@Etsy: Harnessing the collective brains of the community

Etsy originally joined Twitter in December 2007 at the insistence of an early adopter within the company, but the account initially was underutilized. That is, until Anda Corrie (who manages the @Etsy account) saw the powerful ways many Etsy sellers were using Twitter to promote their handmade items and Etsy shops. Anda followed their feeds and learned how to make the best use of Twitter by observing the tweets of followers of @Etsy that she found to be insightful. As Anda points out, “Our community always comes up with great ideas.”

How does Twitter add value?

Etsy originally began using Twitter only to share new posts from Etsy’s blog, The Storque, which Anda now calls a classic Twitter “newbie mistake.”

After realizing Twitter could be more than just a RSS feed of the blog, Anda decided to, “just have fun” and experiment with using Twitter in a broad variety of ways. @Etsy now uses Twitter to alert followers to particularly creative products from Etsy sellers, share valuable tips & tricks, and provide information about upcoming events and promotions on the site.

Twitter is also used to share information from individual Etsy sellers (via “retweets”), monitor and respond to Etsy-related questions and concerns that users express via Twitter, and garner feedback and ideas instantaneously, effectively creating focus groups from the @Etsy followers.

In Etsy’s experience, a company that constantly seeks to build community and, “voraciously” learn from its users will find that Twitter is, “amazing in the way it harnesses the collective brains of so many people.” For example, Anda recently tapped into the community to come up with helpful tips for craft fair season.

According to Anda, “The best Twitter experiences are when you ask a winning question and get hundreds of captivating replies. It's a super fast way to get info you'd spend hours searching for... and it's valuable info as well.” Besides sourcing tips and tricks, Anda uses Twitter to discover users’ favorite Etsy items, design blogs, and projects. She also uses it as a tool for impromptu surveys and feedback (including feedback on how she can make the Etsy Twitter feed more valuable to followers).

@Etsy has also realized that great content on Twitter has the opportunity to reach new users who were previously unaware of Etsy’s website. Anda often tweets about particularly unique and creative handmade items that Etsy sellers have listed. The coolest items are subsequently “retweeted” by @Etsy followers, exposing a broader audience to the handiwork of Etsy sellers.

Etsy Day unites the community on Twitter

Individual Etsy sellers and groups of sellers known as teams have also found new and powerful ways to use Twitter to promote their shops. An exciting culmination of these grassroots efforts was on April 24, 2009 – otherwise known as “Etsy Day.”

Photographer and Etsy seller SchuGirl was surprised how few of her friends and family were aware of Etsy and decided to do something about it. She used the website’s Forums to a call to action, for Etsians to band together on April 24, 2009 and, “get the Etsy name out there in the brightest, sparkly-est, boldest way you can think of!” Etsy Day was born.

Advice for other companies joining Twitter?

For a site specializing in handmade goods, there is no experience more flattering than being one of the first Twitter accounts to be followed by Martha Stewart (@MarthaStewart). That’s exactly the “spine-tingling excitement” Anda and @Etsy recently enjoyed. Anda’s advice to new companies? What she recently told the legend herself about how Etsy uses Twitter.

@MarthaStewart To connect, listen, interact, get feedback from our users that use Twitter too. And to have a little fun while we’re at it. 
9:52 AM May 13th from Tweetdeck