Case study: Small business boosts online revenue with Etsy

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Last fall I met with Margaret Phillips, the owner of Vintage Passementerie, a business sourcing antique millinery and vintage ribbons and trims from around the world, and selling them at Monticello Antiques in SE Portland, and through various online channels.

A graduate of the City & Guilds of London Institute, with a diploma in Design and Embroidery and a certificate in Textile Design, Margaret’s stated goal is:

“to share these beautiful finds with textile artists, designers, costumers, textile conservators and those interested in fine quality from the past.”

The Challenge.

In late 2012 she inquired if she could use my professional services to solve her online sales dilemma. For several years she’d had robust sales at her mall space and through Ebay, yet her Etsy sales remained flat. Being a savvy businesswoman, she knew she was missing out on social media opportunities, and figured Etsy provided the chance to diversify her revenue stream. I agreed to help because I felt I had a unique insight to her specific situation. In April and May of 2012 I accompanied Margaret through flea markets in Paris and old musty shops ran by ornery German octogenarian mercers in Bath, England – all to gain a better understanding of her unique selling proposition.

Oh, and did I mention Margaret is my mother?

 

Sandy Row Belfast

My Mom, at the entrance to Sandy Row in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

I should note that my trip to peruse antique ribbon galleries and vintage fabric depots wasn’t purely altruistic … the visits came during a family jaunt in which I traded time, minute for minute, in exchange for dragging her through the doldrums of Northern Ireland’s sectarian violence.

I digress …

Etsy.

We started with a question: How can we boost her Etsy sales? Upon logging into her Etsy account, the first thing I noticed is that Etsy has tools to help vendors understand the origin of their web traffic, allowing them to see the specific items and keywords that are drawing consumers to their Etsy shop. So, much like the tools we use in our practice at AM:PM PR, I was excited to learn I can use Etsy’s tools to determine which posts and keyword choices are bringing customers to her Etsy account.

SEO.

We started our work in late October 2012, and after a week of meddling around, it had already become her highest traffic month to date with 200 shop views, 323 listing views, but 0 orders. Despite the lack of sales, we felt encouraged by the dramatic uptick in traffic.

Etsy chart 1

Together we performed a communication audit for her Etsy shop-profile and determined which items, images and words were drawing the most consumer traffic to her shop. We then altered the language of her Etsy shop to include more of the most popular keywords. Using the Google Keywords tool, we contrasted and tested high volume search terms and included those words in her Etsy profile as well.  The results were immediate and gratifying.

This is her web traffic for all of 2012. You can see the dramatic doubling in web traffic to her shop, and quadrupling of traffic to her listings, beginning with our revived efforts in October 2012.

Etsy chart 2

Social Media.

Ahh, “social media.”  Are there any two words in the English language responsible for driving more disdain and nausea into the hearts and minds of the Baby Boomer generation? Just the mention of these two words cause many boomers to cringe like Dracula to a cross. In fairness, who wants to spend the afternoon sitting in front of a computer typing gibberish into the blackhole of the interwebs? Or so the thinking often goes. But when we discovered Etsy has unique social media capabilities, Margaret was thrilled … to have me look into it for her.

The first thing we noticed – Etsy allows consumers to “like” items in a given Etsy shop without actually buying them – as a way of bookmarking them. As a shop owner, you receive notifications allowing you to see who “likes” your shop, or items in your shop, and you reciprocate by “following” these profiles, presuming that most people will in turn follow you back. If they liked your items, why wouldn’t they want to be your friend?

This act of reciprocal following may seem social and friendly, but it serves a greater marketing purpose as well – alerting your followers every time you upload a new item onto your Etsy account.

After training Margaret to update posts/items regularly and follow “likers” often (two tasks that require steadfast vigilance) we got to work creating a schedule for updating her Facebook page, which I linked to a dummy Twitter account that automatically updates every time she posts to Facebook. I admit the Twitter account has been a bit of a killjoy in terms of results, but considering she spends 0% energy on Twitter, it’s merely another search engine optimized baited-hook dangling out in the ocean, waiting for an antique ribbon-loving fish to swim by and bite. Similarly, with each new Tweet, we are continually linking potential customers back to her shop and as a result we’re seeing that her small business boosts online revenue.

Listings.

Another important step has involved the increase in listings, and the updating or reposting of old listings. As she gains more followers, each new item she posts goes directly into the newsfeeds of these new followers, many of whom are likely to see what would be considered “old” items for the first time.

