From chefs, cartoonists and vloggers to scientists, influencers and photographers, Spring is for all creators. You don’t need to have design experience to create the perfect products for your community. Keep reading for our tips on how to get started.
You’re already a brand…
You have a community behind you, whether it’s a small following on TikTok, a handful of listeners of your podcast, or 500k subscribers on YouTube. This is a great starting point—now all you need to do is understand what makes your online presence unique and translate that into your next design. If you have a logo already, then this is a great place to start. A logo design works well to unite your fans and is good to have available as a staple in your store.
Community-driven ideas
The most successful designs are inspired by great content, trends, slogans and inside jokes that resonate with your community. Do you have a catchphrase that your fans can’t get enough of? Was there a fan comment that really stood out? Think about the kind of content you share with your fans and what gets them talking. Think of moments or phrases you’ve shared with your community that are unique or memorable. Not only does involving fans in the design process make them more likely to support you, but it also builds hype prior to launch.
Catch phrases that resonate with fans.
Memorable channel slogans.
Run polls to get your communities feedback on ideas.
Have fans suggest ideas. Ask on a live stream for suggestions or feedback.
Dive into comments to see what fans are talking about.
Calendar events
Don’t forget to release products for calendar events like Halloween, Christmas and Valentines Day—you can get really creative around these moments and make them your own. (Sometimes these moments are just a good excuse to release a new collection at a time when fans are expecting to buy something new) See how Moriah Elizabeth took her most popular character, Pickle, and gave him a seasonal twist for Christmas, Halloween and Valentines Day.
Collab with other creators
If you’ve got the following but don’t have the creativity or vision (or you have tons of design ideas but are still building your community), consider collaborating with other types of creators from different industries. Share each other’s skills and values and work together. Not only does this enhance your opportunity to come up with an amazing design, it also means you can widen your fanbase through joint promotion.
Once you have an idea, it’s time to bring it to life.
See our range of design resources and tools to help you get started. We’ve also partnered with 99designs to provide you with an extra layer of design support. This service allows you to collaborate with world class designers to create custom, quality designs for your products. Find out more.
Here are some answers to common questions concerning the Form 1099:
Who needs to file a Form 1099?
In the US, you are required by law to file a Form 1099 if you receive more than $600 in profits from Spring (previously known as Teespring). Creators with multiple accounts will need to update their account information on all of their accounts, as we will be merging their payout amount into one 1099 form. Only INDIVIDUALS will receive a Form 1099 from Spring. All other types (Corporations, partnerships, LLCs, and international entities etc.) are responsible for reporting taxes themselves by consulting a tax accountant.
What information will be included in my form?
Your name, address, SSN and payout amount received during the year will be included on the form so it is important that this information is accurate and up to date.
Additional information and examples of Form 1099-MISC can be found here.
When will I receive my Form 1099?
1099 Forms will be sent out by January 31st of each year, or, if January 31st falls on a non-business day, they will be sent out the following business day. They will be mailed to the address you’ve indicated in your Spring profile.
How is my Form 1099 payout amount calculated?
The amount is based on cash paid out during the year, not cash earned during the year. For example, if you end a listing in December 2019 but do not request the payout until January 2020, the amount earned for this listing will be excluded from your 2019 Form 1099.
For tax purposes, it’s best to look at the total amount paid to you over the tax year. The best way to verify that information is to go to the Payout section of your dashboard. On this page, you can add up the payout request amounts which you have made in the past year.
The Creator Dashboard reflects all payouts for all-time profit, including non-listing payouts that you may have received, such as affiliate fees, referral fees, or competition winnings (i.e. Merch moment contest). We suggest cross checking with the “Payouts” section of your dashboard to cover all bases in the event of a glitch or bug that may cause calculations to differ.
You may not receive a Form 1099 if:
You did not receive payments of $600 or more within the calendar year.
You are a Corporation, LLC or international entity/seller.
