The world of online T-shirt marketing is a wonderful world full of hope, opportunities and endless possibilities. With all these easy, fast and cheap (if not free) options it is difficult to take strategic decisions. The easy way out often seems smart, but in reality you may be digging your own grave by oversimplifying it all. In this article we discuss several common mistakes made by sellers, so that you can avoid those mistakes.

 

On the Marketplace

1.Categorizing

When launching a campaign on the Teezily Marketplace you get the option to select three categories in which you want your campaign to be published. You can choose from categories such as Family, Sport and Jobs. Many sellers post their campaigns in random categories, but it is very important that you post your campaign only in the fitting categories. For example, if a client enters the Marketplace and they are looking for a T-shirt about Fatherhood, they will go to the family category. But when they get to the Family category they stumble upon several pages full of yoga designs. The chance of a customer buying a yoga design while they were specifically looking for a T-shirt about fathers is very small. The client might think the Marketplace looks unorganized and leave without making any purchase at all. We get that it may seem smart to spread your chances all over the marketplace, but ultimately this strategy will result in frustrated consumers leaving without making any purchase.

 

2. If not using FB ads, good description and title are essential

If you are a new seller, you may not want to invest in FB Ads just yet. This is perfectly understandable, after all the Teezily platform was created to be cost and risk free. However, without advertisement your marketing strategy will be focused completely on your campaign title and description. So when creating the title and description you should ask yourself: If I were a customer and I were looking for this type of design, how would I try to find it? Use the keywords that a client might use to look for the product in your title. The description should be informative, organized and respond to the client’s questions and needs. Make sure to add relevant information like  the popular payment method for the market that you are targeting, available styles and colors.

 

With FB Ads

3. Launch only one ad

If you advertise with FB Ads then you should always create and launch multiple ads instead of just one. If you launch only one advertisement and that one does not work then you cannot find out what kind of advertisement will work for your target group. Therefore, you should always create and launch several versions of the same advertisement and then collect data. The data will tell you which advertisement worked well and which did not, and you can carry on and invest with the advertisement that worked best. FB Ads also allows you to select different types of audiences for your advertisements. We advise you to experiment with this option as different advertisements work well for different target groups.

 

4. Poor landing page design

So you might think you are done once you have got the advertisement part covered. Well, this is not quite the case. If you have found an advertisement that works and that attracts many customers to your page, you should make sure that your landing page looks good. You can have the perfect ad, but if the ad redirects customers to a bad landing page, the customer will instantly leave without buying anything.

 

Design wise

5. Forgetting to research existing designs on the marketplace

While creating a design it is key to find a niche and to develop your own style. It can be tempting to take an existing, successful design and slightly modify it, but only so many “The man, the myth, the legend” designs will be sold in the end. Instead, try to really find a niche that is not yet known and create your own style. It is okay to invest time and thought into creating a design, in the end when you will be making lots of sales it will all be worth it.  

 

6. Using trademark (link to intellectual property article)

Before creating a design, do your research and make sure that your design is not an infringement to any intellectual property, as is often the case with quotes, animation characters, famous people, famous slogans and song lyrics. If you do not this, you risk having your design deleted and you will have done all the work (designing, advertising etc.) for nothing. If you want to know more about the rules of intellectual property click here. 

 

7. Not being clear with the designer when outsourcing

If graphic design is not your skill it is wise to outsource this activity to a designer. On websites such as Fiverr, designers offer their services starting for as cheap as 5$. Again, this seems like an easy way to make money fast. However, a cheap design is very likely not going to be a very good design. In addition, it is essential that you put in your own effort if you want to get a good design. You have to give the designer clear instructions of what the design should look like, that includes colors, font types etc. It is also your own responsibility to find out whether a design is not infringing any intellectual property.

In conclusion, the key to success is to not be lazy. In order to achieve success you must work hard, put in effort, do a lot of research and analyze your data. Do not be afraid to try something new, you might just discover the next “Keep calm and (…)”!