Hey teacher-authors,
Let’s talk product covers for a minute. I want to tell you why they are important and how they can help sell your TPT resources. I also want to give you some tips on how to make them as appealing as possible for buyers. Finally, I’ll show you where you can find explicit tutorials on how to make a successful product cover for TPT.
The Marketing Misconception
In the world of Teachers Pay Teachers, what do you think of when you hear the word ‘marketing’?
I bet you think of Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest.
A common mistake I see TPT sellers make is focusing on the wrong things when it comes to marketing. They spend hours trying to take perfect pictures for the ‘gram. Or they think they need thousands of followers on Facebook.
But here’s the secret. Marketing starts right on your TPT listing. It doesn’t matter how many Facebook or Instagram followers you have if you haven’t got your TPT listing sorted.
Yes, some traffic comes from social media. But a majority of teachers are looking for products right on TPT. If your covers are unappealing, buyers will keep scrolling. They won’t even look at your listing.
It’s all about the click
Imagine a buyer is searching for Math worksheets on TPT. She begins to scroll through the first few pages. Is she reading every single title? Probably not. Her eyes are looking at the product covers. She’s reading the titles that are written on the covers. She’s stopping when she sees interesting clip art or products in action. Her eyes get drawn to the popping colors. She stops scrolling when she sees a word that’s relevant. She clicks on the products that interest her.
Your product is in there somewhere. But if you’re like a lot of TPT sellers, you’ve made mistakes on your product covers. So, the buyer has just scrolled past your listing.
Here’s the thing…first impressions matter. She’s not coming back. You’ve lost that click. You’ve lost that sale.
Your product could be awesome, but she’ll never get the chance to see that. She’s moved on.
How to make successful TPT product covers
So how do you make a successful product cover? Here are some tips.
Words
Display the product title on the cover. Keep it brief, make sure it describes the product, and ensure that it has the keywords that the buyer is looking for. For example, ‘Addition Boom Cards’.
Make the title big, bold, clear, and easy to read. Make sure the font is legible and the colors are easy to see.
Do NOT fill up your cover with other unnecessary tiny writing. Buyers can’t see it and nor do they want to read it. They don’t need to know that your product is common core aligned, comes in a digital version, has 20 pages, or is fun! They can find that info elsewhere on your listing.
Pictures
Display the product in an appealing way. You can use screenshots, but they must be big and easy to see. Overlapping and angled is great. There’s nothing worse that lots of tiny screenshots lined up.
Better yet, show the product in-action with product photography. You can use clip art on your covers, but make sure it’s crisp and good quality.
The other thing to remember is that covers on TPT need to be square shaped. I make mine in PowerPoint. Any size is fine as long as the edges are all the same.
I see a lot of people putting their store logo on their covers. I’m not sure it’s necessary. Your listing tells the buyer whose product it is. So, unless you’re a big successful seller, I doubt your logo is going to work any magic and bring about recognition. Whenever I see logos on covers, my first thought is, ‘that’s going to be a nightmare to re-do all your covers if you re-brand and design a new logo someday!’
You can make your TPT product covers distinctive to your brand though. Use similar fonts, colors, clip art, and layout to create a cohesive and recognizable look.
If you want explicit tutorials for how to make TPT covers and thumbnails, check out my course The Terrific Teacherpreneur here.
I hope this post helped!
P.S – I hope you’ve found some useful tips in this post! Follow me on Instagram for more free advice!
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