Spring and Instagram are expanding access to Shops on Instagram to 350,000+ US creators, just in time for the holiday season. From today, they can earn 100% profit on all sales driven through the shop integration until December 31, 2021.
This unprecedented move means that creators will earn more than ever before: if a creator sells a hoodie for $40, they will keep all $40. This initiative will support creators even further as they ramp up sales in upcoming weeks—using powerful promotional tools like tagging products in posts, stories, reels, and more.
The initiative spearheaded by Spring and Instagram, is intended to further accelerate the creator economy for both aspiring and established creators. Historically, we’ve seen many make more sales during the holiday season than the entire year combined, so we’re looking forward to seeing this groundbreaking opportunity benefit thousands.
We’ve added black mugs to the launcher—but there’s a few differences you should know when creating your design.
Long-awaited black mugs are here. Read through the tips below to make sure your design looks exactly as you imagined.
The printable area
Let’s start by explaining how it works. The entire mug is black, but the actual printable area is white. During the sublimation process, the white sublimation area is filled with your artwork, and the “negative” areas of your design will be printed black to match the mug.
Use an off-white color palette
If there are white elements in your design, those areas will not have any ink applied. They’ll be treated as ‘empty’, meaning the white printing area will show through instead. Ideally, you don’t want this—ink may also bleed into the white background area. If you have white in your mug design, we recommend making it off-white, rather than a true white color.
Keep it simple
Since any negative space on your design will be filled with black ink, intricate prints may appear less crisp due to bleeding from the black ink. Keep your design bold and simple—this way, it will look more effective once printed.
Design effect don’ts
Also, we know it’s tempting, but refrain from applying effects when preparing your design. It won’t look great when applied to your mug and will often degrade the quality of your print. Examples of these effects might include:
Drop shadows
Spray paint effects or gradients
Low opacities—stick to 50% or higher
Avoid designs with straight edges
If you can, try and avoid using designs with perfectly circle or square shapes. They may look warped when placed on a round, cylindrical product like a mug.
That’s everything you need to create a 10/10 design. Head to the launcher below to start.
Instagram is rolling out access to Shops on Instagram to 350,000+ creators just in time for the holiday season. Creators can earn 100% profit on all sales driven through the shop integration from now through December 31, 2021.
Eligible creators can earn up to a total $50,000 in bonus profit—sell a hoodie for $40, and keep all $40. Need we say more? It’s time to ramp up sales and make bank. Once you’ve set up your shop, you can use powerful promotional tools like tagging your products in posts, stories, reels, and more.
You can check your eligibility for this integration at any time. Head to the Integrations section of your Spring account to learn more.
How will creators earn 100% profit for shop sales with Spring?
This initiative is spearheaded by Spring x Instagram and is intended to further accelerate the creator economy for both aspiring and established creators. During the 2021 holiday season, creators will earn 100% profit through their shop on Instagram from November 1st until December 31st.Every creator can earn up to a total value of $50,000 in bonus profit during this time.
When do creators receive their bonus profit?
Bonus profits from shop sales will be paid within the first 10 business days of the following month. For example, a shirt has a base cost of $10 and is sold for $25; the creator will immediately receive $15 in their Spring account, and the remaining $10 will be paid as the bonus profit at the start of the following month.
Where can creators see their bonus profit amount?
Bonus profit will be visible within the Payouts section of your Spring account. Bonuses will appear as a credited amount titled “2021 Instagram Creator Commerce Incentive Program Bonus.”
If you’re not eligible yet, no worries. There’s plenty of ways you can make this holiday season your most profitable. See some tried and true tips for you below.
We’ve got your back—here’s tips for getting the most out of peak season, while making sure fans receive their orders in time for Christmas.
This year, the holiday selling season is going to be huge. That’s why we’re working to make it run smoothly for you; we’ve sourced inventory to maintain stock levels throughout peak production and coordinated with delivery partners to confirm optimum shipping timelines—everything is in place to ensure your fans’ orders arrive on time for December 25th.
But don’t let the cutoff dates hold you back, learn how to extend your selling period all the way through peak selling season.
2021 Christmas delivery cutoff dates
Take note of the important dates below. Fans need to place orders for physical products (i.e. hoodies, t-shirts, water bottles, etc.) by the standard shipping date to receive their order in time for Christmas. After the standard cutoff date, they should select rush shipping at checkout to get their order in time for December 25th. Make sure to mention these dates as you’re promoting products to your fans—this can create a sense of urgency and help you drive more sales.