Please contact us if:
1. You have received a Form 1099 mistakenly.
2. You think you should have received a Form 1099 from Spring but have not.
3. You feel the Form 1099 you received includes inaccurate information.
Charity Payouts:
You will see all payouts, even those that went directly to a charity, reported on your 1099. If you have questions about how to report your charitable donations on your taxes, please consult a tax professional.
If you still have questions regarding a 1099, please contact creatorhelp@spri.ng
Spring is here for creators. With a friendly team of support agents dedicated to assisting you to thrive and continue to grow. Contact our creator support team at any time to ask questions or ask for help. To contact our team, all you need to do is email creatorhelp@spri.ng. If you’re contacting us regarding a listing, be sure to include the listing URL in your message and explain how we can help. If you’re having issues on the site or with any of your Spring tools, it’s always helpful to also include screenshots and a description.
Creator Support services include:
Answering questions related to selling with Spring
Recording bugs for our tech team to investigate
Anything else that is directly related to your listings or your Spring account
You may find the answer you’re looking for on our FAQ page too.
Creator support hours & availability
Our creator support team is available 5 days a week, between Monday – Friday 8:30AM – 9:00PM EST.
Email Support
We aim to answer all messages sent to creatorhelp@spri.ng within 24 business hours. When you contact the Creator Support Team via email, you should receive an auto-reply email containing your case number. If you do not receive an email with your case number, this could mean we have not received your email (please check your spam box to see if the auto-reply message was sent there). If you do not receive an auto-reply message within an hour, please try resending your message.
Social support for creators
We’ve got dedicated social media platforms especially for creators. That way, whenever you have a question or a query, you can reach out to us directly.
Twitter support for creators: @spring_help
Facebook: @springhelp
Live Chat Support
You can access live chat simply through landing on your dashboard. The chat box should appear in the right hand corner of the screen within 2 minutes.
Support hours and availability for your fans
Don’t forget we also offer top quality support for your fans. If your community has questions or needs assistance with their order please direct them to one of the following resources, our team will be happy to assist them.
Live chat for fans: Live chat assistance is available for fans 5 days a week. Chat assistance can be accessed on the Creator’s Store front or the buyer FAQ site. The chat box will show as soon as an agent becomes available.
If you have potential fans asking about Teespring’s return policies or guarantee it’s best to direct them to our customer policies or encourage them to use this form to contact us.
Email support: Fans can contact our team by submitting a request via this form or by emailing us directly via fanhelp@spri.ng.We aim to respond to all enquiries within 1- 2 business days.
Social support: Customers can tag our Twitter and Facebook accounts for assistance.
Fulfillment time is the time it takes to produce an order and prepare it for shipment. We guarantee to produce all orders and provide a shipping tracking number within 10 business days of the order date. Please note that fulfillment time doesn’t include the time it takes for an order to be delivered. To check your order status, view tracking information, or make changes to your order, visit https://teespring.com/track and enter the order number provided in the order confirmation email.
If a shipping tracking number is not assigned to your order within 10 business days of the order date, we will refund the shipping fees associated with the order. To request a refund, please contact Support here. To ensure you receive the quickest support possible, please enter your contact information, order number and select “I have a question about my order” as the contact reason.
Please note that the 10-day fulfillment guarantee does not apply to pre-order products.
Shipping Availability
Due to their current status, we have temporarily stopped shipping to the following countries:
Belarus
Honduras
Iran
Russia
Ukraine
Yemen
NOTE: Normal delivery times will still apply when shipping to all other countries.
Estimated Shipping Timelines
Shipping time is the time it takes for an order to be delivered once it’s been produced and handed over to the carrier for delivery. Please keep in mind that the shipping times below are estimates, not guarantees. The estimated delivery times are based on business days and do not include weekends or holidays. .
Timeframes for shipping vary and depend on a few key factors:
Standard or Rush shipping.
The location the order is shipped from, and where it will be delivered to.
