EP 17. How to Turn Listing Views into Sales | The 3S Listing Framework Part 3

In this episode we're wrapping up the 3S Listing Framework with the third and final S — Secure the Sale. Getting views and clicks is a win, but if buyers are landing on your listing and leaving without purchasing, your listing has a dead end somewhere inside it. In this episode I break down the questions every buyer brings to your listing, where those answers need to live, and the specific areas — your images, your description, your shipping price, your delivery window, and your shop's trust signals — that can be the difference between a browser and a buyer.

Resources Mentioned

Listing Audit — A personalized review of three of your listings across all three S's, with a written breakdown and video walkthrough. melissacarroll.co/audit

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Transcript

0:05

Hey there and welcome to the Modern Etsy Seller, the podcast where busy women build, grow, and profit on Etsy. I'm your host, Melissa Carroll, a full-time teacher, a busy mom, and an Etsy seller who's built two successful Etsy shops in the small moments of everyday life. Here you'll find simple strategies, real behind-the-scenes insight, and the clarity you need to stop second-guessing and start moving forward one intentional step at a time. Let's get to it. Hey there, welcome back. Okay, so your listings are live and they are getting views and visits. That means your listing is succeeding at its first two jobs. It is showing up in the search results and it is stopping people and getting them to click into it. And hey, that is something to celebrate. But if that's where it stops, if they are clicking the listing but not buying the item, then your listing is not doing its third and final job securing the sale. Somewhere inside that listing, they're hitting a dead end. And that's what we're going to talk about today. If you've been with me for the last few episodes, you know we've been working through the 3S listing framework. The framework I want you to use to create new listings and to figure out why active listings aren't selling. If you didn't catch the previous episode, you'll want to go back and check out episodes 11, 13, and 15. In episode 11, I gave an overview of the framework and the three things every listing has to do to make you money. In episode 13, we went deep into the first job showing up in the search. Then in episode 15, we dug into stopping the scroll, which is the second job. And today we are finishing up with securing the sale and what you can do to ensure that your listing is the one buyer's purchase. Once someone clicks into your listing, they begin the process of deciding if they want to add it to their cart and ultimately buy it. And at the heart of that decision is clarity and confidence. Buyers are cautious. They're spending money on something they can't hold in their hands or see right in front of them. Something that might be personalized and therefore harder to return. Something they might be buying as a gift for someone that they really care about. And so they come in with questions and doubt. And your listing needs to answer those questions and give them the confidence to move forward. If they can't quickly and easily find what they need to feel comfortable buying, they'll leave and you won't get the sale. They're going to click back to the search results and buy from the seller who is able to answer their questions and remove their doubt. So let's think about some of these questions. Every product type is going to come with its own unique set of questions related to the specific details of that item. For example, a coffee mug might bring questions about its size, what it's made of, whether it's dishwasher safe, or whether the design is printed on one side or both sides. Someone buying a notebook may have questions about the page size, number of pages, whether it's a soft cover or hardcover, whether the pages are blank or lined, or if there are additional color options available. Then there are other questions almost every buyer has, regardless of what they're purchasing. Questions like how much is shipping? When will it arrive? Can I return it if I don't like it? Can I exchange it if there's a problem? Is there a discount available? And then if you offer personalization or customization, an entirely new set of questions comes into play. What can be personalized? What can't? How do I submit my personalization? What happens if I make a mistake? Can I see a proof before it's made? The specific questions will vary depending on what you're selling, but the principle stays the same. Your buyers have questions, and if your listing doesn't answer them, they'll keep looking until they find one that does. So now the question becomes where do we as sellers answer all of these questions? And there are a few different places you're gonna want to focus on. But first and most importantly, are the listing images because that is where most buyers are already looking. The reality is that many buyers never read your description. Some don't even know where to find it. And Etsy does not make it easy to locate. But your images, those they look at. So we want to make sure they are doing more than just showing our products in 15 different ways. Now, don't get me wrong though, lifestyle shots where your photos are showing your product in use on a desk in someone's hands or on someone's body are important and you absolutely need to have them there because they help secure the sale. But they don't do it alone, so that's not all you want to use your image slots for. You also want to include images that answer questions. So an image that shows the size and scale of the product, and one that shows color options or scent options or font options, and another that explains personalization if you're offering it. You should have an image that shares frequently asked questions and one that explains your return and exchange policy, plus another one highlighting important features and providing specific details buyers might want to know about the product. Every image should have a purpose. Every image should reduce the confusion and remove the doubt. Because every question you answer before the buyer has to ask it makes it a little easier for them to move forward with the purchase. In addition, though, to putting that information in your listing photos, you also want to include it in your listing description. Because while most buyers head straight to the images, some will still want to read the description. And your goal is to reach all the buyers, regardless of how they prefer to consume information. So, yes, a lot of that information should appear in both places. And yes, I know it may seem like extra work, but remember, you only have to