Get Started
Printful Blog logo
Creative services
Photography services

Blog / Beginner's handbook / 11 Proven Ways How to Get Sales with Print-on-Demand

Beginner's handbook

Printful Blog

Master the art of ecommerce

Launch your own print-on-demand business

Sign up with Printful

No upfront fees • No order minimums • 370 premium products

Printful Blog

Blog / Beginner's handbook / 11 Proven Ways How to Get Sales with Print-on-Demand

Beginner's handbook

11 Proven Ways How to Get Sales with Print-on-Demand

11 Proven Ways How to Get Sales with Print-on-Demand
Karlina Rozkalne

By Karlina Rozkalne

13 min read

A common misconception about building a profitable print-on-demand business is that it only takes creating a design and setting up a store, and the customers will come pouring in. That’s often not the case.

Getting customers can be as challenging as it is essential. Even people with a range of stunning designs and high-quality products can find themselves without buyers. 

Starting a print-on-demand business is only half the battle because drumming up interest, creating successful content (written and visual), and acquiring customers takes time and a certain level of know-how. That’s where we come in.

After reading this blog post, you’ll know:

  • How to make sure you have a product that your customers want 

  • The different channels (free and paid) to connect with your audience

  • How to successfully promote your business on the biggest social media platforms out there

  • And ultimately, how to get sales with print-on-demand!

How to sell custom products with print-on-demand (POD)

Businesses succeed when the right people are connected to the right product. You already have the product. Let’s ensure you have a product that the right people are looking for and then talk about how to connect to your target audience.

Our blog post on picking your niche covers what defines a niche, why it’s crucial to find yours, how to do it, and a list of more than 100 niches to look into. If you haven’t read it, after reading this post, give it a quick read-through because it’ll get you on the right track.

Once you’ve honed in on a niche, you’ll have a better idea of who your potential customers are. But before we dive into how to connect with them, let’s make sure your product is exactly what your customers are looking for.

Printful logo
Customer with received custom jacket
Printful logo
Create and sell custom products online
Lets go

A high-quality product is the foundation of a successful ecommerce business. If you don’t have a product that your target customers seek and like, other efforts like marketing, SEO, and collaborations won’t bring the desired outcome. There are 2 components to a winning product: the quality of blank products that depends on your POD partner, and the design that depends on you.

Get product samples

The first thing you can do to see if you have a good product is ordering samples from your POD service provider. It helps you guarantee that you’re satisfied with the design, the quality meets your standards, and the product will live up to your customers’ expectations.

It’s also the best way to write truthful descriptions and create spot-on visuals for your store. We’ll cover all of that a bit later on.

Plus, with Printful, you get a 20% discount on samples. To create a sample order, log into your profile, select New order, then Create sample order. Or, from the Product Catalog, click Start new order, choose Personal order, and press the button under Test your orders.

Ask customer feedback

Once you’ve tested the quality yourself, ask for feedback from your customers—it’s the fastest and most effective way to improve your design. For any niche, it’s not the product or service that defines it, it’s the people who are interested in it.

Don’t get attached to the first version of your design, be open to listening to suggestions and making adjustments accordingly.

Where can you connect with them? We recommend using the free channels we’ll discuss later on in the blog. You can also ask for feedback from your friends and family if they align with your target audience.

Make sure to improve your design (or product) based on the feedback you get, and be ready to do it again and again. It’s important to keep communicating with your customers—as time goes on, their wants, needs, and preferences are bound to change.

But let’s circle back to the product quality and how to ensure it from the get-go.

The POD supplier you choose directly impacts your business’s reputation, so do your due diligence before choosing your print-on-demand service. Here are the main things to look out for:

  • Delivery times and prices

  • Customer reviews

  • Product quality and range

  • Integration with your ecommerce marketplace or platform

POD companies differ by fulfillment locations, available techniques, customer support, branding options, and other aspects. Check out our competitor comparison page to get a clear overview of the differences:

chart comparing 6 biggest POD comapnies on various metrics

Source: Printful

Valuable read: 10 Things to Look for in Every Print-on-Demand Service

Content marketing includes creating and sharing posts, videos, social media updates, and other forms of media that showcase your products and educate your audience about your brand. There are 5 good reasons to invest in it: 

  1. Create awareness and attract potential shoppers 

  2. Build credibility and interact with your audience

  3. Turn viewers into customers

  4. Build loyalty and retention

  5. Save money with content marketing in the long term

Valuable read: 28 Essential Content Marketing Tools to Skyrocket Your Branding Efforts

Most marketers focus on quality over quantity, and we recommend you do the same.

a pie chart showing that most mareketrs value quality over quantity for emails

Source: Ahrefs

5 steps to develop a content strategy

Step 1—Start by defining your target audience—understand their preferences, challenges, and what they value in products. 

