Affiliate Tips: What Not To Do

We’re always here to give you new and exciting ways to help promote your store. Today, we’re going to outline things we think you shouldn’t do-- from common mistakes we’ve seen happen to things we want you to avoid.

Promote a product, Link to a whole storefront 

This is a very easy mistake to make. Your storefront link is the most accessible and it gives your audience the most options once they click in, we understand why you’ll share that link before any other. If you’re posting pictures of a specific design, though, sharing your store link can lead to a decrease in sales. It increases the effort to find the product they were interested in and ultimately takes away from a customer’s want to purchase the design.

If you’re drawing attention to a specific design link straight to that design using your tracking link. It’ll absolutely increase purchase conversion, we promise!

Promoting the same way every time

Merch may not be your top priority and we get that. And coming up with new ways to talk about your store may not be top of mind, we get that too. But promoting the same way over and over again can make your audience tired. This includes using the same words, sharing the same images, talking about the same sales. Here are some ways to easily help:

• Same words: This is probably the easiest fix. Reread over your copy and change a few words around or highlight something new about what you’re talking about. Talk about a new product, a new design, a new type of promotion, or even just switch up your voice. 
• Same images: Are you sharing the same pictures every time? We’ve put together a few resources to help you promote using different pictures. Check out “Promoting without Ad Creative” and “Resources to boost your content!” 
• Same sales: We have site wide sales every month which are always great opportunities to talk about your store but sometimes that gets stale. If you find yourself talking about the same sales every month then maybe it's time to change it up. We’re always happy to run personalized promotions--whether that’s a flash sale, coupon code, or something else--so maybe that can help spice up your sale promotions.

Only promoting t-shirts

T-shirts are our best sellers and some of the best items to promote, but sometimes people need other things. There are over 75 different products that designs can be printed on and all of them are absolutely worth sharing with your audience. Talk about mugs, notebooks, tote books, tapestries, posters, stickers, pins, the list goes on and on. At the very least, we recommend changing things up seasonally-- share hoodies and crewnecks closer to winter and tank tops in the summer. 

Not including images

We just suggested avoiding sharing the same pictures, but the same pictures are better than no pictures at all! It’s easy to forget to attach pictures, but pictures make all the difference. You want to show your audience what artwork you have and what products are available. In general, providing visual content encourages clicks onto your store and can facilitate more sales so don’t forget those pics!

Only using your logo

We’ve talked a bit about this on our blog already. Tl;dr, your logo is great for your branding and fine to kick off your merch store with but don’t stop there. There are plenty of designs on TeePublic that can be curated into your store and plenty more simple ideas that we can turn into quick merch. Only using your logo limits your buyers’ options and can impact sales. Plus, if they’ve already bought your logo they probably won’t buy it again. Keep refreshing your store to encourage more sales!

Expecting people to remember you have a merch store

Even if you’ve tweeted your merch store link, put it in your Instagram story, linked it in the show notes of your podcast or the description of your Youtube, that still might not be enough for your fans to know you have merchandise. It may seem like overkill, but not everyone has checked out your social or knows that you have a website. It’s important to mention your merch store regularly both to remind your current fans and to inform new fans as well. If you don’t talk about it, it’s likely your fans might not know about it. You know what they say about assumptions ;)

Thinking about merch as “selling out”

Merch can be a lot of things. It’s a tool for fan engagement. It’s a way to expand your brand. It’s so much more than just asking for people to buy things from you. Your merch is personal. It’s not a mattress or a meal prep kit. It’s all about you as a creator and your fans who love what you do. Plus, there are plenty of other reasons to start a store that have nothing to do with making money. You can read all about those here!