

To make the most of Instagram, post regularly, focus on quality content, and engage authentically with your audience. Track your performance, collaborate with influencers or similar brands, and stay updated on trends. 

By following these steps, you’ll not only boost traffic to your Etsy shop but also build lasting connections with your audience and see your sales grow. 

Keep going—your success is just a post away!