The monetary value of your order. Higher valued orders can potentially have larger quantities which take longer to print and can impact the delivery timeframe.
The type of products ordered. Orders with multiple types of products may come from different printers because they specialize in specific print-on-demand products. This means your order can arrive in separate packages, at different times, and from different countries.
You can track your order here to see what your shipping status is.
Estimated Shipping timelines: US-bound orders
US-bound orders are estimated to arrive within 4 – 7 business days once the order has been produced and handed over to the carrier for delivery.
Rush shipping is also available for orders that are produced and shipped within the Continental US. An option for Rush shipping will be displayed for eligible items at checkout. Rush orders are estimated to arrive within 4-5 business days once the order has been produced and handed over to the carrier for delivery.
Estimated Shipping timelines: EU-bound orders
UK-bound orders are estimated to arrive within 7 – 12 business days following production.
For France, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden orders are estimated to arrive within 7 – 12 business days following production.
For all other countries within Europe, orders are estimated to arrive within 10 – 16 business days following production.
Please note that tracking is not available for orders fulfilled and shipped from the EU.
For international orders shipped from the US, we do not track packages once they reach their destination country.
How do I know if my order is fulfilled in the EU or US?
Normally the fulfillment region is determined by the delivery address. You can identify the fulfillment region by clicking on “Delivery Details” on the product listing page.
Shipping Costs
Shipping fees are calculated at checkout and are based on the weight of the order, the number of packages needed to fulfill the order, the location the order is shipped from and the delivery location. To get an accurate price quote for shipping, please add the items you want to your cart and proceed to checkout, then select your shipping destination country from the checkout’s drop-down menu.
Orders shipping internationally from a third-party fulfiller based in the United States may be subject to pay fees for delivery, such as customs charges, duties, VAT’s or other fees.
Fans should check in with their local laws regarding any taxes or fees they may have to pay once the order arrives. Local postal services may also require a fee for the completion of delivery. These fees, like customs fees and taxes, are not included in any calculated shipping charges, and we’re not able to calculate the amount you may be charged for customs on our end of things. We are also not able to mark any orders as ‘gifts’ nor are we able to adjust the price declared on an order. We do not issue any refunds for customs fees, shipping, or the cost of an order should your customer refuse to pay the customs fees.
Shipping Cut Off Dates
As a general rule, Creators should use the estimated fulfillment and shipping timelines above to calculate the last day to ship for on-time delivery and share this cut off date with their Fans. Once the standard shipping cut off date has passed, Fans will have the option to select Rush shipping for eligible products at checkout. With Rush shipping, you don’t have to end the print cycle by a certain date—but Fans will need to place their order and select Rush shipping by the cutoff date to receive expedited fulfillment. Learn more about ending print cycles here.
Facebook’s collection of commerce tools and content features make it a powerful platform for promoting your Spring store.
Create a business page
You should create a Facebook business page if you haven’t already. By setting up shop, you’ll be able to unlock more tools, analytical features and boost your brand’s discoverability. Once your page is live, you can update your ‘About’ section with links to your channel, store, social accounts and more.
Your Facebook cover photo is a prime location to promote products and announce sales. @SimonsCat [5.1M subscribers] creates cover photos during the pre-order period of their limited edition products. Include a link within the caption of the photo, so fans can find your store. Choose ‘shop now’ as your page button and link to your store to create another pathway.
Set up your shop
Creators who open a Facebook business page may also be eligible to utilize tools like Facebook shopping. While viewing your page, look to the left sidebar to see if you have the ‘shop’ tab. Click the tab, write a description for your shop and add your products one by one by pasting each listing URL. Once added, your community can click products and complete their purchase on Spring by going straight to the listing page on your store.
Publish posts
What to include in Facebook posts:
Always include a link to your listing or store when sharing your products
Include visuals in your posts—whether it be a photo wearing your product, showcasing your digital product, a promo gif or video.
