Advertising platforms?

[Deirdre]

Hi,

To start off, I'm aware that it is unrealistic to make $100+ a month. Because I have issues with anxiety, I'm content with slowly putting products up until I feel confident I have enough variety for the target audience (kids). 

But let’s say I have reached a point where I feel confident enough to go all out on the marketing:

I see that Zazzle doesn't seem to have any marketing programs, so that's out of the question (correct me if I'm wrong). I've thought about TukTok, but I'd rather know if anyone else has had better luck with other platforms? I've heard that Pintrest is randomly banning people for no reason. 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

[Connie · Accepted solution]

TikTok probably bans more people than Pinterest does. Benable seems to be the hot new trend, but I don't know how effective that is.

[Deirdre]

I’ll try making an account there and see how well it works out

[NicheNest]

I use Pinterest but haven't tried too many others.

,

[BevStuff]

I have Pinterest, but I've have only ever gotten a referral from them once in a blue moon and it's been 2 years since I got one. If you want to use Pinterest for Zazzle products, you MUST set your account up as Business and NOT personal Pinterest acct to receive a zazzle referral. I set up Pinterest years ago, so I just leave it, sometimes adding or deleting products. It's kind of a passive method of marketing you can set up and leave.. 
I also actively post product & collections on select social media: X and MeWe. (some people are going to Bluesky.)
Some people use Instagram, but you can only post there by phone and I don't like that. So nope..
Some people use Facebook (I don't), but I read in forum here someone pointed out you may be marketing to mostly friends & family on Facebook.
You can set up a blog. That is among Zazzle's recommendations for promoting. Google Blogger, for example, is free and Google puts it directly into their search engine for you. Blogger has side bars where you can post your Collections or product.. The trick to a blog, though, is writing interesting content and doing it consistently. I used to do specific schedule like recipes on Mondays, Garden Pictures on Wednesday, Zazzle stuff on Fridays. It takes a lot of commitment. 
Many people are doing Bendable right now and I set up a few boards there. it is easy & they guide you thru the process. You can both self promote or cross promote. But Travel is a BIG topic in Bendable and the only Zazzle product board of mine that received verification by them (meaning they optimize it to promote) was board of Travel themed posters from Zazzle I themed on "Decorate with Places you Want to Visit." No sales from it yet. (it was my own posters & other Zazzlers posters.) It too, is passive marketing. Set it up and leave it. If you're interested in trying Bendable here's my link so you can bypass the wait list and get in directly:  https://benable.com/i/4FPYE 
A large percentage of people find Zazzle product via Zazzle's own search engine. That is their "marketing machine." That's the main thing Zazzle does for you, though sometimes they'll select a product you've made and put it on a promo page (which is random. I had that happen once and I've been in Zazzle 15 years.) To take advantage of their search engine, try to have a good descriptive title for your product and a few good key words (limit of ten) . You can probably find advice on key words elsewhere in the forum. This Zazzle link, if you scroll to bottom, explains your options regarding marketing: https://www.zazzle.com/sell/affiliates?srsltid=AfmBOopFbsNUkIjQNOc9QhKv5r6zk5ZQEU-guIbcEV1yNiopQbKGh... 
There is no single perfect promotional solution that will guarantee sales. You should select methods that work for you in your life. Choose what you can be regular at. I mean, if you're on X already, promote there; if you're on Facebook already, promote there. Take advantage of what you're already doing.
Read up on good key words for products, since you're already filling in blanks to for selling.
Create Collections. It's easier to promote many items that way versus one product at a time. Plus Zazzle does put your Collection somewhere on the product page for that item, if it's that product is in a Collection you did. So Collections are totally worthwhile.

[Badeesie]

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@BevStuff wrote:

Some people use Instagram, but you can only post there by phone and I don't like that. So nope..

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That used to be the case, but you can post from a desktop or laptop computer now.

[Deirdre]

Thanks for the help! 

[angelafuller729]

Hi - Just wanted to chime in to say that

(1) it is NOT unrealistic to make $100+ per month.  I've done so every month for at least the last 18-24 months.

(2) Pinterest has been my best source for referrals (I get multiple per month).

(3) You have some really cute animals in your collection.  Because they are geared towards kids, consider adding them to blankets, lamps, tabletop plaques, wall art etc.  AND I would suggest making them customizable with a child's name.

(4) Your titles, descriptions and keywords need a lot of work - but they're easy to edit to fix them.  Here's a great place to start:  https://help.zazzle.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000373127-Title-Description-Tagging-Best-Practices

Best of luck  🙂

[Deirdre]

I have no idea how I didn't see this sooner, but thank you for your input! 

This weekend, I will be planning to revamp the Frost Babies store. I haven't even thought about blankets or lamps, but that's a great idea! 

Once again, thank you! I was wondering what I was going wrong