7 minutes read

November 21, 2024

Published: November 21, 2023

Grow like a crazy: How to improve the marketing of your print-on-demand store

Introduction

The print-on-demand (POD) industry has exploded in recent years, empowering entrepreneurs to easily start their own online businesses selling custom printed products. With POD, you can upload your designs to a print provider like Printful and sell items like t-shirts, mugs, phone cases and more without upfront inventory costs. It’s an amazing opportunity, but competition is fierce. Standing out requires smart digital marketing and sales strategies to drive traffic, boost conversions and maximize revenue growth.

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll cover key tactics for dramatically improving your POD store’s marketing to help you grow your business. You’ll learn proven strategies for using social media, optimizing your store site, running paid ads, improving SEO, setting up marketing automation and more. With these practical tips, you can develop an integrated digital marketing plan tailored to your brand and products. Executing on even just a few of these growth strategies can significantly increase your store’s visibility, leads and sales.

Let’s dive in!

Social platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest are essential for building brand awareness and reach. Here are some of the most effective ways to promote your POD store on social media:

Start accounts for your brand on platforms where your target audience hangs out, like Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest and more. Profile details should include a link to your online store.

Post engaging photos and videos of products

Give followers a behind-the-scenes look at your latest designs and products. On Instagram, make use of Stories and Reels. On TikTok, upload short videos showing products or the production process.

Use relevant hashtags and tag influencers

Maximize discoverability by using niche hashtags like #printondemand, #podseller, and #etsyseller. Also tag micro-influencers in your space when featuring their products.

Run contests and giveaways

Giveaways are a great way to quickly gain followers who you can market to. Require participants to follow you and tag friends for extra reach.

Partner with micro-influencers

Work with influencers in your niche to co-create content and run sponsored posts promoting your products. Offer a discount code they can share with followers.

Repost great photos or videos from happy customers showcasing your products. Always credit the creator.

Optimizing Your Ecommerce Store Site

Your POD store’s website built with Marketsy.ai is the hub for your brand and where you’ll convert site visitors into customers. Make sure your store provides an exceptional user experience.

Ensure a clean, professional design

Your store’s design should reflect your brand personality while instilling trust and credibility. Opt for a simple, uncluttered layout.

Allow customers to easily browse products with well-organized categories and filters. Include search and suggested products.

Optimize page speed and mobile experience

Fast loading speeds are critical. Use image optimization and caching. Also ensure a seamless experience on mobile.

Reviews, testimonials and trust badges increase conversions by building trust. Display them prominently.

Feature best selling products prominently

Spotlight your most popular and highest profit margin products on the home page and in categories to boost sales.

Add detailed product descriptions

Go beyond title and images. Add paragraphs describing materials, sizing, care instructions, and other details.

Driving Targeted Traffic with PPC Ads

Pay-per-click (PPC) platforms like Google and Facebook are a powerful way to drive targeted traffic. Here are tips for succeeding with paid ads:

Research competitor keywords

Use tools like SEMrush to find keywords competitors are ranking for. Look for low competition long-tails.

A/B test ad creative

Try different images, copy and calls-to-action. See which resonate best before scaling up budget.

Set up conversion tracking

Install tracking pixels like the Facebook pixel to attribute site actions to ads. Optimize for conversions.

Target lookalike audiences

Use existing customer data to find similar potential buyers to target with ads.

Retarget visitors

Remarket to visitors who left your site with customized product recommendations.

Review performance data

Analyze metrics like CTR, conversions, and cost per conversion to continuously refine targeting and creatives.

Improving SEO and Content Marketing

Ranking high in organic search results requires an SEO and content strategy. Here are some effective tactics:

Research buyer keywords using tools like Ahrefs

Identify terms people search when looking for your types of products to create content around.

Produce blog content and videos optimized for those terms

Publish posts, videos and other content optimized for the terms you want to rank for.

Get backlinks

Relevant backlinks signal search engines that your site is a trusted authority. Reach out to similar sites for opportunities.

Create visual assets

Infographics, comparison charts, and guides providing value may be shared and linked to by others.

Optimize on-page elements

Include target keywords in titles, headers, meta descriptions, alt text, etc. Create XML sitemaps.

Analyze search performance

See which keywords drive traffic and conversions then produce more content around those.

Automating Marketing Efforts

Marketing automation streamlines lead generation and sales processes. Here are some tools to leverage:

Create email sequences in Mailchimp

Welcome new subscribers, promote new products, offer discounts for inactive customers and more.

Install chatbots

Many chatbot tools like Chatfuel integrate with Facebook Messenger to engage visitors.

Set up pop-ups and exit offers

Exit-intent pop-ups capture emails in exchange for a discount code.

Schedule and recycle top-performing posts on platforms like Pinterest and Instagram.

Sync email and Facebook ads

Use the Facebook pixel to tailor ad messaging to subscriber actions and interests.

Strategies for Maximizing Sales Conversions

Once you’ve driven traffic to your site, your goal is converting those visitors into paying customers. Here are tips for increasing conversion rates:

A/B test pricing

Try lowering prices by 10-15% for some products to see if it impacts conversions.

Add reviews and trust badges

Positive reviews build credibility while trust badges like Norton Secured instill buyer confidence.

Reduce checkout fields

See if removing optional fields impacts conversion rates. Allow guest checkout.

Upsell with bundled products

On product pages, suggest purchasing additional complementary products at a bundled price.

Offer free shipping thresholds

Provide free shipping for orders over a certain amount. Highlight at checkout.

Analyze funnel performance

See where visitors are dropping off then improve those pages. heatmap tools can help.

Managing Operations and Fulfillment

A smooth back end operation ensures fast order processing and delivery. Here are some best practices:

Automate order management

Connect your store to production partners to automatically send new orders. Apps can also track inventory levels.

Optimize production workflows

Ensure production partners have efficient processes to fulfill orders quickly.

Provide fast, tracked shipping

Offer affordable expedited shipping like 2-day delivery. Give tracking info and proactive updates.

Forecast demand

Use past sales data to anticipate spikes for seasonal products like holiday designs.

Provide excellent customer support

Be available across multiple channels.Resolve issues promptly and politely. Make returns and exchanges easy.

Key Takeaways

Growing an online POD business takes consistent effort across marketing, sales and operations. Focus on building brand awareness on social platforms, optimizing your store for conversions, setting up marketing automation, analyzing data to refine efforts and streamlining order fulfillment. With an integrated approach powered by Marketsy.ai's AI ecommerce platform, you can dramatically boost your store’s performance and take your print-on-demand business to the next level.

What aspect of digital marketing for print-on-demand excites you the most? Let me know!