Don’t forget we’ll communicate estimated delivery dates to your fans at checkout, in order confirmation emails, and in order status updates—so they should be informed of their order status every step of the way.
How to extend your peak selling period
There’s lots of ways to max your profits from now through December 25th—and you get going now. There’s two ways: start running sales from now through to shipping cutoffs, then push your digital product promotion hard right up to Christmas.
Start running sales (like, now)
It’s proven that offering a discount can increase sales by 60%. Don’t wait for Cyber Weekend—last year orders began to spike as early as November 1st. Start promoting those early bird discounts and extend your peak selling period ASAP. Learn how creators are running successful sales in our guide now. Also, don’t miss our Cyber Weekend Guide for more tips.
Promoting digital products is the smartest way to keep profits coming in right up to 25th December. With instant delivery, there’s no shipping to worry about.
Already selling digital products? You can “holidize” them to put a new spin on a successful product. New to digital products? No worries, find digital inspo below, as well as free templates and tools. No design experience required.
If you’re here, you’ve received an exclusive invite for our new service: custom product imagery.
There’s something magic about seeing products in the wild. That’s why we’re offering custom product images for select creators. But don’t delay, this is a limited time service. You have until November 10 to submit custom product images for this round of beta testing. Learn how to get started.
How it works is simple:
Order a product sample
Take a photo
Submit to our team (you can send up to two images)
Rake in the sales
So far, we’ve seen several creators who’ve added custom product images triple their sales. If you haven’t ordered a product sample, you can learn how here. It’s pretty simple.
Also note: We’ll keep all your “flat lay” images so fans can see what your product looks like.
Tips for taking product photos
There’s just a few ground rules you should follow.
Use real photos you’ve taken. Stock images will not perform well—your fans want to see you in your custom images.
Only submit PNG or JPEG file types. We cannot accept other file types e.g. HEIC
You can submit up to two custom images, photos must feature the same product and color option. We’ll keep two of the original product mockups so fans can clearly see what products look like.
Show your design clearly. If your design is featured on the front of your hoodie, make sure you’re facing the camera. Make sure your brand (and not any others) are the main focus of your images, too, and not being obscured.
Focus on photo quality. Take your photographs in a brightly lit area and ensure your photo is in focus.
Do not alter or add filters. This may cause the colors of your auto-generated flat-lay image to differ from your custom product image.
Send in a square image. We recommend 1000 x 1000 pixels.
Get started below.
All we need is the following:
Your image file
URL of the listing you’d like customized
If there’s more than one product in your listing, specify which one you’d like updated
So you’ve got your promo code, what’s next? One of the highest priority items on your to-do list: plan effective promotional content to get your community flocking to your store and filling up carts.
The key: use sample imagery
Creators who feature samples in their promotional content earn as much as 200% more profit on their products. @loudmouthpod (below) and her photoshoot collages—genius as always. Head to Canva and you’ll have access to hundreds of free social media post templates.
Make your promo code stand out
For fans to apply your discount, they’ll need to know which code to apply at checkout. Ensure you either include it in your promotional imagery or within your caption. @hellomynameiswednesday (above) draws attention to theirs by including it in their graphic.
Thank fans for their support
Running a sale is a great way to thank your community for their support. Check out this video content too, featuring samples (of course). Absolute promo goals from @explorerffectgear, who has thanked their followers in their caption.
Include details of your sale in your caption
Don’t want to come across too ‘salesy’ or disrupt the theme of your content? Include the details of your sale within your caption instead. Also provide a link directly to your product (important one). @ms.christinacosta is making great use of the Instagram integration below. If you don’t see the “Add Shop” button, be sure to embed your store within your Linktree.
Your discount amount should be the boldest part of your promo content. You need to give your community a reason to purchase your products in this limited amount of time‑ state the percentage or amount of money they will be saving.
Last minute sale? No worries. Use typography.
We’ve used an example from our grid here. A promo post can be text based and still catch the eye of your fans. Plus, it looks great (and unmissable) on your grid. Create Instagram stories to go with it, and you’ll watch the sales roll in.
Calling all fitness fanatics, e-sports extraordinaires, or anyone with an engaged community. We’ve got product newness, available for all creators: Team Jerseys.
Drum up some team spirit for your fans with this fully customizable jersey. Create yours now via the link below—or keep reading to learn about product details and design inspo.
Team Jerseys are built with quality and performance in mind. Why do we love them?
