Does Instagram Work for Selling Items on Etsy?

So many people wonder if Instagram does in fact help drive traffic to your shop? The answer is YES - but only if you are using it correctly. 

I have to admit, I was late on the Instagram boat because I was and old Etsian who started in 2007. In 2009 twitter was hip and blogs were in. I have a great blog with almost a million visitors, and it does drive traffic to this day to my Etsy shop.  I was so focused on blogging, twitter, Facebooking, and eventually Pinteresting, but when that became stagnant I had to branch out and dive into Instagram.

It took me a while to learn the tricks and trades of Instagram and still I want to do better.  However, as you can see here, Instagram did drive me a sale recently,....I have a special coupon code I use on Instagram and that's a quick and easy way for me to track if it's working.  Additionally, I use my Etsy stats all the time to help me see what's working and what's not.

In a Nutshell:
Doing social media is a waste of time unless you are doing it right. Take time to master the art of instagram if you are going to use it.  When you start wanting sales from it, you have to treat it like a business and not just "fun" anymore. Certain things have to be done to get your instagram noticed. There are all kinds of great tutorials about growing your instagram, and sifting them them to get clues will all take time.

Direct Selling:
There are apps you can get where users can click direct from your Instagram to your Etsy shop and see the little "E" tag on the items, it will take them right to the checkout!  Mostly they are paid apps but there is a way, you can find the video on Youtube. It speaks of being tech saavy enough to understand how to do a download of your CSV file and upload to a facebook store you can connect the two and program it in and have your own Etsy tags, however, this was too time burdening for me.  You have to decide what works best for you.

For me, ..I just tried to learn my instagram better and added my coupons and watch my shop stats. It helps!

I do have a great program for Instagram, I have written what works for me in an ebook and I offer 3 free shouts to your shop from @ForSaleonEtsy and all of that is only $14.95! Then you can learn how to drive more traffic to Instagram! If you want to connect on Instagram find me @RetroChalet for my own shop or above on the For Sale on Etsy !

If you want to learn my secrets, check it out by clicking below or here.