Why am I not getting any traffic or sales?

[Cliffhanger]

Hi community!

My brother is an artist and I am trying to help him get a head start by making his designs available as t-shirts. We have been working on the online shop for months and see very little traffic and no sales. I set up a tik tok account to try and raise awareness, but no luck. What am I doing wrong? 😞 

Being an artist is hard and I would really love to be able to help him and get his designs out in the world.

[JoesIdeas]

You'd have to post your website and details of the marketing tactics you've employed to get feedback.

"Working on the online shop for months" doesn't have any significance on the success of traffic or sales, no data to analyze... number of visitors, what marketing channels you've tried, conversion rate, etc.

Couple general tips:

1) Make sure you have a professionally designed logo, an About page, and a professional feel to your website (search for shops that you buy from online to get inspiration).

2) Hire a professional marketer to help drive traffic. Or start by using Google Shopping Ads, these are basic ads that can have success without marketing experience, because they capture people searching for the products.

3) More tips in this guide I wrote (I was a store owner for 7 years, and have worked with hundreds of Shopify stores): How to Figure Out Why You're Not Getting Sales on Shopify

4) Since your selling original art on t-shirts, consider starting a referral program, find people that have an audience online, that like the art, and invite them to join the referral program - if you're not familiar, another name for it is affiliate marketing. People refer customers to you and get a % of the sales they make. That guide I shared above has some about that.

I haven't done marketing for a store in awhile, but if you post your niche, what you've tried, your target customer, a professional marketer should be able to give advice on what are the best channels / strategies in general in 2024 to try.

Good luck.

[Cliffhanger]

Hi Joe, 

Thank you for the feedback - here is the website link: https://cliffhangerdesigns.com/ 

In terms of marketing I have started posting on Tik Tok, showcasing the artistic process behind every design. We don't have budget to pay for advertising just yet, so have been posting on Tik Tok to generate awareness. In the past I tried Instagram, but found that Tik Tok generates higher views. The videos get around 250-800 views per video, but the follower count is very low - around 1-2 new followers a week. 

I love the idea about the referral - thank you! 🙂 And i will have a look through your article.

[JoesIdeas]

Cool. Yeah website looks good, I like that the About page has a designed picture of the artist, plus faq and a story.

The t-shirt designs are cool and look high quality.

I think it's just a matter of experimenting to find your audience.

I used to own a brand that sold clothing and accessories. The clothing was hard to market, it took time, but accessories were much easier.

What helped us was having the accessories (water bottles, wallets, eco friendly stuff, that was the vibe of the brand), and making steady sales on those to help get customers and traffic, that boosted the clothing sales.

Yeah, so referrals would be good to help with this.

I would also put a description at the top of the Extinction collection, talking about the inspiration of the collection, so then instead of just a page of t-shirt designs, it becomes a t-shirt with a story.

In my brand we planted a tree on every sale, because our mission was to help the Earth. This resonated big with people, and opened up the door for various collaborations. Something to think about on your brand, if there's a cause yall are passionate about, consider trying to incorporate that into the business.

[Cliffhanger]

Hi Joe,

Thank you, that is veey valuable feedback and great idea with the accessories! We will give it a go and hopefully can find the recipe to increase traction.

[HAPOApps]

Hi @Cliffhanger ,

It sounds like you and your brother have put a lot of effort into launching the online shop and promoting his artwork through social media, specifically TikTok. I have checked through your website site and I know the feeling of not seeing immediate results. It can be discouraging, but there are several steps you can take to potentially increase traffic and convert views into sales. Honestly, the products on your site have not impressed me so much, I think it’s quite like other POD products on the market. 

Thus, I think your marketing activities with your website like SEO or SEM possibly do not work as well as you thought. However, that does not mean you drop the SEO activities and UX/UI optimization. They are all important to enhance your user experience on your site and increase the conversion rate, easily turning them into real customers.

You should focus and spend more resources on other activities such as social media marketing, and implement advertising campaigns on some platforms. In addition to TikTok, you should also try some other channels like Instagram or Pinterest (I think these are platforms for artists and art product showcases). Instagram, given its visual nature, because it is ideal for artwork. Use features like Stories, Reels, and regular posts to showcase designs and behind-the-scenes processes. With Pinterest, this platform is excellent for artists. Pin high-quality images of the t-shirts and link them back to your website. Pinterest often leads to long-term traffic.

Another way you can use to increase website traffic and raise brand awareness is to collaborate with influencers. Reach out to influencers or personalities who align with the artistic style of your brother’s work. Even small influencers (micro-influencers) can have highly engaged audiences. Oh, and don’t forget to promote your products and your brother’s artwork on some art platforms like Behance or Dribbble, it can potentially draw traffic to your store and target the right audience.

When you implement social media strategies, remember to seed your content and products in related communities and groups. Participate in local art fairs or markets where your brother can sell his t-shirts and promote the online store.

Above are some organic ways to get traffic to your site and attract more potential customers. If you and your brother have the budget for ads running, it will be more effective. Each of these strategies requires time and effort, and results may not be immediate. Consistency is key, as is the willingness to adapt and try new approaches based on what the data and feedback are telling you.

[Cliffhanger]

Hi HapoApps,

Many thanks for your input. I also appreciate the honesty - could you give me more of an insight into why the products are not blowing you away? Is it the way they are presented, the materials or is it a personal preference regarding the designs themselves?

The ideas you have given us for promoting the products are great! What do you mean with "seed our content"?