We also recommend sharing the story behind your design and why it’s important to you and your community.
If you’re running a sale, it’s a good idea to call out the promo code and the sale end date in your post.
Last, you’ll want to remind followers to share photos of their products once they receive their order so you can reshare them.
@ColeandMarmalade [1.29M subscribers] show off a variety of their holiday collection in this Facebook post by posing with their samples.
@Mississippi_golden_gurls [324k followers] has posted a photo with several of their products. In the description, they’ve included their store link, and shared a promo code for a sale they’re running.
Tracking tips:
Remember to use clean product and store URL’s when sharing online. Remove any additional tracking parameters like ?tsmac=store&tsmic=simonscat that might be added to the URL if you’re copying from the Spring website.
To shorten the link or to track the number of clicks it generates, consider using a bitly link.
Going Live
Sharing video content via Facebook live is an incredible way to engage with fans. @Mississippi Golden Gurls [314K followers] reveals a new product in this live video to show fans personally, as well as engage with their community in real-time.
@Givling [67.7K followers] noticed a significant increase in engagement and sales when they announced new products and giveaways using Facebook Live.
Pinterest is a visual social media platform used to “pin” or collect images from the web. With 335 million monthly users reported at the end of 2019, Pinterest can be an effective social platform to promote your Spring store and build your brand’s presence and identity online.
This platform is probably best known as a mood boarding tool for inspiration, but there’s a huge online community to tap into—83% of weekly Pinners make purchases based on content they see on Pinterest.
Set up a business profile
To make the most of this creative platform, set up a business Pinterest account. You’ll be able to access extra features, such as analytics, advertising, and custom profiles. With analytics you are able to keep track of your pins’ engagement rates and discover which ones are performing the best.
Pin your products
Compelling images, colorful graphics and on-trend visuals are the types of content that drive the most engagement. There are loads of ways you can create effective Pinterest content using your products.
Always include a link to your listing as the destination link of each post.
Always include visual content in your posts—whether it be a photo wearing your product, a mockup or gif.
If you’re running a sale, it’s a good idea to call out the promo code and the sale end date. Include this in the pin’s description or as a part of the image itself.
By creating pins using your listing URL, fans who click on the pin can access the products easily. Consider using UTM parameters on your links using bitly, which will track the number of clicks your pins are generating. If you want further analytics insight like the number of visitors and purchases your pins are driving, you can take advantage of Spring’s Google Analytics Integration.
Share real photos
Wearing your merch in promotional content can increase your sales significantly. Lifestyle images always win. In the example below, creator @megmatable [659 followers] wears one of her samples and links the listing URL in the pin so fans can easily discover her store.
@johniejaysworld [836 followers] has utilized the ‘Shop the look’ feature by including all the products featured in the main pin. As long as you create a pin for each specific product that you want to feature, this is easy to achieve by following the steps here.
Offer a discount
During key shopping dates like Black Friday means sharing images of your products with a discount included can literally 2x your purchases compared to images with no discount offered. @allisonbickerstaff [5.6K followers] incorporates text into her images to promote a sale, including the promo code in the description of the pin.
If you don’t have any images or graphics to use yet, consider creating product mockups using your designs. These are a great alternative to presenting your product on a person without taking your own images. Also fill up your Pinterest board uploading content from fans featuring your products. Use platforms such as PlaceIt with over 7,000 templates. Placeit offers Spring creators unlimited features for a discounted subscription per month. Learn more here.
Twitter has an average of over 330 million monthly active users. Over a third of Twitter fans buy from a brand they follow on Twitter—making it a great social platform to share your product releases.
Promoting products on Twitter
Always include a link to your listing or store in your tweets
Keep in mind Twitter prime-time is usually between 9am and 1pm.
Tag @spring4creators in your tweets—we may retweet you and help expand your reach.
Include relevant hashtags in your tweets (for example, fundraisers could include hashtags #CharityTuesday, #boost4charity, etc.) to gain more impressions.