How effective is this effort?

The following is our results from the past two and a half months alone.

Traffic:

  • 8,551 Shop Visits (vs. 4,176 in all of 2012)
  • 863 visits resulting from Direct Traffic (those who bookmarked/liked the shop). This is over 10% of all visits.
  • 165 visits originating from her newly redesigned website
  • Direct Traffic From Facebook has increased by 50% during the past month
  • Google search engines from Korea, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and more are directing people to her Etsy site

The most dramatic results come from comparing sales and traffic results from all of 2012 with the first 45 days of 2013.

  • Sales have tripled
  • Site visits have doubled

Further, with 1/4 of the month left to go (at the time of this writing) we have more site visits this month than we had all of last month.

The other beautiful thing about her results is that they are measurable. The practices I used are the same public relations practices we use at AM:PM PR to spread brand awareness and drive web traffic for our bigger customers.

Stats for 2012:

Etsy Stats 1

Stats for 2013:

Etsy Stats 2

Or, if you are a more visual person:

Etsy chart 3

Twitter puts it all out on the Vine

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You may have heard of micro processors, micro blogging and micro machines – but have you heard of micro video? Well if Twitter has its way, their acquisition of a new company called Vine will help them branch out to the next big thing … an app that allows you to share 6-second video clips.

I can hear your eyes rolling from my office. In fact, you may be asking, “Cam, why should I pay attention to yet another app?”

Here’s why:

Debuting on January 24th, this product has already caused quite a stir in the social media world. In two weeks, online Vine users shared 113,897 videos on Twitter on over a single weekend. That’s over 2,000 videos every hour.

Major brands like Urban Outfitters, Lucky Magazine, GAP, Red Vines, Moose Tracks, Coke-a-Cola and Pepsi have already put up videos.

Brands are currently using this format to demonstrate how their products work, to hold contests and to share creative content that they hope will resonate and connect them with their target audience. Still skeptical? Check out three of my favorite videos, and perhaps I can change your mind.

1.


2.


3.

 

4. BONUS – If you want to be endlessly entertained follow James Urbaniak

 

For more information:

Wired Magazine – “Why Vine’s Going to Grow Into Something Huge”

Entrepreneur Magazine – “The Pros and Cons of Using Video App ‘Vine’ for Marketing”

 

Unplug for your kids.

Unplugged Bots on Wired’s “GEEKDAD” Blog – Shared Post

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By Erik Wecks, GEEKDAD

 

At his day job, Gary Hirsch is a business consultant running a company called On Your Feet which uses improvisational theater to help businesses communicate and collaborate. When not working with managers from Nike and other large corporations, you might find Hirsch busy painting robots on the backs of dominoes or out and about Portland, Oregon, leaving his creations all over town for people to find.

BotJoy fan Jeff Probst with artist Gary Hirsch

In early 2012, his “What Brings Portland Joy?” project asked finders of his bots to post pictures of their bot with things which brought them joy. In true Portland style, he soon had pictures of kale, roller derby, and beer. Recently, Hirsch was asked to have his bots included in the swag bags for both the Emmys and the Golden Globes. Joy Bots and other Bot creations by Gary Hirsch have now been showing up with the likes of Downton Abbey‘s Elizabeth McGovern; cast members from Glee, True Blood and Breaking Bad; and Survivor host Jeff Probst, who recently ordered 100 of them to give to the guests on his talk show.

 

Not only are Hirsch’s bots hobnobbing with the rich and famous, but they are also becoming well traveled. Hirsch says that he has received pictures of his bots from all over the world. “There is a part of the website ‘Where in the world is your Bot?,’ and folks love sending in photos of their Bot in exotic places: Bali, Egypt, Nairobi, and the Arctic Circle to name a few.

 

After meeting the art therapist at Randal Children’s hospital in Portland, Hirsch asked if he could make a special “Brave Bot” for kids being admitted to the hospital. Now each child admitted to the day surgery unit gets a special Brave Bot with instructions that read:

  1.  Allow your robot to get to know you by letting him hang out with you in your room, on your windowsill, in your pocket, or wherever you like to spend time.
  2. Listen carefully, when needed, your Brave Bot will use his robot powers to give you a little bit of courage to face the things that feel uncertain and scary.
  3. Keep your Brave Bot with you anywhere you go for a little bit of courage where ever you are.

