Teespring Troubles (2)
Hey STM community,
I’m wondering if anyone has experienced success with Teespring? It’s been a tough nut to crack for me… I make most of my shirts targeted towards older women, (ages 45 and up), and have tried to tap into the European marketplace. I’ve been using Facebook ads to promote the shirts, and traffic seems to be less expensive in the EU. Most of my campaigns get pretty good engagement (6-12% CTR), low CPC (.03-.10) with a decent amount of shares and likes, but typically zero sales after $20 in adspend.
Many tutorials have encouraged to terminate the campaign after $20 with zero sales, I’m wondering if you guys think this is accurate? I’ve been using audience drill and audience insights for interest targeting, and I keep my audience size between 50k-450k. I make a new pixel for each campaign, a new page for each niche, and use mobile and desktop PPE ads. (not right column). I’m diligent with URL tags, and am constantly tweaking the targeting by region, age, etc., where the ads are performing better. I’m proficient in photoshop, I think my designs are sound for the most part, I just don’t know what I’m doing wrong.
Do you guys think that Teespring is a good model for people just starting out in AM? Is there something else I should focus my energy or try out? I've uploaded a couple campaigns that I've had, and would be willing to give any other info that could be helpful. I’m willing to learn and work hard, and would really appreciate anyone’s help, suggestions, or guidance! 
I don't have experience in teespring, but is there a reason you are only targeting women, particularly for the first t-shirt? From what I've seen of audiences who attend gatherings where people show off their classic cars -- they're mostly men, not women. You see guys often using classic cars as their avatar pics in message forums, and they're usually from the US. I understand that you want to target European audiences because it's cheaper, but that first shirt would have a better chance among older men in the US with the right interest targeting.
Based on my limited view of Europe, and I don't mean to think of Europe as having a monolithic culture, but I would think a US audience would tend to wear their views and affiliations on their sleeve more than a European audience. Just look at how popular bumper stickers are here.
When targeting, make sure you are targeting a "buyer audience" in the niche. In Google, that's easy because there are keywords to show the person is interested in making a purchase ("cheap diet pills"). People signing on to Facebook aren't looking to buy, but you can still identify those who are invested (with time and money) in the niche you are promoting. For example, if you are promoting a product in the "make money" niche, you want seek out those like "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" because they have made the investment with a purchase.
For teachers, don't just look for those who identify as a teacher. Target those whose interest include a teacher's union, workshops, teacher-related events. There is a lot of political activity related to teaching -- seek those who are involved.
To target Christians, don't just rely on interests in God, Jesus, and the Bible -- too broad. Lot of people wear crosses, but that doesn't mean a thing. You want to seek out audiences who listen to Christian radio stations, whose interests include specific Christian music artists (Gospel, Christian Rock, etc.), attend church, attend Christian concerts and events, purchased religious-themed book, have interests in well-known pastors -- you get the idea.
Are these the only t-shirts you're promoting? I really like the first one. For teachers, I'd make it concise so it doesn't run from top to bottom of the t-shirt. You should also think about the angle. Test different angles. How many teachers say they're crazy about teaching? Word choices matter. As for the Christian one -- it's pretty, but I feel like the message is overwhelmed in the design.
I wouldn't advise you to quit. I hope others here on the forum will provide their input, but a spend of $20 seems to be too small to make a decision, especially if the product costs just as much. If you do want to continue promoting t-shirts, I would retool the approach before you decide to terminate a campaign.
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