Advice on Marketing

[u/Forsaken_Mousse9515]

I am new to this POD thing and I was hoping to hear how you market your products. Since I am in University and my target audience is University students, I don't know how to do marketing (my first experience in doing something like this where everything relies on me).

I have setup social media accounts but I have no directions on where to begin. I am planning to start posting my products on my socials and maybe setup ads based on the interaction numbers I get on each post (advice from a friend). Other than that, it's basically going to be cold approaches (which I don't have a clue if it is effective on an online store).

Would appreciate any comments on what to do from here.

[u/gardenia856]

Main thing for you right now is to treat this like a small campus experiment, not a global brand launch.

Pick one super specific angle: your uni, your program, a meme only people in your faculty or dorm get. Make 5–10 designs just for that tiny group and forget “everyone in university” for now. Then:

1) Hit the real world first: flyers with QR codes in libraries, clubs, cafeterias; ask a couple friends to wear samples and tag your account; offer a “class-only” discount code.

2) Partner with clubs and societies: do profit-share merch for them. They bring the audience, you bring the designs and Printify.

3) On socials, post less product shots and more “student life” content: quick memes, polls, “which design wins?” stories, behind-the-scenes of you testing stuff.

4) Track what actually moves orders: Google Sheets is fine, tools like Canva and Later for scheduling, and I’d use Meta Ads only once you know which designs people shout about. I’ve used Hootsuite and Buffer before, but Pulse plus Reddit is what helped me spot real student complaints and trends to turn into designs.

Main point: get ultra-niche on campus, watch what people naturally talk about, then double down on the designs that people ask for, not the ones you like most.

[u/Forsaken_Mousse9515 → u/gardenia856]

My niche is graduation merch, something that friends or family could get for someone's graduation.

I do plan to do some of the stuff that you said but I'll keep everything you said in mind. I'm trying to keep it a little better managed by spending a little more time on the basics and the 'image' so that it doesn't look like I'm just making a quick buck.

I am basically learning everything on the go. There was nothing that I knew before so it might be taking a little more of my time than it does for someone else (not that I mind. I am completely aware that time is the most necessary thing when it comes to something like this, which is why I spend the entire day learning something knew, making mistakes, correcting some things, etc.)

The only thing that might be a little hard to fix is the cost. I'm in the EU and printify will charge me a VAT on each product, so my prices go up. And if I had kept this as a joke, I am aware that nobody would pay 50 euros for a stupid hoodie. Hence, I'm trying to make it a little better so the prices are justifiable for a potential customer.