Gary Hirsch's Brave Bot

“I hear some amazing stories of how the Bots are helping,” says Hirsch, “For instance: Ava, a wonderful 8 year with type 1 diabetes holds on to her Brave Bot every time she gets an injection. Her Mom just told me that now Ava is able to give herself insulin injections with the Brave Bot watching.”

When asked why he thinks these bots seem to have helped, Hirsch answered, “The Bots are small, feel great in your hand, the kids are always bigger then the Bot, they can talk to it, they feel in control. Somehow the Bots help you have conversations with yourself that you might not have otherwise. I have really no idea how they work. I just make them and let the people that have them do the rest.”

I asked Hirsch how he came up with the idea for the bots.

“I had this idea about 5 years ago: What if you had an imaginary robot that followed you around all day and gave you outrageous compliments? It was a fun idea to imagine, so I included it in an illustrated journal that we made for our On Your Feet clients and gave them out when we were running innovation and creativity sessions. The image of a robot following you around giving you compliments kept haunting me… I mean seriously, how cool would that be? It would be invisible, and only you would know it was there, and it would say things to you like “Nice pants” or “That was a smart thing to do” or “You made the right choice.”  So two years ago, I thought, “Let’s make the robot real” and after playing with several surfaces, I stumbled onto the domino. Now instead of an invisible robot, you have a small one that you can take anywhere.”

One of the things I love about each bot is that it is a numbered piece of art. I have bots which Hirsch gave me in the 15,000 range. He told me that recently he passed number 17,000 and has left hundreds of them around cities like Portland, Oregon, and Austin, Texas. Hirsch is incredibly generous with his bots, giving away thousands of his creations. The rainy night I met him, Hirsch stuffed the pockets of my jacket with several bots for me, and some for my kids as well. He also produces large scale installations of his bots which used hundreds of individually crafted pieces. Hirsch says that he can lose himself for hours while painting bots and is nowhere near bored with the project.

Gary Hirsch original bot.

Hirsch has branched out from the original joy bots. There are now 26 different Bots. “You can see them all on my Etsy site with new ones sprouting up all the time. My favorites are:

The Launch of the Unplugged Bot:

Recently, Hirsch’s brother came up with an idea for a new bot, the Unplugged Bot. The Unplugged Bot assists its owners to unplug once in a while and re-connect with the real world. Like all his bots, they are hand-painted and one-of-a-kind.

“Do you know someone who needs to unplug? Who has to check their electronic devices every 20 seconds?”

 

Read more by Erik Wecks

Follow @erikwecks on Twitter.

Branding, Communications and Public Relations: Questions to Answer Before Working With a PR Firm

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At AM:PM PR we begin each new client relationship with the hope it will lead to a long-term partnership. We believe the more we know about a prospective client’s business, the better we can understand the qualities that differentiate them from their competition, thus allowing us to do a better job helping to communicate each client’s unique story to targeted audiences.

During our information gathering process, we like to ask a lot of questions – a process that is beneficial to both parties. Answering the following questions provides potential clients an opportunity to think about the way they communicate about their business, product or service. If you’re ready to ask us how we may help you, copy and paste the following questions into the body of an email with your answers and email them to: info@ampmpr.com.

As you ponder your answers, are you learning anything new about your business, your brand, or your current need for marketing and PR assistance? Here are some branding, communications and public relations questions to ask yourself before working with a PR firm.

Introductory Questions:

What short-term and long-term goals are you hoping to achieve with PR and marketing services?

Have you worked with a PR firm in the past? What was your experience?

What are you looking for from a PR firm?

What is your budget for PR/Marketing?

What is the PR assignment, as you see it? How will you define success?

Your Brand:

What is your positioning statement? What sets your brand apart from the competition?

What is your brand personality/culture?

What are some examples of your messaging?

Have you tested your messaging?

Communications Focus:

What is the background of your business (your history, your story)?

Who are your target audiences? What is the demographic and psychographic profile of your key customers? What are your key insights into these audiences?

What media does your target audience consume?

How do they currently learn about your business/product?

What is your consumer promise?

Who is your competition?

Do you advertise? If so, where?

Website:

When was the last time you made improvements to your website?

Do you have a budget for improvements to your website?

Do you use and monitor your web analytics? Are you making adjustments based on your analytics reports?

What are the search terms that lead visitors to your site?

Are you blogging?

Social Networking:

Please describe how you are engaged with social media? Which tools are you using and what do you share?

Are there any social media tools you refuse to use? If so, why?

Curious to learn more about our services? Please contact us to learn more by clicking here.