Running a successful sale is easier than you think. You can create promo codes instantly with Teespring and easily share them with fans and followers. The key to executing a successful sale is to make sure people know about your special offer and to create a sense of urgency so you can drive a large amount of purchases within a short period of time. Here are the steps to running a successful sale with Teespring:
- Plan sale schedule
- Create promo codes
- Prepare promotional assets
- Draft promo posts + emails
- Promote your sale
If you’re still not convinced as to why you should run a sale then consider the fact that offering a discount can increase your purchases by 60%. Also, during key shopping dates like Black Friday listings that offer a discount can literally 2x their purchases compared to listings with no discount offered. Ready to get started?
Step 1) Plan a sale schedule
First you’ll need to determine your sale schedule for the next few weeks. Do you want to run several sales over an extended period of time or plan to offer a discount just before you release a new item? If you create new video content regularly consider how you can work sales into your publishing schedule.
Check out a few examples of successful sale concepts:
- Switch it up: If you offer the same types of discounts on a regular basis, shoppers will wait for the next sale instead of purchasing full priced items. Utilize the different promo code types available and switch up your schedule so it’s not predictable.
- Push old inventory: Offering discounts on ‘older’ designs before a new product launch is a good way to encourage purchases on existing items while generating hype for new launches.
- First come first serve: Encourage purchases early on by offering a limited number of discounted orders. For example, you could say on social media, “the first 50 people to buy my new design will get 10% with the code FIRST50”. You can monitor sales as they happen and turn the promo code’s active status to ‘off’ once you hit the 50 order threshold.
- Live streaming discount: Are you planning on live streaming soon? Encourage viewership + purchases by announcing a special sale on stream that will be accessible for a short period of time.
- Members-only discounts: You can reward loyal YouTube or Twitch subscribers by sharing sale information in the members-only section of your channel.
- Discount reward: You can reward past customers with a promo code on their next purchase. Use Teespring’s message tool to contact past customers and share their promo code via email.
Teespring tip: Once you’ve decided on a schedule make sure to write it down. This way you can keep track of of your promotions, promo codes, and dates at a glance.
Example of a sale schedule featuring dates, details, and promo codes
Step 2) Create promo codes
Now that you’ve got a schedule it’s time to create your promotions. You can create promo codes instantly in your Teespring account and turn their active status to ‘off’ until it’s time to run your sale. This way you can prepare your promotional assets ahead of while and preventing people from using the discount until you’re ready.
You can create three different types of promotions with Teespring; free shipping (US delivery only), a discount amount (like $3), or a discount percent (like 10% off). Check out the video below for more info on each discount type and how to create them.
Don’t forget promo codes can be applied to all of your products. This means you’ll need to ensure there’s enough profit margin to support the promo…no matter what product is being purchased. For example, if you’re offering a ‘$3 off’ discount and a shopper adds a sticker to their shopping cart, the sticker will need to have at least $3 in profit margin for the shopper to be able to use the promo code.
Teespring tip: Save time by generating your codes before creating promotional assets. Once your code is created you’ll know exactly what you need to create. For example, promo codes can’t have more than 10 characters…imagine if you had created all your assets for a code that was too long. You’d have to go back and update everything. 😛
Step 3) Prepare promotional assets
You’ve got your promo codes and dates so let’s prepare promotional assets we can use to promote the sale. Always make sure the promo code, discount type, and sale dates are visible on the assets you create and share.
Social media assets
Below are a few social media assets that were created with canva.com, a free design platform that requires no graphic design skills. You’ll find lots of customizable, pre-made templates that are perfect for sharing on sites like Facebook and Instagram. You can use these images in email marketing messages too.
Examples of promo assets created on canva.com
Placeit also offers professionally designed graphic assets you can easily customize and share. They’ve just released video intros, end cards, banner designs, and YouTuber logos for creators too. Apart from the promotional assets Placeit is great for creating unlimited product designs, lifestyle mockups, videos and more—you can get Placeit for $11.96 per month if you sign up with Teespring now. If you’re planning on advertising your products both Canva and Placeit have ad templates you can use, and there are a variety of other online design tools available to create mobile-friendly images.
Example of promo asset created using Placeit’s lifestyle mockups
Photo + video assets
Customer selfies and videos are perfect for sharing on social media, your website, email send outs, videos, advertisements, etc. Not only do these images create social proof and validate the quality of your products, they also offer the opportunity to connect with loyal customers by giving them a shout out for purchasing. Special customer shoutouts can lead to even more sales as other followers seek the same attention and engagement too.
This creator features her customer selfies within the highlighted stories section of her Instagram account
It’s proven that sharing photos and videos of yourself wearing samples of your merch can increase purchases by up to 50%. Head to the ‘Listings’ section of your account now to order a sample of your products instantly.
@quietcoolkid using merch sample photos to drive engagement and promote her sale
Storefront assets
Don’t forget your storefront banner is a prime location to shout about special discounts you’re offering. You will definitely want to optimize your store by preparing banners ahead of time to show off your sale to shoppers. You can update your banners instantly as soon as the sale begins within your storefront settings.
Step 4) Draft promotional posts + emails
Next let’s draft our promotional posts and emails. By drafting your content ahead of time it’ll be easy for you to generate awareness and drive the most purchases possible during your sale.
Draft messages to post on social media and through other channels like email. Don’t forget you can use Teespring’s buyer message tool to email past customers and turn them into repeat shoppers.
Important: Do NOT tell shoppers about an upcoming sale too far in advance—this can discourage them from purchasing until the sale begins. Wait to share promo codes with your audience until 1 – 2 days ahead of time (and only activate the codes on the day the sale starts). If you don’t want to share promo codes ahead of time, you can advise your audience to keep an eye on social media (or their email inbox) for the promo code the day the sale begins.
Check out this example of a post/email schedule for Cyber Weekend (created using Google Sheets). This user is planning to publish multiple social posts and emails before and during the sale. The goal of this messaging is to notify shoppers of an impending sale as well as to remind them to take advantage of the discount while the sale is going on. Click the button below to download the sheet and use it for your own planning.
Teespring tip: Ask customers to tag you in photos and videos once they receive their merch in your messaging. You can use this content later as social proof to drive further engagement and purchases.
Step 5) Promote your sale
Last but not least, it’s time to promote your sale. Spread the word about your upcoming sale and remind shoppers to take advantage of this special offer. Follow the promotional schedule you created, activate your promo codes at the right time, and watch the orders roll in! If you’re looking for more tips you can visit our promotional guides in the training center now. Ready to put these tips to the test?
Don’t forget you can track promo code usage within the “Analytics” section of your Teespring account. Orders that have a promo code applied will display the code within the ‘source’ section of the order details.
