For the October column, I featured four examples of educational content for your social media. This month, I bring you six more. Not every idea will work for every shop, but these will allow you to get a feel for what type of content you should be striving for.
The better you understand your clientele and their needs, the better job you can do of creating posts they will be interested in and will motivate them to visit your page often to see what you are saying.
If you are struggling to come up with ideas, I suggest choosing to follow some decorated apparel businesses that are frequent posters and obviously doing a good job with social media. This is a great way to get inspired and help you get started creating your own content calendar.
In addition to what they post, also notice the frequency and what kind of reactions they are getting in terms of comments, likes and shares.
LaTonna Tee Roberson, T-Shirt Shop Dallas, Dallas, Texas, not only has her own screen printing operation; she also has a consulting business called Lady Print Boss Training and Consulting. In addition, she hosts a Facebook group called T-Shirt Screen Printers. She recently created a YouTube video showing how to start your own Facebook store.
This type of content is not only of value to other printers, but for any decorator’s customer who is interested in starting up their own line of T-shirts or related products to sell. This is a great example of valuable information that benefits the reader while also generating business for your shop as they will most likely use your company to print the T-shirts for their Facebook store.
Real Thread, a custom printer from Orlando, Fla., put together a list of upcoming virtual design conferences of interest to its customers, which it posted on Instagram. This was a great resource for those who may be working from home and looking for ways to improve their knowledge and skills.
The company offers printed merchandise for companies exhibiting in trade shows and online events, so it was a great combination of offering education while making clients aware of some of their services.
RushOrderTees.com, an apparel decorating operation in Philadelphia, Pa. put together “The Only Golf Gift Guide You’ll Ever Need” as a blog on its website and then posted the link to its Facebook page. It is filled with great photos and descriptions of products that any golfer will appreciate receiving. Just a few ideas include golfer accessories such as divot tools and ball markers, golf towels, golf shirts, rain jackets and hats. For whatever niche you serve, consider putting together a gift guide of ideas to promote to that market.
A gift guide is a great evergreen piece of content that can be updated yearly with new ideas and products. And it does not have to only be for the December holiday season. People are looking for gift ideas for weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, baby showers, corporate thank you, and many other occasions.
Mirror Image, a screen printing operation in Pawtucket, R.I. has long been a supporter of sustainable practices as well as fundraising for worthy causes. Due to this reputation, the company has produced T-shirts for Willie Nelson’s annual Farm Aid fundraiser for many years.
This post features an article in Billboard quoting owner Rick Roth about how he sources organic shirts that meet Farm Aid’s standards of social and environmental responsibility. This is a great article for anyone who’s looking for sustainable options in apparel for their own projects. It also establishes Roth as an expert in this area.
Customer success stories never get old and always feature information that is of value to other clients. Custom Ink did a Q&A with a customer of theirs Ali & Jenni, a San Francisco Bay-area couple who works as advocates for LBGTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, asexual or allied) and autism rights and representation.
The pair shares their story of how they got started, and how shirts made by Custom Ink helped them promote their causes and get the word out. If you’d like to read the blog, click here.
Teespring, San Francisco, is a well-known e-commerce platform that allows people to create and sell custom apparel. With many customers using photos to create shirts, offering photos tips such as available filters and presets is a great way to help people edit their images and be happier with the printed shirt.
Tips such as these make great educational content for your social media. Think about the type of mistakes your clients are making when submitting artwork and educate them on how to improve!
I hope these ideas are helpful and inspire you to come up with your own educational content. See you next month.
Deborah Sexton is the former editor of Impressions Magazine, where she worked from 1981 to 2001. She now owns her own company, Saracen Communications, doing digital media marketing, copywriting, and public relations for companies in the decorated apparel industry. You can reach her at dsexton@sbcglobal.net.
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