For those of us that have been around a while, you may remember collections . . . grouping together products you chose for promotional purposes. At that time it was a great idea, poorly executed I am sorry to say. Difficult to use and to promote.
Fast forward to yesterday when the new collections feature was introduced. What a difference. The new collections feature will be a strong marketing tool you will likely use frequently to promote multiple products at one time.
Here is a test collection we set up a little bit ago. It took about 15 minutes . . . The Dachshund Collection.
Fast forward to yesterday when the new collections feature was introduced. What a difference. The new collections feature will be a strong marketing tool you will likely use frequently to promote multiple products at one time.
Here is a test collection we set up a little bit ago. It took about 15 minutes . . . The Dachshund Collection.
A. Setting Up and Configuring a Collection
In the old collections, you had to include some coding in the url and the product IDs. I could never remember how to do it. Now, you simply click.
Inside your/any store or the zazzle marketplace, find any product and hover. In the upper right you will see a pull down menu for collections.
In the old collections, you had to include some coding in the url and the product IDs. I could never remember how to do it. Now, you simply click.
Inside your/any store or the zazzle marketplace, find any product and hover. In the upper right you will see a pull down menu for collections.
New Menus When You Hover Over a Product
This menu will let you add that product to one of your existing collections or you can create a new collection. You can add as many products as you want, it seems. But collections are best when they are small, perhaps a dozen items at most. Pick your products from one store or several. Include products from other people's stores.
You manage your collections from under the My Account tab in your back office. In the left hand column you will see "Collections" under "My Account at a Glance". Click it and see all your collections or set up a new collection.
When you hover over any existing collection, you will see that you can change/add the cover to your collection. From my trials, the cover image size for collections seems to be the same as the category image size. When you upload an image, you get the option to crop it.
Clicking on a collections takes you inside where you can drag and drop the order of products or add a unique header. This is a great touch. Unfortunately, the header image size is not the same as that of your store. An 1140 x 315 pixel image seems to work best and again there is an option to crop if your header image is larger.
You manage your collections from under the My Account tab in your back office. In the left hand column you will see "Collections" under "My Account at a Glance". Click it and see all your collections or set up a new collection.
When you hover over any existing collection, you will see that you can change/add the cover to your collection. From my trials, the cover image size for collections seems to be the same as the category image size. When you upload an image, you get the option to crop it.
Clicking on a collections takes you inside where you can drag and drop the order of products or add a unique header. This is a great touch. Unfortunately, the header image size is not the same as that of your store. An 1140 x 315 pixel image seems to work best and again there is an option to crop if your header image is larger.
Edit Your Collection Much Like You Do a Product
To the right inside your collection is an Edit button. Click it and you get these options:
1. Collection Name
2. Public or private collection
3. Up to five tags
4. Description
5. Select what stores will display the collection - Pick multiple stores! One can only hope that this is a precursor to moving products from one store to another.
B. Using Collections
If your collection is set to public, you can display your collection in any one or multiple stores. To have your public collections display in your store, you must go to Edit Content under Store Management. There you will find a new option to "Show collections".
1. Collection Name
2. Public or private collection
3. Up to five tags
4. Description
5. Select what stores will display the collection - Pick multiple stores! One can only hope that this is a precursor to moving products from one store to another.
B. Using Collections
If your collection is set to public, you can display your collection in any one or multiple stores. To have your public collections display in your store, you must go to Edit Content under Store Management. There you will find a new option to "Show collections".
How a Collection Looks on Your Home Page
When you choose it, your collections will show up on your store's home page. In our test, it was below our categories under the title "Collections" (We have no products on that store's home page).
Zazzle makes it easy to promote and market your collections. It is just the same as Sharing a product. Click the Share button from inside your collection and you get these familiar options.
Zazzle makes it easy to promote and market your collections. It is just the same as Sharing a product. Click the Share button from inside your collection and you get these familiar options.
Familiar Sharing Icons For Collections
Link To This Collection Just Like Products
Choose the link option and you get this familiar window. Note the fun and useful "Pick a size" options near the bottom. Try them out.
You will see that your Referral ID is included in all links to your collection. This is important as your ID is NOT included on the product links within your collection.
Promote your collections in the same way you promote your products. We promoted this collection on our Facebook page just like we do products.
Should you have questions, I suggest directing them to the Zazzle Blog here. Additionally, the forum is sure to have some posts going on this great new tool. Also, feel free to post questions or comments below.
How do you envision using the new and improved collections feature?
You will see that your Referral ID is included in all links to your collection. This is important as your ID is NOT included on the product links within your collection.
Promote your collections in the same way you promote your products. We promoted this collection on our Facebook page just like we do products.
Should you have questions, I suggest directing them to the Zazzle Blog here. Additionally, the forum is sure to have some posts going on this great new tool. Also, feel free to post questions or comments below.
How do you envision using the new and improved collections feature?
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