Retweet your fans’ tweets mentioning your products to reward them for their loyalty and to engage with your community
Include images whenever possible—not only does it make your tweets more eye-catching, but featuring images are 35% more likely to be retweeted.
Make your store easily discoverable
You can add your Spring store URL as the website link for your Twitter account. This will make your products easily accessible for your community. Also add a CTA to your Twitter bio to draw attention to your store, for example, ‘Check out my store in the link below!’
Spring tip: If you’re running a promotion or have mentioned a new product launch in your content, provide a link directly to your listing, rather than store URL. It removes one step for the fan, and has been shown to almost double conversion rates, meaning more completed sales (easy win).
It’s useful to track the clicks your link is generating by using a bitly. In the example below, @ColeandMarmalade [1.28M subscribers] feature their store at the top of their profile. Creator @quietcoolkid [184K subscribers] is a blogger, so she connects with fans by sharing her outfits–so tweeting photos of herself wearing a sample is a great tactic.
Within the few days before you share new products with your community you should start posting teasers and hints around the upcoming drop, creating hype. Creators use Twitter to create anticipation during the pre-launch phase of his new product collection. By posting teaser images and videos on social media every day until the release date, he counts down with his fans.
Other content for your tweets might include a sale announcement to up engagement. Share a promo code in your tweet or overlay it on your image. @NerdECrafter [1M subscribers] uses a gif showing off their design and as well as the different products available.
Pin tweets
After posting a tweet, you are able to ‘pin’ it to the top of your profile. This means the chosen tweet will remain at the top of your profile until you update it or remove the pin. Pinning it means it will be the first thing your fans see after landing on your Twitter. Get creative with this feature and include photos, or even gifs to make it as eye catching as possible.
@SICKOFWOLVES [164.9K followers] uses pinned tweets in this way by including both images of his products, as well as a link to his store.
Re-share your fans’ tweets
Once fans start receiving their orders, retweet their posts to spread your reach even further and show appreciation to your community for supporting you. This technique is called social proof—being the approval of a product from a peer group. Fans sharing photos of themselves and your products generates excitement and interest, as well as affirming the value and quality of your products. Use and share a personalized hashtag, so you can easily keep track of any mentions.
@jessicaoutofthecloset [629K subscribers] uses Twitter to connect with her community, and even goes a step further by creating a hashtag specifically for her products ‘#lovelypeoplemerch’. Jessica encourages her fans to share selfies of them wearing her products.
With a community of 15 million fans, Twitch is a powerful social platform for sharing products in real-time on livestream. Spring is one of the only platforms that enables you to create subscriber-exclusive products to sell via Twitch as well—you can require fans to verify their subscriber status to access your exclusive product releases.
The Spring x Twitch merch store panel extension offers a fully integrated shopping experience (check out video). Your community can use the extension to purchase your products without leaving your livestream. Whenever you create new products, they’ll appear in your panel within 15 minutes. Customize products displayed on your panel within your Spring account in the “Integrations” tab. Your products will be visible to international fans, and products can be shipped worldwide.
Set up custom Streamlabs OBS alerts within the ‘Integrations’ section of your dashboard (learn how). Once you’ve activated custom alerts, fans can create personalized messages post-purchase that are visible to you and all viewers on your livestream. This real-time notification appears in chat and encourages their fans to purchase your products and get a shout out from you. Live merch alerts are available on every streaming platform integrated with Streamlabs—including YouTube, Twitch, Mixer, Facebook Gaming, and more.
Using a !merch command is a “must” when promoting on Twitch. Creating a command will enable you to easily direct people to your store via chat. Use a chatbot like Nightbot, Mootbod, StreamElements, etc. to create the command. Your merch command should always link to your merch store URL (you can use tracking links like bitly too). You’ll also want to include a call to action like CHECK OUT MY NEW STORE, NEW PRODUCTS JUST ARRIVED, CLICK FOR NEWEST PRODUCTS, etc.
