Today I am reviewing the TPT store Crystal Mencia. This branding review is completely unbiased and was completed for educational purposes on the subject of how to market your TPT store.
First impressions
My first impression is that the store is colourful, but I don’t know what this store is about. Since the store name is only the teacher’s name, it does not offer any information. (Side note: It’s fine to use your name as your store name if you plan on building your name as the brand, but it does make it more difficult to communicate your niche with your customers). The quote bar rotates between follow request, interactive task cards, and Spanish products – so I’m not sure what the focus is.
This store has a HUGE number of products – the seller has obviously been very busy!
Messaging
To be honest, I have no idea what the niche of this store is. It looks like most of the products (or at least the best-selling ones) are digitally-based.
Next Steps:
- Customers arriving at this store need to know what it is that you sell and how it will help them. Who is your target audience? What makes your store or products different from others on TPT? There is a very limited amount of space available for you to customize – just the name of your store, logo, quote box & banners – so make sure you are using these to connect with your ideal customer by telling them what you make and how it will help them.
Visuals
There is a clear “rainbow and black” colour scheme in the quote box, banner, and column banner, but it is not carried through in the logo. Some of the products have this scheme carried through in their covers, but not all.
Pros: Quote box, banner and column banner match with an attractive colour scheme
Next steps:
- Consider carrying through your rainbow colour scheme into your logo and all products so that your customers will instantly recognize your work.
- When you clarify your message (what you make and who it’s for), consider working that into your branding. The rainbow & black on it’s own is pretty, but doesn’t share anything about you or your products.
Store Features
This seller is using all of the store features. There are a large number of custom categories, which is great for organization and key words but may be overwhelming to the eye of the customer.
Pros: Column banner has a direct link to the bundle section with a clear call to action. Great work in using the featured items to call attention to those products that are not best sellers (yet!)
Next Steps:
- As mentioned above, the quote bar and banner have a cohesive look but are not adding to the overall brand message. “Welcome to my store”, while welcoming, does not directly connect with the customer or give them a call to action. Consider how you can communicate more directly with your target audience.
- Consider using coloured unicode icons and section dividers to make the long list of custom categories easier to browse.
Products & Customer Service
This seller is clearly very active and responds to feedback promptly.
On the top product, I notice that out of 460 words in the product description, only 44 words are actually about the product – the rest are about Boom card technology and other seller information. (There is actually more text written to convince customers to leave a review – and they haven’t even bought the product yet!)
Pros: Product thumbnails and previews are all being used. Customer reviews answered promptly with issues resolved.
Next Steps:
- I notice the most of the names of the math products start with a curriculum code. Is this how your customers search for products? Unless teachers in your target market actually type those codes in when they search, you should start them with a keyword instead.
- Clean up product descriptions to focus on the ONE thing that you want customers to do most – buy the product! I realize the technical aspects of a product are important, but also make sure you are putting equal effort into the product description itself. You could be getting a lot more keywords in there to help with search results.
- Save information regarding reviews where people who have purchased will see it – in the product!
Final Thoughts
This seller is no longer a beginner and has over 600 products, which is a great spot to be in. The number of reviews however seems to indicate that the store is not getting the sales to match – this could be due to low page views or low conversion, or both.
It’s important to remember that when there are too many choices or options, customers get confused. Think about how you can simplify and focus, talk directly to those who are most likely to buy your products.
By deciding on a clear niche and messaging directly to those teachers both on the main store and product pages, this seller can develop a stronger relationship with their customers that will lead to higher sales.
When a customer lands on your teacher store, you’ve got a split second to grab their attention. Are you sharing your message effectively? Get your own full store review here.
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