Use Art Portal to Stay Ahead of the Competition
11 January, 2022
Bottom Line Up Front: Big print houses like Custom Ink and TeePublic are taking the custom branded merch industry by storm, but that doesn’t mean your shop needs to be left out. Use Art Portal to fast-track designs for your customers and give them the added benefit of an independent business ready to meet their needs.
Online shopping is only growing, so your shop must have a plan to accommodate customers, whether they’re brand-new or repeat clients. And one thing’s for sure; the more prominent custom-branded merch companies have stepped it up in recent years. That’s made it more challenging for smaller businesses to compete. Custom Ink has grown in recent years to become one of the most popular options for customers who want everything from a custom-branded T-shirt to decorated coffee mugs. And just before the end of last year, the company acquired Swag.com, a company that sells custom-branded corporate swag.
You might be thinking, “how can my small shop keep up with the competition?”
Maybe you can’t magically ramp up your printing output. You can use tools to give your customers a better online experience. With GraphicsFlow, one of those tools is Art Portal, a great way to give your new and existing customers an easier way to submit design requests. And it’s a more straightforward way for your shop to secure more customer orders.
What is it?
Art Portal is a new feature in GraphicsFlow that turns a massive catalog of more than 25,000-plus art designs public-facing. That means your customers can now browse and choose from the same extensive sets of graphics inside the platform that your shop does. And best of all, all you need to do is copy and paste an embed code onto your site so that customers can access the catalog.
Art Portal helps your business stand out online since it’s a convenient tool for your customers. They can filter searches by clip art, designs, fonts, categories, and styles to select the best fitting graphics for their job. After they’ve chosen designs, they simply send a design request directly to your shop via the portal.
A Better Experience
Some bigger merch companies might have online tools to help customers design their products. Still, the significant upside to Art Portal is that you have the added benefit of adding your own personal touch to the transaction. Once a customer sends your shop a design request, they’ll be interacting with one of your team members who can work one-on-one with that customer to dial in what they need. And your team will be able to help your customers quickly and easily since GraphicsFlow also makes online art approvals smoother for both parties.
With the combination of an easy-to-search art catalog and a quick, convenient art approval process, you’ll already be one step ahead of the competition when it comes to giving your customers a seamless online experience. Plus, all of your art approvals stay organized inside of GraphicsFlow, so your team can easily pull up a customer’s order without having to sift through emails or file attachments.
Better Artwork
There are plenty of options online for clipart and readymade design. Most of them are highly generic and don’t give your customers many opportunities to customize details. With the Art Portal catalog, your customers get access to retail-inspired designs that are contemporary and top of the line. This puts you ahead of the pack, even when it comes to big custom-printed merch houses.
Bundle it Up
A common practice by big merch companies is to bundle multiple products together with the same artwork. With Art Portal, you’ll be able to easily apply that customer’s design to a mockup of several products. Whether that’s a T-shirt, hat, koozie, or tote bag, you won’t have to print any samples first. It’s an easy way to upsell your customers and another tool to position your business as the “one-stop-shop” for anything online customers need.
Best of all, since you won’t need to budget additional labor hours for your art department, you’ll be able to offer your customers those custom-decorated products without tacking on extra costs.
Templates for Your Customers
Art Portal is a great way for you to stay ahead of your competition and go the extra mile for your customers, but you’ll need to make sure you’re advertising this service just like all of your shop’s other offerings. The easiest way to do that is through email blasts and social media shares. Check out the templates below which you can use to easily show your customers you’re ready for their business. Simply copy and paste, and add your business’s info in the specified areas.
Email Templates
Subject Line Options:
- Create better designs with Art Portal!
- Let us print better designs for you with Art Portal!
- Use our easy Art Portal feature to finalize your designs faster.
EMAIL 1
Hi [Contact Name],
We know that finding the right place to print your custom-branded merch is a big decision, whether you’re ordering hundreds of goods or just a short run. And we aim to make that experience as seamless and easy as possible for you. That’s why we wanted to reach out to let you know that we’ve got a new service built just for you.
Check out our Art Portal [link to YOUR website’s art portal] where you can browse more than 25,000 pieces of high-quality, retail-inspired artwork for all your merch needs. You can choose from fonts and clip art to build a design idea and send it directly to us from the Art Portal. Once we have your idea in hand, we’ll put it together and reach back out to you to get the art approval process going. And best of all, we can take that final approved design idea and print it across all types of products.
Ready to get started? Reach out to us today!
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Business]
EMAIL 2
Hi [Contact Name],
Finding the right place to print your merch can be challenging with so many online options these days. Thankfully, we have a new feature on our website that makes it easier for you to submit design ideas and get products printed faster.
Check out our Art Portal [link to YOUR website’s art portal], where you’ll be able to browse more than 25,000 designs, fonts, and clip art. Easily put together a design idea inside the portal, and send it directly to us. From there, we’ll put your design together and send it back over to you for a quick approval process so we can start printing your order. Best of all, once we have your final design approved, we can print that design across all types of products. The possibilities are endless!
Ready to start printing your merch? Contact us today!
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Business]
Social Media Templates
Check out our newest feature, made just for YOU! Art Portal lets you choose from more than 25K high-quality designs and send your artwork ideas directly to us for faster printing on all types of products. Try it out here: [link to YOUR business’s art portal]
Need a high-quality design printed easily and quickly? Check out our website’s new feature, Art Portal. Browse more than 25K designs and send us your ideas for fast and easy printing. Try it out here: [link to YOUR business’s art portal]
Want an easier way to get designs printed for your brand or company? Check out our Art Portal, where you can browse more than 25K high-quality images and easily submit design ideas to our shop for quick turnaround. Use it here today: [link to YOUR business’s art portal]
Ready to start standing out from the competition this year with Art Portal and GraphicsFlow? Contact a Client Advisor today for a personalized 15-minute tour. Fifteen minutes can change your business.
Not ready to make the jump yet? Test drive the art portal and submit a sample design. See for yourself the potential of Art Portal for your business.