Also add additional content like a link to a clip of you showing off products too. If you’re releasing a limited-edition product, create a custom command like !shirt to feature in the launch video. You may also want to automate your merch command to post within chat to remind your community to check out your products.
In this example you can see entering @Pestily’s !merch command in chat produces a link to his merch store with additional text.
Optimize stream title
Whenever you’re announcing new products we recommend mentioning ‘NEW MERCH’ at the beginning of your stream title. You should also regularly add your merch command towards the end of titles. Optimizing titles will make your products more discoverable to people browsing through streams. Plus adding the merch command at the end reminds viewers how they can learn more about your products.
Above, you can see the @FireDragon calls out his limited edition product and features a custom !shirt command he created for it.
Announce product releases live
Try creating hype leading up to a new launch to drive more sales in the first 24 hours. Examples of creating hype include hinting at ‘something big’ coming up while streaming or that you’ve got limited-edition new products launching soon. Loyal viewers will be anxious to know what the big news is, and you can plan to make the announcement on stream the day of your launch.
Spring tip: If you’re running a promotion or have mentioned a new product launch in your stream, provide a link directly to the listing, rather than your store URL. It removes one step for the fan, and has been shown to almost double conversion rates, meaning more completed sales (easy win).
You can schedule an end date on any of your listings to make products available for a limited time. Also consider doing a giveaway of one of your new products or a limited-time discount to increase viewership.
@FireDragon is a great example of on-stream merch promotion. Check out the clip above where he announces his new store—not only does give a complete virtual tour of the store, but he also discusses specific items and designs. His viewers get more and more excited in chat as he talks about each one.
Wear your products
Wearing samples of your products on stream and in promotional content can increase your sales by 50%. It’s a great way to show off your products without specifically calling them out. You can order samples of your products at base cost and have them delivered directly to you.
Create a store panel
In addition to activating the merch store extension, consider creating a custom panel for your products linking directly to your store. If you need help creating channel panels, here’s an example of a design tutorial plus our top recommended design resources.
Add overlays and BRB screens
Adding a merch overlay is a good way to keep your products top of mind, without creating distraction from your content. Build your overlay with product images and/or a merch command. Overlays are good for letting lurkers know about your products even if they’re not engaged with chat.
Get into the habit of featuring products in your stream intro, outro and BRB screens. Fans waiting for your stream to start or for you to return from a bathroom break is the perfect time for them to browse your store. 😏 Include mockups of your products (or images of you with them), your store URL, merch command and/or a call to action like “Check out official merch!” too.
In this example we can see @Patterz has incorporated his !merch command as well as product mockups into his intro screen.
Create crowd-sourced designs
Creating crowd-sourced designs on stream is an effective way to engage viewers and drive sales—you can even create the product on stream. Because viewers are actively involved in the design and creation of the product they’re more likely to purchase it.
TikTok is one of the fastest-growing, revolutionary social media platforms hosting a new wave of successful, ambitious creators. The DIY style content shared on this platform gives creators the freedom to experiment with honest and fun content. TikTok’s engagement driven algorithm makes it the ideal platform for creators to widen their community and make their products discoverable to millions.
Add store link to your bio
Your bio is featured at the top of your TikTok profile. Add your store URL within this space, and add wording such as ‘shop my products below’. Use a bitly link to track the number of clicks your bio link generates like @thedottist [30.7K followers] has below.
Spring tip: If you’re running a promotion or have mentioned a new product launch in your content, link directly to the listing in your bio, rather than your store URL. It removes one step for the fan, and has been shown to almost double conversion rates, meaning more completed sales (easy win).
Share content using your products
Get fans’ attention by creating video content featuring your products. Animator @tootymcnooty [3.7M followers], for example, released a dedicated video for the drop of her new product collection. She used her unique animated style within the video,wore samples of her products, and included a link to her store within the video caption.
