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Creators Insights

Moriah x Rubik’s: A master class in creator and brand collaboration

On March 19, creator Moriah Elizabeth announced a surprise, never-been-done-before product launch: a fully customized Rubik’s cube. 

Now this is important for two reasons: First, it was the first-ever collaboration between a Spring creator and Rubik’s. And second, it generated an enormous response, becoming the most successful product Moriah has ever launched.

Let’s bring this back a bit. For those who don’t know, Moriah is a crafting genius with a YouTube channel of over 6 million followers. Late last year, a fan commented that Moriah should customize a Rubik’s cube. The comment blew up, eventually getting over 10,000 likes. 

It came at the perfect time. Funny enough, we were already in early talks with Rubik’s about partnering for creator collaborations. So with Moriah in mind, we locked in a licensing agreement. The terms were set, Moriah was in, and we went to work. 

First, we worked with Moriah to replicate her customized cube design. We then helped create an eye-catching promo video to amplify the launch, which got over 5 million views and over 80,000 comments. We created paid ads targeting her audience across YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook, as well as a drip email campaign geared toward her fans on Spring. 

As for the result? Moriah sold 10,000 units within the first 72 hours of launch. 

The folks at Rubik’s were pleased, too. “When we saw the overwhelming reaction from Moriah’s fanbase, it was a no brainer to join forces with her and Spring,” says xxx, Rubik’s. “We’ve worked with the biggest designers and household names in the world, so we’re thrilled to step into the booming creator economy for the very first time with Moriah.”

Brand collaborations bring tremendous potential for creators, and this is just the start. As we think of it—partnerships like these go beyond the new normal; rather, we call it “the new possible.”

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Insights

Promotional practices *really* working right now

Start glowing-up your social media platforms and get on top of your promo game ready for the holiday season. Keep reading to discover our round up of techniques and content creation hacks to use across your social media platforms.

Plan merch photoshoots

Posting content that shows yourself sporting or using your own merch is key. For all types of creators, showing off the quality of your products to your audience helps to increase sales as well as establish your personal brand. Set up your own DIY photoshoot and style your products in a way that engages your community. You can order samples of your products at base cost within the “Listings” section of your account.

Creating video content is an effective way to capture the interest of your community of fans on social media. Use platforms such as TikTok, YouTube and Instagram IGTV, Reels, and Stories to upload dynamic videos featuring your merch samples–this can increase sales by 50%. Wear your merch while filming, mention your products within your content and even consider filming a dedicated editorial style video to announce the launch of your products. Always make sure to provide links and reference to your products by using #linkinbio on Instagram posts and including URL links in your captions and descriptions. Check out this super cool video by Miles Carter generating hype around his Made to feel products.

There are a tons of tools online you can utilize to help you to create effective video content featuring your products. For example, experiment with Placeit’s video section of mock ups and insert your merch designs for Instagram stories, video posts and product demo’s. Don’t forget, Instagram and TikTok both have free built in video editing functions, and they’re super simple to use—add text, filters, cuts, music and more!

Collect and share social proof

Successful creators incorporate social proof into their promotional efforts by collecting and sharing customer photos. Fan’s selfies act as positive reviews of your products and sharing them is an engaging way of generating trust in your brand. 

Whatever way you decide to promote your product, encourage fans to share photos wearing your products. Double up this kind of content for your own social channels and promote the popularity of your products. Sharing your fan’s content helps you interact on a more personal level with your community while building relationships with your followers, encouraging loyalty and building trust.

Brand consistency

It’s important to create brand consistency across all of your social platforms so followers can easily recognize you—we recommend using the same branding elements between your store and socials. If you need help creating design assets, check out these design resources to help you get started.

The last, yet perhaps one of the most important promotional practices is making sure you’re frequently sharing good quality imagery with your followers. Consider creating a Later.com account to plan your content across all social media platforms. Try to post at least 3-5 times a week with a variety of content. Come up with a strategy and experiment with posting at certain times of the day to see which posts get more engagement.

Kick off your promotional strategy by ordering samples of your physical products at base cost price. Head to the dashboard to get started.

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Insights

Turn heads by creating cutting edge, trippy designs

Brighten up your store this season by creating products in line with trending ‘trippy’ vibes. Sublimated tie-dye patterns are getting high volumes of sales, so be sure to try it out.

