How to Successfully Promote Your Custom Merchandise Store
A print on demand store is a solid choice as far as online businesses go. You do not have to worry about shipping and storage thanks to services like Printify that provide you with pretty much everything you need. Your focus will be on customer service and promoting the store to sell the merchandise.
In case you have been looking to improve your financial situation and would like to try print on demand, follow the tips below and start your journey. The tips below should help you with promoting the business.
Tip #1 – Focus on Product Quality
While this may not be a direct way to promote your POD store, focusing on product quality should still be a priority. Imagine someone ordering a hoodie from you only to end up disappointed with its quality. Besides leaving a negative review on the website, they will tell their friends and family to avoid your store.
Printify tells you how to make custom all over print shirts and how to end up with products that have the quality. Offering great merchandise will have the opposite effect where people will recommend your merchandise and provide the website with positive product reviews, creating more interest and leading to more sales.
Tip #2 – Optimize Your Store for Mobile Devices
In 2018, mobile ecommerce revenue accounted for 50% of total U.S. ecommerce revenue. That should be enough to persuade you to focus on mobile optimization.
Your website should be responsive when someone is browsing it on a smartphone or a tablet. The issue is not that difficult to overcome given how many mobile-friendly themes there are, particularly if you build your store on a platform like WordPress or Shopify.
There is an argument to be made about developing an iOS or Android app in the future. Shopping on an app is more convenient than having to use a browser if you use a mobile device.
However, developing an app is quite expensive, and if you do not have the money to spare for it, you should probably set this idea aside for the future. For now, focus on your website and make sure that both mobile and desktop users have no issues accessing the pages and purchasing merchandise they desire.
Tip #3 – Focus on SEO
Search engine optimization should be one of the primary focal points in your marketing strategy. You should rely on organic traffic because people who find your store via search engines will end up on it after typing keywords with the intent to purchase custom merchandise. That is if your website is properly optimized.
If you do not have SEO experience, hire someone who has and let them handle the campaign. Search engine optimization can take up to a few months to bring you the results, so do not worry if your website does not receive organic traffic in the beginning.
Tip #4 – Try PPC Marketing
PPC marketing is a good alternative to SEO if you want immediate results (though you should still not abandon search engine optimization). As the name suggests, you pay per clicks rather than impressions.
Use Google AdWords to create a PPC campaign and launch ads that will appear for people who may be interested in visiting your store. The more persuasive your ad copy, the higher the odds of improving the website traffic.
Tip #5 – Collaborate With Micro-Influencers
Influencer marketing should not revolve just around the A-tier celebrities. If you find it too difficult to collaborate with the top influencers, switch to micro-influencers.
Just because micro-influencers have fewer followers, it does not mean that you should underestimate the value they provide. If anything, working with micro-influencers are likely to bring you better overall results. They are cheaper and have a better overall engagement rate.
A promotional post in which a micro-influencer is seen wearing your merchandise and giving it a shoutout should redirect some people to your store where they can purchase the same clothes or other products.
Tip #6 – Take Advantage of Social Media Groups
The most popular social media platforms have millions of active users, and it is no surprise to see so many brands emphasize social media as a primary marketing channel. You should do your best to leverage available social media groups as well by promoting your store in them.
Also, do not limit yourself to just Facebook. There are other, less popular platforms that could have people who might be interested in purchasing your merchandise. They just need a push in the right direction to end up on your website and to see what you have available.
Tip #7 – Post on Online Forums
Similar to social media platforms, you could spend some time looking for online forums and promoting your business there. Do be wary about potentially getting banned, though. Avoid posting links right away. Instead, interact with other members of a community and build some reputation and trust first. Then, when the time is right, you can look to post URLs to promote your website.