Fully customizable: Apply your designs to the arms, back and front.
Premium, 100% polyester wicks away sweat as you workout.
Birdseye sleeves add extra breathability.
Super soft fabric makes them comfortable also for lounging around.
With a base cost of $32, we recommend you sell your Team Jersey designs starting at $39.99. There’s plenty of opportunity for profit.
File formatting tips
Start putting your Team Jersey design together using the template linked below. Download the .psd file and find instructions. Find design formatting pointers here.
Here’s a few design concepts to get you on the right track:
Play the numbers game: Consider adding a number that’s significant for you and your fans.
Add your branding: You might build your logo into the design, applying it to the sleeves, the main focus at the back of the jersey, or along the bottom. Think about using your social media handle as the main design element.
Use winning words: Is there a tag line you always use in your content, or an inside joke you share with fans, or a nickname for your community? Make it the focal point of your Team Jersey.
Choose popular colors: Feature your go-to color palette—maybe it’s colors you use often in your content or in your branding.
Add digital products to your store now and sell them all the way up to December 25th thanks to instant delivery. Sales needn’t stop.
Smash your sales records by offering digital products this holiday season. We’ve put together a bunch of ideas for you below (along with free toolslinked in each section to help you get started). Don’t forget, you don’t need to be a design wizard. You have a ton of free templates here too.
Repurpose existing digital products
Think of a successful digital product you launched this past year. Then, make it holiday-ready. Here’s a few examples:
Digital coloring book. Create festive themed pictures to color in-app or print out. Just remove the color from one of your designs using Photoshop, or there are plenty of tools online.
Lightroom preset. Consider creating a winter photo filter. Bring down the saturation and add a frosty tint, or apply a grainy texture and warm up the colors for a vintage disposable film vibe.
Digital art. Fans go crazy for your artwork? Offer limited edition printable artwork for fans to download and print out, only available during December.
Digital e-card designs encourage sustainable shopping and save paper. Offer a set of digital e-card designs for fans to forward to family and friends. Get started via the button below.
Go the extra mile—consider animating your e-card or adding sounds.
Got a popular line or catch phrase your fans loved in one of your livestreams this year? Try your hand at selling the moment in the form of an audio file. Your community can download and use it as ringtones, notification tones, and more.
Further, if you’re a music artist, producer (or just a bit of a whiz with sound), consider selling audio files. Sell limited edition albums for your fans to listen to while they enjoy festivities.
Inspire your fans with your digital products this holiday season. Take your ideas to Canva and make a guide. You might create recipes for festive bakes, crafty ideas for DIY gifts, a wreath making step-by-step, or a festive knitting pattern for fans to knit their dog a Christmas jumper—we could go on.
Head to Canva below to use the e-book builder. Pick a design, add your content, then add pages via the button at the bottom of the editor.
In the run up to the holiday, you should think about releasing digital products for the new year. Focus on helping your community to get themselves organized and become the best version of themself. Examples of products you might create, we’ve also linked free templates to help:
The secret to a monumental Black Friday weekend: plan a solid strategy. It’s not as overwhelming as it sounds—here, we’ll break it down for you.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the biggest selling days of the year, and Spring is no different. Creators who offer discounts during this weekend can double their sales.
Make sure you’re prepared for the Cyber weekend. So what does that mean?
First things first, get your holiday products designed and sample orders in by October 10th, so you can start promoting ASAP. Take note of the shipping cutoff dates too, so you can make sure fans receive their orders by Christmas. There’s three key tasks to remember:
Fill out a content and sales calendar
Prepare promo codes
Create promotional imagery
Create a calendar
Content and sales calendars can be super helpful, as you might run multiple sales leading up to Black Friday (for example, you might do your sales in one burst the week before, or several pre-sales in the weeks leading up—or both!). Plus, it’s not only sales you’ll be planning, but also promo codes you’re offering, when you choose to promote them on social, and so forth.
We recommend having yours ready by November 1st. Here’s a free template:
Build anticipation early with pre-sale benefits (like giveaways).
Include hints about what is coming up, as well as run mini sales leading up to the Cyber weekend.
Run different promo types to the ones you plan to run during the Cyber weekend. E.g. offer free shipping in the days leading up, then percentage discounts for your Cyber weekend sale.
NOVEMBER 26TH – NOVEMBER 30TH: Cyber Weekend
Black Friday (11/26): Make the biggest impact on socials. Share promo codes in your content and be sure to feature sample imagery. See how other creators do it here.
