If you’re a marketplace seller or it’s at least one revenue stream for your product-based business you know how frustrating it is that you don’t own your customer data. That you’ve built this business on a platform you don’t own and that things can go south REAL quick.
How many Etsy sellers do you know that have gotten in trouble for innocent trademark infringement, or on Amazon when the pandemic hit and they were only shipping out essential items?
While these platforms are amazing for instantly getting your products in front of customers, something doing on your own website is a pain in the ass, not having a way to communicate with your customers is really detrimental to your business.
But, that has changed.
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If you’re a marketplace seller or it’s at least one revenue stream for your product-based business you know how frustrating it is that you don’t own your customer data. That you’ve built this business on a platform you don’t own and that things can go south REAL quick.
How many Etsy sellers do you know that have gotten in trouble for innocent trademark infringement, or on Amazon when the pandemic hit and they were only shipping out essential items?
While these platforms are amazing for instantly getting your products in front of customers, something doing on your own website is a pain in the ass, not having a way to communicate with your customers is really detrimental to your business.
But, that has changed.
First, let’s talk about Etsy because this functionality has apparently been around for a while, but most people don’t know about it. In fact, it was one of my clients who told me about it. She started her business on Etsy and that’s where the majority of her revenue comes from, but this year she’s been heavily investing in her Shopify site so she can build that up as well and we’re setting up her Klaviyo automation.
Well… apparently, Etsy has an integration with Aweber. If you hook it up after someone purchases an item from your shop it automatically email will get sent from Aweber asking them if they want to join your email list! You don’t have a ton of control over the initial email that gets sent to them and visually it looks like an Etsy email, but still… it’s an active way to ask them if they want to be on your list.
But what if you’re using a platform like Klaviyo for your Shopify store? Now you have this other email platform where you’re collecting subscribers.
Before I explain how you can merge these, BIG DISCLAIMER HERE – I AM NOT an Etsy expert and I have NOT read the fine print on this agreement, please do your own due diligence before implementing this next step.
But you could use Zapier to move them from Aweber to your existing platform. If you do that, just make sure you set up a special flow to say thanks for their purchase and to welcome them.
Again, a big disclaimer – I have NO IDEA if this is against Etsy’s rules or not. Please do your own research to confirm and do not implement it if is.
Alright, let’s talk about Amazon. Funny enough I had this episode on my schedule originally to share the Etsy info and then before I recorded it I saw the news release about this Amazon feature so it came at the perfect time.
Announced at their Accelerate Conference, Amazon is releasing a tool called Tailored Audiences. Essentially, it will give you the ability to reach Shoppers beyond those who follow their pages.
Unlike the Etsy and Aweber integration, this feature is currently in Beta but it will roll out to US sellers early next year. And according to the initial announcement, this will be available at no extra cost.
I’ll put links in the show notes so you can learn more about both of these features.
I have to say, I am VERY excited about both of these opportunities because owning your customer data is soooo important, especially as we see continue to see changes in consumer privacy and limited tracking.
Now do I think that these tools are enough to only be a marketplace seller? No I don’t. Because it’s still building a business on rented land and I still think you should have your own website to fall back on should shit hit the fan, but it does make me less weary about selling on these platforms at all.