Step 2—Set specific goals for your content, e.g., increasing brand awareness, boosting engagement, or driving sales.

Step 3—Choose the right platforms where your audience is most active, like Instagram, Pinterest, or YouTube, and tailor your content to fit each platform and audience preferences. 

Step 4—Have high-quality and visually appealing content that showcases your products creatively and authentically.

Step 5—Regularly analyze your content’s performance using analytics tools to see what resonates with your audience. This data will guide you in refining your strategy, helping you produce more of what works and less of what doesn’t.

Valuable read: How to Develop an Effective Marketing Strategy

Sharing your print-on-demand products with communities and online forums like Reddit and Facebook can greatly boost your visibility and drive traffic to your store. There’s no need to be on every site. Invest time in only one or two platforms and stay active on them

preview play-button

Here’s what you need to know:

  1. Choose relevant platforms: Focus on communities related to your niche. For example, if you’re starting a clothing brand with fitness apparel, look for fitness forums or Facebook groups.

  2. Understand the rules: Each community has its rules. Some may restrict promotional content, so it’s essential to get familiar with and respect these guidelines to avoid being banned.

  3. Engage authentically: Rather than just posting ads, engage in conversations, provide valuable insights, and become an active member of the community. This builds trust and increases the likelihood that members will check out your store.

  4. Offer value: Share exclusive discounts or special offers with community members. This incentivizes orders and makes members feel valued.

  5. Monitor responses: Listen to feedback and adjust your approach based on what you learn about the community’s preferences and interests.

By thoughtfully engaging with online communities, you can build a loyal customer base and promote your products. Let’s look closer at 2 of the most popular options.

Reddit

Reddit is a network of communities (or subreddits) where people can connect and talk about what they’re interested in. It’s one of the best places to get to know your community. 

If you’re not familiar with how Reddit works, let’s briefly touch on that. Each community (community = subreddit = group of people who share a common interest) has its own page, subject matter, users, and moderators. 

What sets Reddit apart from other social media platforms? The whole community determines the voting mechanism. 

Put simply, every user has the option to upvote (show support for) or downvote (disapprove of) any post. By doing so, it’s either raised closer to the top position or sinks further down in the subreddit. Posts closer to the top are more easily seen and read.

Before getting started, carefully read the site’s guidelines, wittily called “Reddiquette.” The big one to pay attention to is that too much self-promotion will lead to your account being banned. Reddit guidelines state that only about 10% of content should be self-promotion.

Additionally, each community has individual guidelines to follow. Let’s take an example: you want to join the subreddit r/AskReddit. In addition to Reddiquette, you’d follow these rules:

Reddit subgroup's rules

Source: Reddit

Facebook Groups

Facebook is the biggest social media platform on the internet, with more than a third of the world’s population using the platform monthly. This means you can reach a large audience and communicate with them directly.

Use this direct line of communication to bring in future customers! Ask for feedback on your designs, get inspiration, and grow together as a community. Also, be active: post valuable content that your audience likes and reacts to.

Staying active on Facebook is beneficial for two reasons: first, you’ll get to know your audience better and you’ll be able to develop a detailed customer profile. Second, the more active you are, the more Facebook’s algorithm will show your Group to new people (Facebook prioritizes content from Groups that users frequently engage with).

As with Reddit, read the group’s rules before joining because not every group allows promotion:

Set of rules for a cat group on FB

Source: A cat page on Facebook

With 1B monthly active users, it’s one of the fastest-growing social media platforms to date.

a graph of a number of people who use TikTok

Source: Backlinko

 Considering it’s famous for dance challenges and lip-synching, you might wonder if marketing on TikTok is worth it. We’d say definitely—depending on your target audience. 