Offer a percentage discount promo (ex. 15% off). Run it through Cyber Monday to maximize orders.
Cyber Monday (11/29): Highlight your newest digital products. You might add a bonus gift as part of your listing. I.e. a free bonus wallpaper.
Giving Tuesday (11/30): Thank fans for their support. Think giveaways, an extra special discount until the rest of the week, and more.
DECEMBER 1ST – 18TH: Thank fans with more promotions
Use the beginning of December to continue running other mini sales leading up to the shipping cut-off dates.
From December 1st onwards is the prime time to start offering digital products. With instant delivery and no shipping or logistics to worry about, there’s every reason to create a variety of digital content.
Preparing promo codes
Prepare your promo codes within the ‘Promotions’ section of your dashboard. Line up your promo codes in advance, and simply switch them on when you’re ready. Find out more about creating promotions here.
Promo codes can be applied to all of your products. You’ll need to ensure there’s enough profit margin to support the promo—no matter what product is being purchased.
1) Create effective promotional content.Click the image below to see how creators are announcing their sales on socials.
2) Feature samples. Creators who highlight samples in promotional content earn as much as 200% more profit from their products. Make sure you’re doing it too—find inspo here. Don’t forget to tag @springforcreators and use the hashtag #CreateShareEarn for the chance to be featured on Spring’s socials.
3) Use free tools to create promos. Sign up with 20% off using Spring’s partnership with Placeit to create sale announcements. Canva is a great tool for creating eye-catching images to share on social media. There are hundreds of templates—just don’t forget to include the promo code, the dates your sale will run, and the discount type.
4) Use integrations. Make sure fans can find your products easily. Pair social content with a link straight to your listing. Present products underneath your videos using the YouTube Integration, or set up the Instagram Shopping Integration to begin tagging your products in posts (and more). Don’t have access yet? Start using the Linktree Integration, available to all creators right now.
Some creators sell more during the holiday season than the entire year combined. Make this holiday season your most successful yet.
It may seem a little overwhelming at first—but we’ve got you. Below, we’ve laid out key dates you can follow to put yourself in the best position possible. Here’s how.
1) Create a holiday product collection
We’ve found certain products sell especially well during the holidays. Here’s what’s been proven to sell the best (based on current trends and recent years):
Aim to create your holiday product collection by October 1st. This will give you enough time to order samples, prepare your content schedule, and maximize sales over the next 3 months. Take note of the Christmas delivery cutoff dates for fans too, so no one misses out. Add new products to your collection just in time for the holidays, and add limited edition holiday designs.
2) Order samples and x3 your sales
Once you’ve finished creating, it’s time to promote. Best way: Ordering product samples. Creators who do so sell 3x more than those who don’t.
That said, we’d recommend ordering your product samples by October 10. This gives you enough time for shipping, then for you to create your promo content. Flick through the samples guide to find out the best ways to use samples to promote your products.
Tag us (@springforcreators)in social content featuring your samples, and don’t forget to use the hashtag #createshareearn for the chance to be featured in our 2021 holiday campaign on Instagram and get more eyes on your brand ✨
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the biggest online shopping days of the year. Creators who offer discounts during this weekend can double their sales. We suggest running sales during those days—creators who’ve done so in the past have doubled their sales. In that, you’ll want to schedule your sales by November 1st, so you’re ready to switch your promotions on in your dashboard when the time comes.
We’ve got three quick ways to optimize your store for the season:
Feature products in your store: these can get 20% more views on average.
Add your branding to your store: stores with custom branding see 35% increase in conversion rates.
Customize your domain: creators with custom domains can sell up to 5x more on average than those who don’t. Also, when you set up a domain with us, you’ll automatically receive an SSL certification, making your store more search friendlier as well as more secure or fans.
5) Keep profits rolling until Christmas with digital products
Okay, we just threw a bunch of dates at you. One thing with a bit of flexibility is digital products. Since these don’t have to actually ship anywhere (fans download immediately), you have up until the holiday itself to sell these products. Ensure your digital products are added to your store ASAP, so you can start promoting right away. Go extra hard on promotions after Cyber Weekend.
Get fans excited with special promotions on holiday themed digital products. Include bonus products (e.g. a free wallpaper background) with their digital product purchase—this is a great way to boost your sales even more.
Find inspo for digital products to create for the holidays, and don’t forget, we’ve got free digital product templates you can download and customize here.
