Have sells increased since you created mockups?

[WBartworks]

Have does of you who have created a lot of mockups for your store(s) noticed a significant increase in sales>

[Connie]

I hate to admit it because I don't like doing the cover photos, but yes, I have noticed an increase.

[Pixelan]

I don't mind creating some cover photos, am only doing around 1 out of every 5 products I create. But collection covers and even product videos take so much time which could be spend on designing new products.

What bothers me a little is, I love to design as a creator but Zazzle pushes creators to also become marketeers. And I'm not that good in marketing. Adding that even if you do market your products on, for example pinterest, and a customer finally clicks on it, they see so many other products from other designers that it doesn't feel it's worth the effort.

Maybe things will improve this year.

[Connie]

I'm on Zazzle because I enjoy designing, NOT marketing! I've NEVER had any success with marketing, and over they years I've tried just about every money-making scheme out there, most of which involves internet marketing.

I haven't even started doing videos yet, and most of my collections don't have cover images either. I just don't have the time to both design AND market!

[Martin]

@Connie  With you on the marketing front! I have tried but never get into the flow of it. I am gradually adding covers for items and collections. Banners to collections as well. No videos yet. I have been concentrating more on the collections than new designs, really as a "good housekeeping" thing. Interesting I do spot opportunities while sorting out the collections, so there are some new listings being added. A phrase you will be familiar with, I am finding some "Low hanging fruit to pick" that I had missed. My sales are holding steady and even slightly up in January and February, so I guess it's the covers. It has been a lot of work for a small return, but with so many people saying they are down a huge % I can only assume covers are working.😁

[Fizzy]

I haven't and I don't think that a special cover photo is the key to generating more sales. It will generate more views because of the "oh, shiny" syndrome, and that may or may not convert to more sales, but ultimately, it's the design/product that sells, not the cover photo.

[CreativeLeahG]

Many Zazzlers have reported a decline in sales over the past few months. Adding covers is NOT likely to be the cause. BUT it does muddy the waters as to whether it is increasing sales.

I guess if people are seeing sales for things not previously sold after the addition of cover photos, that would be an indication. I have several hundred covers and have not noted an uptick in sales of items with covers. Whether they improve visibility is also unknown.

We did observe in the early days adding covers did improve their position in the marketplace but more recent observations doesn't show this to have been a continuing trend.

You can see items without covers ranking higher than those with covers unless they're Editor's Picks or items that previously sold in high volume without covers.

With the requirement to now add covers for collections and videos etc. I am focusing on that as there is a time constraint that means it is impossible to create new designs/collections, add covers for single products, add covers and videos for collections on top of marketing etc. So one has to determine based on your own observations where your time spent is reaping the greater rewards.

I have not noted any rewards as yet with the collection updates, but I am optimistic, the time spent will pay off when Zazzle fully and efficiently implements them into the marketplace.

The addition of a collections feature is not yet effective as it shows single items NOT the collection item, so the filter is flooded with singles not collections. I hope this issue is remedied so that filter can do what it says on the tin! 

@Scott  Any advice you can provide re ongoing improvements in this regard and what is going to be most effective is appreciated. It will benefit Zazzle in the long term if we're all on the same page.

[yasminepatterns]

I have created very few covers for my designs and I haven't got sales in those products after I created the covers. Almost all of my sales comes from products that didn't have any special covers. It depends on 3rd party referrals or people searching for products and my designs appear for them. I am confient that cover photos don't matter for customers and That's why I won't waster my time creating mockups anymore 

[LyricalSixties]

No, I haven't noticed any difference in sales.  I don't much enjoy making covers, so I'm not going to make any more as they take up too much time.

[tanyadraws]

I can't say for sure, as my sales have been down in general since last year (its hard to tell vs past stats). However I have seen an uptick of newly designed products selling quicker (which have also been the ones I've been adding cover photos on). It may be from a change in how I promote my new products, but the better marketplace placement might also be helping - it is hard to say. Usually my newer products marinate in the marketplace for a little while before someone bites. 

[Susang6]

No I did not see an increase in sales but I did see an increase of views  on products with cover photos.  But its a boost in traffic immediately when  products is created, then it tampers off its not consistent with daily views.

[Marcia]

I just sold an invite yesterday that I made 3 years ago & had never before sold. I put a cover photo on it less than 2 weeks ago. I don't think I changed the titles & tags. Coincidence? Who knows. But this is not the 1st time this has happened to me. 

And I also like making cover mockups so this isn't painful to me, except for the fact that now I'm not creating very many new products, which is not a good thing.

[WBartworks]

What company do you use to make cover mockups?

[Marcia · Accepted solution]

I make them myself in photoshop.

[WBartworks]

So photoshop allows you to put your designs on products such as a duvet cover or fanny pack, or do you just create backgrounds for your products?

[Marcia]

No, I find backgrounds, modify them & place my products in them. I create them, not photoshop.

[WBartworks]

Thank you, for that information! 

[Connie]

That's the most painful thing about cover photos for me- I'm taking up time that could be spent adding new designs!

[WBartworks]

Personally, I don't mind putting in the extra work for cover mockups.  I already created some, but find it difficult making some decent mockups without paying for services that allow me to do so. However, I'm not willing to spent $100 or more per year for those services, especially since there's no guarantee that it will increase sales. In fact, since I created mockups, sales have actually decreased.

[Harmony]

if i add a mockup to a product that has been selling, its almost like the system resets the indexing/search ranking somehow, because sales just stop. is it perhaps viewing added media as though it is somehow a new product?