This month we’re all for encouraging creators to create unconventional stand-out designs. Creators like Joshua&StarCandy KenMontana & Ryan and J Clark the jumper are ahead of the game, while pushing boundaries with unique and bold merch collections. Jump on the trippy texture movement too and check out our Pinterest board for further inspo. Check out our collection of free all over print patterns below.

Create a co-ord listing

Discover ‘co-ords’–a longstanding, consistent trend that is still persisting this season. Short for the word ‘coordinates’, it means matching apparel products head to toe. This could be designing a set of matching loungewear such as joggers and sweatshirt or leggings and a t-shirt.

Combining pairs of products with co-ordinating designs by adding products to existing listings will encourage buyers to purchase several pieces in one go, increasing profits and the volume of products added to shopping carts. 

Ready to go? Head to the Spring Launcher. 

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Insights

Mugs: the essential drinkware addition to your merch offering

This classic product is recognized worldwide–it’s a must when it comes to your product offering. Mugs are trending right now, especially as buyers globally are finding ways to enhance their day-to-day routine working from home. Last season, we saw a 240% increase in mugs being sold compared with last year. Throughout recent months, sales are still growing exponentially. 

Product details

If you’re not featuring mugs in your campaigns, you could be missing out on extra sales. Here’s a rundown of the product specs: 

  • 11 oz ceramic mug
  • Dishwasher friendly, microwave safe
  • The front and back print area dimensions measure 2.943” x 2.553” 
  • White base color 
  • Poly-coated for sublimation print, ensuring vibrant print quality 
  • The mug base cost is $8, we recommend you sell them for $14.99

The perfect complimentary item

Not only do conversion rates on campaigns that include mugs as additional items stay consistently high, we’ve seen the amount of items added to baskets at checkout increase as well when they’re involved. Consider applying your current merch designs to a mug and add it to your current listings. 

Mugs are an affordable option to add to listings in addition to other types of products. Be sure to enable cross-selling in your store settings, so mugs can be suggested when previous fans are viewing your listings. Also consider creating a promo code to entice your first group of fans to purchase your newly dropped products with a reduced price mug included. 

Ready to design and sell custom mugs and supercharge sales? Visit the Launcher.

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How utilizing fan’s selfies can increase sales

Social proof is an important marketing tool, especially when it comes to online shopping. Social proof normally includes user-generated content like customer testimonials, case studies, online reviews, etc.  Considering 84% of millennials are likely to be influenced into making a purchase based on user-generated content (social proof) it’s clear just how powerful social proof can be! 

Lots of creators incorporate social proof into their promotional efforts by collecting and sharing their community’s photos. Photos of fans wearing and using your products generate hype, as well as affirm the value and quality of the products you’re selling. This content also functions as positive reviews of your products. Sharing them is an engaging way of generating trust in your brand. Not only this, but it also brings your community together, leading to more sales in the future.

Check out our video and complete guide below for examples of how creators are using social proof to leverage more merch sales—get inspired and try them out for yourself.

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Use personalized merch alerts on Twitch

Did you know personalized merch alerts can help increase your sales by 30%+ while streaming? Activating personalized merch alerts is easy and you can customize their appearance within Streamlabs too. Once activated your buyers will be able to add a personalized message post-purchase that will be visible to you and all viewers on stream.

Make sure “merch” is activated in Streamlabs

Once you’ve connected your Streamlabs x Teespring accounts, make sure you’ve got the “Merch” alert ticked within the Alert Box section of your Streamlabs account (under Features > Alert Box > Merch). Check out the video above for more info. 

Using multiple alert providers

You can use Streamlabs for merch alerts while using other alert providers for other alert types. Just make sure there’s no overlap with activated alerts on each platform—for example, if you’re using merch alerts on Streamlabs make sure they’re deactivated on StreamElements.  

Setup your Twitch Merch Store

Don’t forget you activate your Teespring x Twitch Merch Store Extension Panel to compliment your merch alerts. The panel enables viewers to purchase your products directly below your stream.  

Customizing alerts  

You can customize the appearance of your merch alerts directly within your Streamlabs account. Use the sidebar to select Features > Alert Box > Merch to access your alert customization settings. 