It’s a highly creative and playful environment for business owners to engage with but is popular among a more limited demographic. Most TikTok users are 10–29 years old.

If that’s the audience you’d like to connect with, explore creating a branded channel and experiment with content types. Short videos can be produced relatively quickly and with no budget. To make your first sale through TikTok, follow trending hashtags, get involved with the latest memes, and apply them to your brand.

Liz Bertorelli, the owner of Passionfruit (profile below), has successfully promoted her store on TikTok and says it’s a great way to acquire customers.

Liz Bertorelli's TikTok account

Source: Liz Bertorelli’s TikTok account 

Valuable reads: 

Influencers can dramatically extend your brand’s reach, providing credibility and targeted exposure to your dropshipping products.

For new ecommerce store owners, start by identifying influencers who align with your niche and whose followers mirror your ideal customers. Begin with micro-influencers, as they tend to have higher engagement rates and are often more approachable and cost-effective.

For example, Christiana Thanou, a micro-influencer in the gaming industry, would be perfect for a print-on-demand brand that specializes in tech gear.

micro-influencer's in the gaming industry Instagram

Source: Instagram

How to create a collab with an influencer

Reach out with a personalized message, clearly stating what you admire about their work and how a partnership could be mutually beneficial. Offer free products for them to review and share with their audience. Such collaborations can boost visibility, increase traffic, and drive sales, using the trust influencers have built with their followers.

Valuable read: 5 Steps for Running the Perfect Microinfluencer Campaign

Email marketing is highly effective for several reasons:

  • It allows direct communication with your audience

  • Can be personalized to increase relevance

  • Typically offers a high return on investment (ROI)

Plus, email marketing helps in building customer relationships and loyalty by keeping subscribers informed about new products, promotions, and content.

Click-through rate is the main metric marketers use to track the success of their email marketing campaigns.

most important metrics marketers track for email marketing

Source: HubSpot

Valuable read: How to Increase Your Email Open Rate

A fun fact: marketers report that their emails achieve the highest engagement rates between 9 AM and noon.

8 steps to an effective email strategy

Your email marketing strategy should include:

  1. Segmentation: 78% of marketers say segmentation is the most effective email campaign strategy, so group your customers based on their preferences or shopping behavior to send more targeted emails

  2. Personalization: Tailor emails to individual tastes, like suggesting products similar to past buys

  3. Engaging content: Offer value through promotions, product news, or useful tips

  4. Clear call-to-action (CTA): Make it easy for recipients to understand what you want them to do next, like Shop now or See more

  5. Consistent timing: Email regularly but not too frequently to keep your brand in mind without spamming

  6. Mobile-friendly design: Since 41% of all email views come from mobile, ensure your emails look good on phones

  7. Follow laws: Stick to email marketing laws (e.g., CAN-SPAM Act in the US) to build trust and avoid penalties

  8. Test and learn: Experiment with different email elements to get valuable insights and improve accordingly

Subject line is the first thing the recipients see, and, in large portion of the cases, it’s the deciding factor in whether people will read your email. 47% of email recipients say they open an email based on the subject line, and 69% mark an email as spam based on the subject line.

8. Offer limited-time promotions

Create urgency and boost sales with limited-time promotions:

  • Discounts

  • Buy-one-get-one-free

  • Exclusive items for a short period

Emphasize the time-sensitive nature of the offer to encourage quick action, using countdown timers or phrases like “While supplies last” or “Offer ends soon.” 

For example, an American clothing retailer, Everlane, ran a limited-time offer where customers could choose the price they pay for selected products.

Everlane brand limited time offer on their site

Source: WiserNotify

Promote these deals through your email marketing, social media channels, and website banners to maximize visibility. Monitor the campaign’s performance to understand customer response and refine future promotions.

What’s organic traffic? Organic traffic means visitors who come to your store from unpaid search engine results. Unlike paid traffic, which comes from ads, organic traffic is generated when people search for keywords related to your content and choose to click on your dropshipping ecommerce store or product because it appears relevant to their search.

Did you know the majority (51%) of content consumption comes from organic search? That means most people use search engines like Google to find information and products.

illustration of what people primarly use Google for

Source: Seoprofy

The takeaway: when you sell custom products online, you have to make your store or content discoverable through search engines. How to do that? By focusing on search engine optimization (SEO).