create those informative listing images and that product description once for each product type you sell. After that, you can reuse them over and over again every time you create a new listing. So don't think of it as extra work. Think of it as creating assets that will help you secure the sale, not just today, but on every future listing you create for that product type. Okay, so there are a few more areas aside from images and listing description that affect securing the sale that I do want to go over here. First is the shipping price that you set. An outrageous shipping price can absolutely turn a buyer off. Think about it. If a buyer finds a product they love for $20 and then discovers shipping is another $15, that can change their minds real fast. Etsy themselves has said that they found shipping costs to be the number one reason for abandoned carts. So that's just something to think about. It doesn't mean that you should undercharge for shipping and lose money. It just means you need to be aware that buyers are looking at the total cost and not just the item price. So take some time to look at what your competitors are charging, not just for the product itself, but for shipping as well. If your shipping costs are significantly higher than everyone else selling similar products, look into that a little bit. You may find that rolling a portion of your shipping cost into the item price creates a more attractive offer for the buyers while also allowing you to maintain your profit margins. The goal isn't to have the lowest shipping price, the goal is to make sure your total offer feels reasonable and competitive compared to the other options buyers are considering so they don't immediately walk away. Another area that affects securing the sale is the estimated delivery date. Buyers care about when an item is going to arrive. In fact, for some buyers, delivery dates can be the deciding factor between your shop and another seller's. This is especially true if they're shopping for a gift that they want to give to somebody at a specific time, at a certain event. If the estimated delivery date doesn't work with their timeline, then understandably they won't buy it. Etsy provides buyers with an estimated delivery range based on the processing and shipping information that you put into your shipping profile. So it's important that those settings are accurate. And there's a fine line that you have to walk with this information. And I sometimes see sellers accidentally hurting themselves here because they're trying to play it too safe. And I totally get it. Most of us would much rather have a customer receive their order before the expected date than after it. But in doing that, we may also be pushing away potential buyers. And I was actually reminded of this very recently. I just had two different customers reach out and ask if their order could arrive by a certain date. In both cases, the date they needed it by was more than 10 days away. And 99% of the time, my orders arrive well within 10 days. So my response was yes, of course. Always with the caveat, you know, unless something crazy happens with USPS. But after the second message asking the same thing, I realized I had to go look at my shipping profile because those buyers reached out and asked, but most of them won't. Most buyers will simply look at the estimated delivery date, decide it doesn't work for them, and move on to another seller. And that got me thinking about how many sales I probably lost because my processing and shipping times had too much padding. Now, okay, again, that is a balancing act. And when you're new, it's usually better to be a little more conservative than to overpromise and disappoint customers. But it's also something that you should review from time to time because delivery estimates are absolutely part of the buyer's decision-making process. And if your settings aren't accurately reflecting reality, you could be creating a dead end without even realizing it. The last area I want to talk about is trust. Early in the episode, I said that clarity and confidence are at the heart of securing the sale. When a buyer believes that your product will meet their expectations and that your shop is trustworthy, it gives them the confidence to buy. I think this is especially true on Etsy because there's so many products that are personalized or made to order, coming from small businesses that they've never heard of before. And this is where things like your about section, your profile photo, your shop setup, your policies, your customer service, and your reviews come into play to help with this final job in the framework. Now, none of these things are likely to make a sale on their own, except possibly reviews. I think reviews could probably do that. But together, they help reassure buyers that there is a real person behind the shop. A completed about section tells buyers who you are and what your business is about. A profile photo helps put a face to the business. Shop policies are going to show them that you've thought through the process and you have a plan if something goes wrong. And reviews provide proof that other customers have had a positive experience with both you and your product. All these things help reduce doubt and build confidence in the buyer's mind. And that's really what securing the sale is all about: removing doubt, building confidence, and helping buyers feel comfortable enough to move forward with the purchase. All right, so there you have it. The third and final S in the 3S listing framework, securing the sale. We've now looked closely over these past episodes at each part of a listing from titles and tags all the way through to shipping profiles and shop setup and the role each one plays in helping your listing make sales. And hopefully what you've seen throughout this series is that every part of a listing has a job, sometimes more than one. Some things will help you show up and search, other parts are gonna help you stop the scroll, and some things are gonna help you secure the sale. So if you have a listing that isn't performing the way you'd hoped, don't just assume it's SEO. That's your problem. Go through your listing piece by piece, considering this framework. Because once you know where the breakdown is happening, you'll know where to focus your efforts. And if you would like help figuring that out, don't forget I offer a three listing audit where you can submit up to three Etsy listings and I will personally review every piece of your listing to help identify where they may be getting stuck and what changes you should make. You can find the link in the show notes or head over to melissacarroll.co slash audit. Thank you so much for spending time with me today, and I will see you next time on the Modern Etsy seller.