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Insights

12 ways to increase sales on Twitch

Twitch’s 15 million+ daily active viewers and massively engaged audience makes it the perfect place for streamers to promote their products. Plus you’ll get even more out of the platform using our powerful integrations; the Twitch Merch Store Panel Extension provides customers with a fully-integrated shopping experience and our Streamlabs integration enables buyers to create personalized merch alerts post-purchase that are visible to you and all viewers on stream. 

Don’t forget Teespring is one of the only platforms that enables you to create subscriber-exclusive merch for Twitch too. Whether shoppers access your products through the panel extension or your merch store, they’ll have to verify their subscriber status to purchase these exclusive products. This can be a good tactic for increasing subscriber count while driving sales through limited edition products.

Learn about the top 12 ways streamers are promoting and selling merch on Twitch in the video below. Pick and choose your favorite tactics or use them all to supercharge your sales. Don’t forget to check out Teespring’s complete promo guide for in-depth details and real-world examples of these tips in action. Complete Twitch promo guide.

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Insights

The top Twitter features for promoting products to fans

Twitter has an average of over 300 million monthly active users and it’s the 7th most visited website in the world! Also, over a third of Twitter users buy from a brand they follow—making it a great platform to promote and share your Teespring products. Most brands and organizations have Facebook accounts already, but if you’re new to Twitter you can learn about getting started here.

Using Twitter to promote your products is very easy…but there are a few things you should keep in mind to get the most out of your tweets. The video and complete guide linked below, which are full of examples of how creators are using Twitter’s features successfully—get inspired and try them out for yourself!

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Insights

10 YouTube features all creators should know

Whether you’re an established creator who’s looking to expand their online presence, or someone who’s just starting out, YouTube is a powerful platform to promote your products. Video content is being watched more now than ever before with 85%+ of all internet users in the US watching video content every month. Taking this and YouTube’s incredible 2 billion monthly active users into account means you’ve got a huge potential audience at your fingertips. 

Check out our newest promo guide below, covering 10 features and tools you can us to drive even more sales on YouTube. The the video and complete guide linked below are full of examples of how other creators are using these features successfully—get inspired and try them out for yourself!

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Insights

Everything creators need to know for the U.S. 2020 tax season

Tax season is upon us! Creators who have requested more than $600 USD in payouts within the calendar year may be prompted to provide more information for tax purposes (see image below). Sellers with multiple accounts will need to update their account information within each account as we will be merging your payout amount into one 1099 form.

If you’ve previously completed the form but your Tax Exemption Type has changed within the calendar year (for example, from Individual to Corporation) please be sure to notify sellers@teespring.com as soon as possible.

Identify yourself

If you’ve received over $600 in payouts from Teespring within the calendar year you may be prompted to fill out the tax information form. The first part of the form asks you to identify yourself—this information helps us determine if you need to receive a 1099. Here’s a further explanation of each option:

  • Corporation: Select this option if you are filing taxes as a corporation.
  • Individual: Select this option if you are filing taxes as an individual.
  • Non-profit: Select this option if you are filing taxes as a 501(c) organization (non-profit organization).
  • International: Select this option if you are an international entity (you reside year-round outside of the U.S).

Please note only individuals will receive a Form 1099 from Teespring—all other types (corporations, partnerships, LLCs, and international entities etc.) are responsible for reporting taxes themselves by consulting a tax accountant.

Check your account information

Please remember you have until Wednesday, January 15th, 2020 at 11:59PM PST to update your tax info within your Teespring account settings.

  • Make sure your Teespring login email is valid (we will email your 1099 form to this email address).
  • Make sure your default address in your seller dashboard under “Settings” is correct.
  • Remember to notify sellers@teespring.com if your Tax Exemption Type has changed (for example, from Individual to Corporation).

Make sure your default address is reflects your residential address during the calendar year

If you don’t update your information and do not receive a 1099 from Teespring it is still your responsibility to file your taxes properly based on your earnings, including earnings from Teespring. Teespring cannot provide tax advice—please consult a tax professional.

A link to your 1099 form will be sent to the email address associated with your Teespring account by January 31, 2020.

If you require further assistance please contact sellers@teespring.com.