TikTok couple @candyken [8.1M followers] and @jostasy [3.4M followers] often feature their products in TikTok videos. In this example, they are wearing their ‘ok boomer’ designs in conjunction with the release of their new song.
Announce a sale
Running a sale can boost conversions by up to 60% and TikTok is a great place to share promo codes with fans. Telling your community the discount has limited availability and updating your bio with the promo code can be very effective for increasing sales. @purpleedragonn [39K followers] announced a promotion she ran, using the in-app text editing tools to call out the promo code.
Use the livestream feature
Livestreaming is quickly becoming one of the most popular ways to promote products. The un-edited, real-time aspect of TikTok live streams increases the amount of fans that tune into your content—creating new ways to promote your products while engaging followers. The Livestream feature on TikTok is only available to for users over the age of 16 with at least 1,000 followers.
Crowd-source designs
Consider involving fans in your design process. Try live streaming or asking for input in your TikTok video content. @edenharvz [187K followers] did this, asking which designs her fans liked best. Creating a contest for fans to submit design ideas also works really well and makes your community more likely to purchase because they’re involved with the design process. You can pick the winners live on your stream to drum up even more hype.
Instagram is a powerful promotional channel for creators. Use its visual based content to let your products shine. Check out our promotional tips below to ensure you’re using all available features and tools to maximize your sales.
Add the Linktree Integration
Linktree is a great way to make your Spring store easily discoverable within your Instagram profile. Embed your Spring store directly within your Linktree—driving more traffic and increased sales. The Linktree Integration is available to all creators. Get started below.
By setting up an Instagram Shop with Spring, you’ll be able to promote your products by tagging them in your Instagram posts, stories, reels, and more. Your fans can browse and purchase straight from your profile. You’ll be able to track insights and habits to better understand your business. And that’s just a few of the benefits. Instagram is rolling out access constantly, so check your eligibility below.
Instagram stories allow you to share key moments and in-feed posts instantly, lasting 24 hours. Use your stories to create direct call-to-actions, like “shop now” and send followers straight to your store. All Instagram creators have the ability to add “link stickers” to their stories—allowing you to send fans straight to your product listings.
Use Unfold or Canva to create imagery using flawless Instagram story templates. Simply upload photos and videos to the app and customize them using Unfold’s features.
If you’d like stories promoting your products to last longer than 24 hours, add them to your ‘highlights’ so they’re always visible on your Instagram profile. Customize highlights to follow a specific aesthetic. Many creators feature stories showing off products or fan selfies who purchased and shared images on Instagram.
Use swipe up/IGTV
This feature on Instagram stories allows creators to add their website or product link to a story. Fans can ‘swipe up’ on the post to visit the link you’ve added. You need 10,000 followers or more to unlock this feature on Instagram.
If you haven’t got access yet, you can utilize IGTV to replicate the swipe up feature. It allows for longer videos to be posted (between 15 seconds and 10 minutes). Use IGTV instead of the swipe up feature by uploading your video and adding your preferred link into the caption of the IGTV post. Unlike Instagram stories, IGTV videos are permanent and will stay on your profile. Let followers know to click on the title at the top of the video to go to your store or listing URL.
Re share fans content
Fans sharing photos of themselves with your products is a great promotional tool and affirms the quality of your products. Ask fans to use personalized hashtags or tag your Instagram handle in their posts so you can easily keep track.
In this example, @ALLISON [158k subscribers] features a fan wearing her product and incorporates it into the Instagram feed of her brand, Magic Dwells Here.
Share posts consistently
The best promotional posts follow the same theme of your existing content. It’s important to avoid sharing posts that feel like advertisements. Feature photos or videos of you showing samples of your products, present your digital products with text overlays, or give details within the caption. Post temporary promotional images on your Instagram Stories. Use apps such as Canva or Placeit to create professional, visually engaging assets for your posts and Instagram stories.
