If you sell printables on Etsy, you already know that it’s a popular online marketplace where people shop for items for themselves and others. Since gifting from Etsy is already a thing, we’re not surprised that Etsy has recently announced the arrival of Etsy Gift Mode.
With Gift Mode, Etsy shoppers can enter parameters to help them find the perfect gift, whether they’re shopping for a friend, a spouse, a colleague, or their children. Gift Mode is designed for shoppers but of course, sellers need to understand how to optimize their listings to make the most of it and help shoppers find their products.
What Is Etsy Gift Mode?
Etsy Gift Mode is an advanced search feature on Etsy that shoppers can use to filter the millions of items for sale and find unique and interesting products to give as gifts. While it’s designed for gifting, we anticipate that some shoppers will also use it to find products for themselves.
Instead of searching only by a keyword, shoppers will answer a series of questions to help Etsy narrow their choices. Here are the questions.
- Who are you shopping for? You can choose from a list that includes friends, siblings, mother, teacher, neighbor, and many other options.
- What’s the occasion? Answers include popular gift-giving occasions such as birthdays, Valentine’s Day, housewarming, graduation, and so on. (We found the options to be limited, with only upcoming holidays listed. We expect the list will change throughout the year.)
- What are they into? Etsy provides a list of potential interests, including things like music, arts & culture, animals & plants, and great food.
After choosing an answer in each category, shoppers can click the Show Gift Ideas button at the bottom to see a list of potential gifts.
Gift Mode Categories
For shoppers who prefer to browse themselves, Etsy has also created a list of gift categories. Here are a few of our favorites.
- The Crafter
- The Plant Parent
- The Newlywed
- The Bird Watcher
- The Globetrotter
- The Zen Seeker
If you’re not sure what to buy, you’ll get an array of options to choose from. For example, in the Newlywed category, we found personalized thank you cards, his & hers POD pillowcases and apparel, and wedding date keepsakes.
Tips to Optimize for Gift Mode
Now, let’s look at some of the things you can do to optimize your listings to be sure they’ll show up when shoppers use Gift Mode.
Use Gifting Language in Your Tags and Product Descriptions
Our first tip is to let both Etsy and your potential customers know when a product is suitable for gifting.
Here are a few examples of tags that you could add to a product.
- Gifts for mom
- Gifts under $20
- Graduation gifts
- Teacher appreciation gifts
Using these terms will help Etsy categorize your products so that shoppers can find them.
Think About Gift Recipients and Occasions
In addition to using words like gift and appreciation in your product listings, you might also consider adding keywords that relate to a gift’s potential recipient. Remember, the very first question asked when a shopper uses Gift Mode is about the recipient.
Here are some words to include:
- Mom/Dad/Parents
- Sibling/Brother/Sister
- Niece/Nephew/Nibling
- Teacher
- Neighbor
- Friend
- Bridesmaid
- Coworker
You could get even more specific here. For example, you could say Best Friend, Favorite Teacher, or expand parental categories to include stepparents and foster parents.
Specify Gifting Occasions
On a related note, you can also think about holidays and gift occasions, which may be related to the above. People often shop for gifts for specific purposes, so including these terms can help Etsy categorize your products.
Here are some examples.
- Mother’s Day
- Graduation
- New Baby
- Teacher Appreciation
- Easter
- Back to School
- Christmas
Being specific will draw more traffic to your shop. Keep in mind that some gifts may be suitable for more than one occasion, so don’t be afraid to double up on these terms.
Use All Available Tags
Etsy allows shop owners to add a maximum of 13 tags to each product in their shop. We see a lot of sellers who don’t use every tag available to them, and that’s a mistake.
Using all 13 tags allows you to reach the people who are most likely to buy your product as a gift. For example, you might use these tags on an art print designed to appeal to a Yoga enthusiast:
- Yoga art print
- Yoga wall art
- Yogi gift
- Yoga woman art print
- Yoga girl gift
- Yoga teacher gift
- Yoga sister gift
- Yoga birthday gift
We’ve listed eight potential tags here. If you’re stumped, look at other shops to see which tags they’re using. Incorporating a combination of recipients, subject matter, gifting terms, and gifting occasions gives you the widest possible appeal and the best chance of making sales.
Create Gifting Categories for Your Shop
Our final tip is another one that can help Etsy identify products to feature in Gift Mode and be useful to people who find your shop while browsing. Sorting products by creating gift categories is easy to do. Here are a few ideas to get you started.
- Recipient categories: Gifts for Mom, Gifts for Kids, Teacher Appreciation Gifts
- Product categories: Feminist Art Prints, Mindfulness, Journals and Planners
- Gifting occasions: Thanksgiving, Birthday, New Job
You get the idea. You can categorize your products however you want to. Being thoughtful about it can help shoppers (and Etsy) find items that are suitable for gifting. Have fun with it, but always keep your target audience in mind!
Create Printables to Take Advantage of Gift Mode
Etsy Gift Mode has the potential to give sellers an advantage when it comes to attracting new customers. Using the tips that we’ve included here can help you optimize your printable and POD products to help shoppers find and buy them.
Do you need some help identifying goldmine printable products to create for your Etsy shop? Beyond Printables is packed with valuable information that can help you maximize your sales and attract tons of new customers!
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