Many people online say: "the sales will come, just be patient."
I don’t agree.
In my experience, waiting isn’t enough. If you want more sales, you have to take concrete actions that push you in that direction. From setting up your shop to leveraging social media and paid advertising, every action matters.
In this guide, I’ll share the actionable strategies that helped me generate over 8,000 sales on one of my digital product shop on Etsy, and how you can secure your first 100 sales by being proactive in the right areas.
Let’s get started.
You have put so much effort into creating an Etsy shop. Don’t hesitate to lean on your network at first. It’s perfectly ok for your initial sales and reviews to come from your family, friends, or colleagues.
Encourage them to buy from your shop, and ask them for genuine feedback and leave honest reviews on your new Etsy shop. Just be sure to abide by Etsy’s Shilling rules (read more about them here) to make sure that the purchase is genuine and the review is unbiased. This early traction is super important to help establish your credibility and boost your chance on the Etsy search algorithm.
Your product listing photos are the heart of your shop and they are a big part in helping you turn views into actual sales.
Gone is the days that you can have mediocre listing photos. High-quality listing images are a must - even for digital products. Learning how to make great mockup photos can really help you improve your conversion rate both for getting clicks from the search results and converting shoppers into customers.
Doing this helps customers envision your digital products, for example, if you’re selling printable planners, show them on a desk or in a home office setting using mockup photos. Tools like Artboard Studio or Placeit are great choices for making your mockup photos. Click here for my free complete guide on how to create high converting mockup photos.
SEO on Etsy is another must if you want to succeed.
One of the keys to ranking well is to use long-tail keywords. This means being highly descriptive in your titles and descriptions.
Place your specific and detailed keyword at the very front of your title. For example, instead of a generic title like “Planner Template”, put something like “2025 Daily Digital Planner Template for University Students” at the beginning of your title. This gives shoppers a clear idea what you’re selling, as well as help you rank for relevant keywords like “2025 digital planner”, “University student planner”, etc. For a deeper dive into effective Etsy SEO, check out my Etsy SEO Guide.
Social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok can be powerful tools to drive traffic to your Etsy shop. Beyond posting your own content, engage actively in communities where your target customers hang out - even on your competitor accounts.
You may be worried about ‘spamming’ and ‘hijacking’ their engaging, but it’s simply not true. As long as you leave friendly, positive, and helpful comments that add value to discussions, you’re fine. This not only increases your visibility but also helps you build a following of your own. Over time, your genuine engagement can convert into interest in your products and drive more sales.
Etsy rewards shops that are active. I’ve seen firsthand how regularly updating your shop with new products can boost your visibility.
In the beginning of my GrowingYourCraft Etsy shop, I released about 5-10 new designs per week until I had built a portfolio of about 300 designs. This helped me build up traction to reach 5,000 sales in the first year.
I’d also recommend consistently incorporating customer feedback and requests into your new designs not only shows that you care about your customers but improve conversion rates. Regular activity signals to Etsy that your shop is dynamic and engaged, which can positively affect your rankings.
While organic traffic through good SEO is crucial, running ads on Etsy strategically can help you accelerate your growth.
In the beginning, focus your Etsy ads ONLY on listings that either have a high profit margin or high conversion rates. For example, if you have listings that sell well consistently, turn on ads for them. By boosting these well-performing listings, you can increase visibility as Etsy ads push your listings out to keywords that you don’t normally rank for, and because of that, helps you drive additional sales. A budget of $5-10 in the beginning is what I’d recommend.
Reaching your first 100 sales on Etsy is an exciting milestone that sets the stage for even greater success. With these strategies, I’m confident you’ll get there in no time.
To make your chance even better, here are a few more guides to help you get to 100 sales even quicker:
