Who’s My Buyer? – The Basics

Many sellers on Etsy.com are trying to extend their shop’s reach well beyond, well, their shop’s reach.

One question our HandmadeMarketing.org team likes to pose to sellers should be relatively simple to answer:

Who is your potential buyer?

Many Etsy shops fall short on targeting their potential buyers.  The intention of sellers is to reach everyone, but you end up missing everyone.  Your shop ends up being isolated – one of the 170,000 and counting.The first step to a solution is to find out about your buyer.  Here is an exercise we recommend to help determine your buyer.  Some Etsy sellers channel their creativity to actually draw their most typical buyer.  What does the buyer like to do?  What does the buyer already own?

Assumptions can (and will need to) be made, but the questions need to be asked to help you get a visual for who it is your are targeting.  Here are some questions that have helped Etsy sellers begin to define their target customer:

1. How old is your buyer?
2. Is your buyer male or female?
3. Where does your buyer live?  Is a city or suburb called home?
4. Does your buyer have children?  Is the buyer married?  Single?
   
5. How does your buyer shop in your store?  Do they read the descriptions or skip to headlines, titles and pictures?
6. What do your previous buyers tell you about your products?
7. Do you allow for feedback from previous buyers?  Do they want to give you feedback?
8. Do your previous buyers refer friends?

Your handmade shop is open to all potential buyers, but this exercise will help set a focus for your target.