SEO is one of the most cost-efficient marketing tactics. Content that contains relevant keywords and provides value will increase your store’s visibility and attract more people to your website. Or storefront.

preview play-button

If you build your store with ecommerce platforms like Shopify, Wix, or BigCommerce, you’ll have to optimize your website for Google—it’s the undisputed leader in search engines worldwide. In June 2024, it accounts for 91% of the market shares across all devices.

the distribution of serches on the biggest search engines worldwide

Source: Statcounter Global Stats

If you build your store on ecommerce marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, or Etsy, you’ll have to optimize your store according to the specific marketplace’s algorithm.

Valuable read: Marketplace vs. Ecommerce Platform: Which Is the Best?

Running paid ads is a powerful way to drive traffic and sales for your online store. Start by choosing platforms where your target audience is active, like Facebook, Instagram, or Google. Set a budget that you’re comfortable with, and begin with small campaigns to understand what works.

Focus on creating compelling ads with clear, engaging images and strong call-to-actions like “Shop now” or “Discover more.” Use targeting options to reach specific demographics based on interests, behaviors, and location.

Review ad performance metrics regularly to see what’s working and make necessary adjustments. This iterative process helps optimize your ad spend and increases the effectiveness of your campaigns.

Here’s an example of a Swedish fashion brand, Brahmaki, running a paid promotion on Facebook.

Brahmaki fashion brand's ad on Facebook

Source: Facebook

Valuable read: 8 Effective T-Shirt Ads (And Why They Work)

Use this knowledge for your online store

Now you have everything you need to get out there and apply these steps to your own print-on-demand business!

Is there something we missed? Maybe there’s a topic you’d like to know more about? Let us know below.

Valuable read: Step-by-Step Guide for How to Make Money with Print-on-Demand

Printful logo
man with jacket
Printful logo
Create and sell custom products online
Let’s go

Frequently asked questions

Here’s what you need to know about making sales with print-on-demand:

  1. Choose a trustworthy print-on-demand company
  2. Find a narrow niche
  3. Offer high-quality products
  4. Use beautiful and clear product images
  5. Regularly refresh your designs
  6. Use customer reviews and testimonials
  7. Optimize product listings for search engines
  8. Engage with customers on social media platforms

Yes, print-on-demand allows artists, small business owners, and creatives to monetize their imagination and create an income stream without upfront investment. The best part of the print-on-demand model is that a print provider takes care of the entire production process for you.

Here are some of the best print-on-demand tips to help you make more sales:

  • Get product samples
  • Consider offering free shipping
  • Create beautiful product mockups or photos
  • Find your niche and build a loyal audience
  • Create your own online store
  • Create a marketing plan
  • Use upsell and cross-selling
  • Listen to customer feedback

Yes, print-on-demand can be a profitable business model because it minimizes inventory risk and upfront costs. Success depends on choosing the right niche and products to target specific customer segments, tailoring marketing strategies to the specific print-on-demand business goals, and writing product descriptions that are optimized for search engine results.

Good profit margins for print-on-demand businesses typically range from 20% to 40%. Achieving this depends on a few key factors: maintaining high product quality to attract and retain customers, managing shipping costs to avoid losing money, and adapting your marketing efforts to the online marketplace you use for your online store.

Yes, print-on-demand is an excellent choice for beginners. It allows you to start selling print-on-demand products with minimal upfront costs, no need to hold inventory, and the freedom to experiment with designs.

The best products to sell with print-on-demand will depend on your store and target audience. You can check out trending products like oversized apparel or focus on evergreen bestsellers like custom t-shirts.

author

By Karlina Rozkalne on Jul 17, 2024

Karlina Rozkalne

SEO Content Writer

Karlina is an SEO Content Writer specialist at Printful. As a firm believer in attitude over aptitude, Karlina gives her 100% whenever she works on something new. Karlina spends her free time reading, traveling, and doing yoga.

Karlina is an SEO Content Writer specialist at Printful. As a firm believer in attitude over aptitude, Karlina gives her 100% whenever she works on something new. Karlina spends her free time reading, traveling, and doing yoga.