You learned how to screen print, started a screen-printing business and are now wondering how customers will find your business. The obvious answer is marketing. But wait lets back up, where should you market your business? And where can you market your business without breaking the bank? While there are thousands of places you can market your business, today we will concentrate on a few important places your business should be on the internet in 2024. We will discuss a few obvious places and then a few that you may have overlooked.
Let’s tackle social media first. We are currently in Web 2.0. What is Web 2.0 you ask? This is considered the second stage of development of the world wide web, is it known for being the era of user generated content. With that said where can you go to find the most user generated content? All social media platforms, duh. This is where most customers can be found, therefore your business should be found there too. Here are the platforms we feel are most beneficial for your business to live.
A quick note: When deciding to use a social media platform for your business you should plan to be highly active on the platform. What does active mean? This means posting frequently, 2-3 times per week, responding to customer comments on posts and answering any direct messages.
Facebook has 2.1 billion active users daily and over 3 billion total. It is considered the largest social media platform in the world. Its monthly active users account for 37% of the global population, insane! We have more stats on how insane this platform is, but we think you get it. If you haven’t heard of Facebook, you probably wouldn’t be reading this blog.
If everyone else is there, you should be there too. While we don’t typically encourage jumping on a bandwagon, we say jump! Jump, high and fast the username you want is probably already taken. Get… on… that…wagon.
When creating a Facebook account for your business it’s a bit different than just starting a new profile. You will need to create a business page using your personal Facebook account. Your business page is where all the information about your company will live. Here customers can find products, contact details, leave reviews for your business and more!
The review section on Facebook is very valuable. Many times, when a customer is searching for reviews on a company their Facebook reviews will populate and be shown on the search pages of Google. This is why you should have a profile on Facebook and encourage customers to leave feedback for you here.
With over 2 billion users, 500 million of these users are active daily! Wow. It is the fifth most visited website in the world after Google, Youtube, Facebook and Wikipedia. It is also the second most visited social media platform after Facebook.
It is easy to see why your business should have a profile here. When creating a profile on Instagram make sure to create a business profile. Having a business profile will enable you to use different tools to promote your business. You can create a storefront if you have physical product available as well as provide a contact email for customers to reach out to you.
TikTok
If you are like us, you are probably rolling your eyes, not TikTok. We were reluctant too but no matter how hard we tried to stay away the more reposted TikTok reels on Instagram we saw. We had no choice but to reconsider and learn what all the hype was about.
TikTok was created in 2016 and already has 1 billion active users monthly. The average time spent on TikTok has doubled from 27 minutes in 2019 to 58 minutes. TikTok isn’t just trendy, it's here to stay. You can easily reshare your content from Instagram reels to TikTok if the workload of a new platform is scary, but we do recommend having social presence here.
When signing up for TikTok you will also want a business account as there is access to marketing and analytics tools. You can also create a shop where users can check out and buy your products directly on TikTok if carrying finished goods.
Platforms outside of social media
Google Business Directory
90% off internet searches start with Google, not having a Google profile can deter potential customers from visiting your physical or online store. Having a storefront here gives you credibility and major visibility to customers. By creating a google business profile, customers will easily be able to contact you and learn more about your business without digging through your website. Customers can find operating hours, call direct, view customer reviews, see any relevant photos uploaded, and be linked to your website.
Google prioritizes relevant searches for customers, this is great for local business. When someone on google searches for a print shop near me (and they are in the selected mile radius) your store will have visibility. We believe having a google profile is an absolute must for any type of business.
Business Website
In today’s digital era, having a website is no longer optional for businesses. It serves as your digital storefront, offering customers a first impression of your brand and ensuring you’re accessible 24/7. Whether you’re a small startup or an established company, a website allows you to showcase your products or services, reach a wider audience, and build credibility in a competitive market. With consumers increasingly turning to online searches to make purchasing decisions, having a website is essential to stay relevant, engage customers, and drive business growth.
