Setting up a shop on Etsy is a great way to monetize a favorite hobby or craft, and can turn into a lucrative side business or even full-time gig if you dedicate enough time to it. A major way to help ensure the success of your Etsy shop is to actively use social media to drive more traffic to your shop, leading to increased sales. Here are four tips for pulling this off:

Use SEO-friendly Keywords

When creating your Etsy listings, put some thought into how you word the title and item description. Keep things concise but include keywords that you think people interested in your item will search for. For example, if selling homemade wedding lanterns, you might wish to include phrases like "wedding decor," "wedding lanterns," "shabby chic," etc.

Look for similar products from successful shops and use their descriptions as a guide to get started. There is also a section for "tags" when creating your listing: use this to list important keywords separated by commas.

Post to Social Media Regularly

You don't need to spend all your time posting updates to social media, but having at least one major social media channel that you update regularly will help build a community of supporters who love your shop. Post photos of new products in your shop and links to fun articles about related subjects (like articles about hot new wedding trends if your products are wedding-related). You can contract with outside marketing firms to measure your social media ROI.

It's okay to experiment with different social media platforms until you find the one you're most comfortable with. Use a service like HootSuite to automate your posts so that they go up consistently each week even when you're busy with other things.

Make Use of Pinterest

Don't overlook Pinterest when putting together a social media strategy. By pinning high quality photos of your products and writing descriptive captions, you will attract potential buyers who are more visual in nature. Be sure to follow other shops and pin often to build up a good-sized audience.

Reply to Comments and Emails

Posting to social media regularly is a good way to attract attention to your shop, but to build customer loyalty and return business it's crucial to engage with your customers and reply to comments and emails in a timely manner. One way to handle this is to set aside a half hour every day for just this task, which prevents a long delay but also keeps you from feeling glued to your computer all day long.

By following these tips, you will help ensure the continued growth and success of your Etsy shop.