5 Essential Tips for Starting Print-on-Demand Service
Print on demand is a business model that has become popular in the last years and it can be a lot of fun. Print on Demand refers to on-demand printing of apparel, stationery, books, and much more. In the past, if you wanted to sell merchandise with your designs, you had to print a whole stock. This move is a high-risk decision to make because if nobody buys your products you will lose all the money you invested. With Print on Demand (from now on, POD), that risk does not exist. If there are sales, there will be benefits. If there are no sales, you won’t lose your money. Using a print-on-demand service is often easier than managing your own inventory, but there are unique considerations to be aware of. Let’s look at essential best practices for any print-on-demand business:
1. Use a print-on-demand app
While marketplaces like Etsy offer an easy way to list your products, opening an online store is the best way to build a long-term online presence and truly promote your brand. Make your business simpler by using a print-on-demand app. that integrates with your online store platform. That way, you can import your designs into your website with a few clicks.
When you build a print-on-demand store, you control the shopping experience from the look and feel of your store to how customers interact with your brand and discover your products. Additionally, having your own store makes it possible for you to build a customer email list, run targeted ads, and market your product on social media, all of which are effective ways to maintain a profitable relationship with your audience.
2. Always order samples
Those who sell products should feel confident about the quality of what they sell to the public even when they’re sourced from a third party such as a print-on-demand service. The best way to ensure your products look and feel as intended is to be your own customer and experience first-hand what it’s like to receive your products. What you should do is to place sample orders through your online store to test out your entire shopping experience, from browsing to delivery. Some services, like Printful, offer a sample discount of up to 20% to help sellers validate their design choices. Beyond ensuring product quality, samples can also be used to take product photos for your website and social media profiles.
3. Create mockups of your products
Mockup illustrates what the final outcome will be. Mockups are important because they are generally utilized for conceptualizing ideas and transmitting them into a real design. Mockups mimic the final design of your product and incorporate any revisions necessary. Even though samples can help you snap compelling photos of your products, mockups are also an effective visual marketing element and will be a prominent part of your store’s product pages. Many print-on-demand services can help you create mockups, showing your products on a person or as a flat lay. Mockups help customers visualize products, so it can literally pay to go the extra mile. PlaceIt is an easy-to-use mockup generator that lets you create photo and video mockups.
4. Be strategic about shipping
It is essential you set expectations and communicate with customers throughout the shipping process even though you are not the one shipping products yourself. The best print-on-demand companies will be transparent about shipping and proactive about sharing information, but you remain the point of customer contact. Be sure to account for printing times when it comes to shipping. Add anywhere from two to four days for production, or more for complex orders. It won’t be a bad idea to absorb shipping costs into your retail prices. Extra shipping costs added at checkout may deter some customers, while the incentive of “free shipping” can enrich your marketing efforts.
5. Find a niche audience
Having a niche gives you a clearly defined audience to work with. You need to be very strategic with the way you position your brand because the print-on-demand model is very competitive and offers smaller profit margins. Having a clearly defined audience can help you lower the cost of acquiring customers, increasing your potential profits. Finding a niche makes it easier to grow an audience. Among the niche marketing tactics you can try include (i) Starting an Instagram account and curating content to serve your target audience. (ii) Running Facebook ads for your target market to test products. (iii) Paying social media influencers to promote your brand to their audience especially influencers who have followers that match your target audience.
