Where have all the buyers gone? :-(

[kerlynn7]

Greetings! I'm writing to see if anyone else is currently experiencing the same problem as me. Despite my premium Gig positioning in a crowded proofreading/copy editing category (within the top-10 results) and following a few years of steady organic traffic to my Gig (with no need to promote), I'm suddenly hearing crickets and feeling invisible on the site. Nothing has changed on my end - I've maintained my same profile and (graciously) continue to receive glowing reviews from my buyers. I also make it a point to regularly update my keywords based on Seller Plus analytics. So, what gives?

For a bit of perspective, I'd receive about five inquiries from new buyers (and/or buyer briefs) on a daily basis back when things were good...now I'm lucky if I get one or two a day (often only due to promotion), and briefs have completed disappeared from my inbox. 

Just looking for a little inspiration or insight from anyone out there who's either currently experiencing the same problem or has in the past. Thanks in advance for your kind replies! 😀🙏

[levinewman]

12 minutes ago, kerlynn7 said:

Greetings! I'm writing to see if anyone else is currently experiencing the same problem as me. Despite my premium Gig positioning in a crowded proofreading/copy editing category (within the top-10 results) and following a few years of steady organic traffic to my Gig (with no need to promote), I'm suddenly hearing crickets and feeling invisible on the site. Nothing has changed on my end - I've maintained my same profile and (graciously) continue to receive glowing reviews from my buyers. I also make it a point to regularly update my keywords based on Seller Plus analytics. So, what gives?

For a bit of perspective, I'd receive about five inquiries from new buyers (and/or buyer briefs) on a daily basis back when things were good...now I'm lucky if I get one or two a day (often only due to promotion), and briefs have completed disappeared from my inbox. 

Just looking for a little inspiration or insight from anyone out there who's either currently experiencing the same problem or has in the past. Thanks in advance for your kind replies! 😀🙏

The rise of Fiverr-AI has cut writing and copy editing to barebones. Nothing to do with you; just how the site has evolved. They want AI to be the focal point, not sellers.

[anniejenkinson]

Hi @kerlynn7

I am also in the copy-editing field and things changed dramatically for me lately too. I don't feel I saw a huge drop in the volume of inquiries, however. What I saw was that either the new inquiries were poorly tailored or had no correlation to my products (something I've never experienced before) or they were from brand-new Fiverr buyers without a clue as to what they were really doing on the site! Something had drawn them in, but they were eons away from having any material ready to edit.

After squeezing me for hours of chat about everything under the sun, they would then tell me they were thinking of buying in a few years' time! Oh, great!

This all left me feeling that Fiverr has been doing a lot of poorly targeted marketing or advertising, bringing in 'interested parties' who don't really have a drive to buy my type of product. Often, this has been at my expense as some of these ill-fitting contacts came in under promotions for which I am paying. Never before have I felt so frustrated by so many irrelevant messages landing in my Fiverr inbox.

I also wonder whether Fiverr's shift to more profile-driven (rather than product-led) aesthetics has something to do with it. Clients may be struggling to 'see' the products over and above seeing the seller profiles. Add to this the many new features and changes on seller profiles themselves, and it's all combining into a confusing buyer experience as too much is occurring at once. It's hard to keep up.

The good news is that after months of poorly-targeted messages coming my way, the last two days have seen a turnaround and I have managed to quote for around $15k of credible, well-targeted work. Something has improved the inquiries in the last 48 hours. I so hope the same happens for you! Now, I cannot get the time to do any editing because of the constant need to answer messages! But it's a good problem to have!

Best,

Annie
 

[kerlynn7]

Thanks for your reply, @levinewman ! I also have an AI content editing Gig (premium positioning over there too) and keep expecting traffic to pick up over there in response to the very challenge you mentioned...nothing substantial so far but perhaps in the months to come! Appreciate you taking the time to respond. 🙂

[necramedia]

Im not in the write and copy-editing field and the last two weeks, i barely had any orders, but i get over 200 impressions on my gigs, this aint normal.

[melanielm]

The entire content creation (writing, editing, graphics, etc.) industry has changed drastically with the advent of cheap and simple generative AI. Whether it's a good idea or not, former buyers really like the option to get content or assistance for free. They don't all yet understand the issues with leaning on a program instead of skilled professionals. To be honest, AI sufficiently serves some of their needs well enough, and it is only going to get better.

This is a huge disruption, and we have to adapt if we want to survive.

Edited February 1 by melanielm