Yelp
Yelp is in the top three business categories on the internet and has over 32 million users. 83% of users hire or buy from a business they found on Yelp; customers are on Yelp with the intent of spending. On Yelp customers can search for businesses, read reviews and contact businesses seamlessly. It is easy to see why it is a powerful platform for attracting and engaging customers.
By creating a free profile on Yelp, you are enhancing your local SEO (search engine optimization), making it easier for your business to appear in search engine results when people search for services in your area. Yelp also provides customer engagement tools such as responding to reviews and answering public questions, all helping you to build stronger relationships and a better reputation.
Optional
There are so many different places your business can live online, however the ones we listed above we list as mandatory as a business. Here are a few more you can utilize should you wish to elevate your presence online even further.
YouTube
Youtube has 2.5 billion active monthly users. Approximately 50% of all internet users access YouTube at least once. 84% of viewers have made a purchase from a brand after seeing it on YouTube. This is a marketer’s haven! YouTube is great for marketing your business through influencers and self-produced content. Using video is a powerful way to market and give your customers a more complete picture of your product. Not only does it display your product well, it also helps the customer to understand a bit more about you! Customers like to purchase from people they feel comfortable with, and video is a great way to do this.
Sounds amazing, why did we list as optional? YouTube requires video production, it can be simple like on your iphone but it does require more work and creativty to stay current. We onyl recommend joing platforms you can be consistently active on.
Not sure how to get started on YouTube? YouTube has something called YouTube shorts, these are like Instagram Reels or TikTok videos. These videos are 15-60 seconds long. You can use shorts to show off a cool new print you made or explain different ink textures to customers looking to produce t shirts. The sky is the limit for video content and YouTube is the place to put it when you’re ready to create.
Pinterest has 522 million active users, 70% of these users are women. 80% of Pinterest users say they have made a purchase based on something they saw on Pinterest. Half of all Pinterest users make a purchase after seeing a promoted pin.
These crazy shopping statistics are great for printers selling made ready goods or promoting ready-made designs that can be customized. Pinterest is a great place to show off trendy merchandise. Pinterest is a very visual website; it looks like a bunch of images pinned up to a board. You can put text on the images but it’s not very relevant to scrolling users.
Keep the nature of Pinterest in mind, if you are a screen printer who prints other designs for people this may not be the place for you to sell. The items pinned to Pinterest should be ready to ship to end user.
If you use Pinterest, you should have a business account. The business account will give you marketing, analytics and customer contact tools.
Trustpilot
Not sure what Trustpilot is? Trustpilot is an online review platform that allows consumers to share feedback about their experiences with businesses, and businesses to showcase customer reviews. 71% off consumers surveyed in 2022 agreed a good Trustpilot score made them more likely to purchase from a brand. There were over 54 million reviews written for companies in 2023 on this website. Listing your business on this website will give your brand great visibilty and confidence purchasing.
Better Business Bureau (BBB)
This BBB is a nonprofit organization that promotes trust between business and consumers. It promotes marketplace trust by setting standards for ethical business practices and resolving disputes between consumers and businesses. Their website has millions of viewers yearly.
Beyond this, the BBB acts as a business directory and review website. Customers can search for local businesses here as well as see the business’ overall score based on previous customers’ feedback.
By signing up for the BBB you are furthering your visibility online and ensuring customers that you have good business practices.
A note before closing. Online presence can be a powerful and inexpensive tool. It can lead to more traffic, leads and overall conversions (revenue.) However, online presence can also destroy a business. If you do not have good business practices, example bad customer service or poor craftmanship, customers will leave bad reviews across a plethora of platforms. Make sure you are conducting business fairly as well as moderating all your platforms consistently. If you do not moderate your platforms, angry customers will leave reviews that can damage your reputation for years to come.
If you have any comments or questions leave them below. Lets talk.
Happy Printing
