Personalization allows buyers to customize your products with names, dates, messages, or even images – making each item unique and personal.
It’s a fantastic way to increase customer satisfaction and profits: one in five customers is willing to pay up to 20% more for personalized products.
With Printify, you can set up personalized products quickly and easily – no third-party apps or subscriptions required.
In this guide, you’ll learn how personalization works and how to create a personalization strategy that drives sales. We’ll also share product ideas and tips from successful merchants.
Win more sales with personalized products
What is personalization at Printify
With Printify’s Personalization tool, customers can add their own text or upload images to make products truly one-of-a-kind. Whether it’s a mug with a funny inside joke, a tote with a pet’s photo, or a hoodie with an embroidered wedding date, the possibilities are endless.
For online sellers, personalization is a powerful opportunity: these products sell for more, and shoppers actively seek them out. On Etsy alone, one in three buyers searches specifically for personalized items, making it one of the fastest-growing categories in eCommerce.
Personalization is also a perfect fit for Print on Demand, since buyers already expect personalized products to take a little extra time to make.
Personalization helps your store stand out, improves customer retention, and delivers customized experiences.
How to set up personalization
There are two ways to set up personalization.
Manual personalization
- Where it works: All sales channels.
- What it supports: Text and images.
- How it works:
- Add a placeholder (e.g., “Your Text Here”) to show buyers where customization will appear.
- Buyers provide their details at checkout or via message.
- When the order comes in, you manually insert their text or image into the design and approve it.
Think of this as you doing the editing before production.
Automated personalization
- Where it works: Etsy, Pop-Up Store, and TikTok Shop (Shopify coming soon).
- What it supports: Text only.
- How it works:
- Add a personalizable text layer in the Product Creator.
- Buyers type their text directly into the listing.
- The system automatically pulls that input into your design – you just review it before production.
Think of this as the buyer doing the editing upfront, saving you time and eliminating back-and-forth.
Personalized embroidery
Embroidery personalization is a premium decoration option that creates durable, long-lasting results with a higher perceived value.
Most embroidery designs require an extra step called digitization – the process of converting a design into a format that embroidery machines can read. This step can take up to 36 hours, so it’s important to approve orders quickly and factor the extra time into your delivery estimates.
Using Printify’s pre-digitized fonts for automated personalization can speed up the process and help reduce delays.
Learn more by reviewing the embroidery guidelines.
Set up personalization in the Product Creator
- Start designing a product from our Catalog or your existing listings.
- Click Personalization in the left toolbar.
- Add a personalizable layer (text or image).
- Save your product.
- Choose your mockups, add a title and description, and publish your product.
On Etsy, you can’t use placeholder text or designs in your main mockup photo. Instead, use a realistic example of a personalized design.
Once enabled, products are marked with a Personalizable label in My Products and grouped under the Personalizable tab for easy access.
How to review orders
- Every personalized order is flagged with a Review needed label in your dashboard.
- Approve or edit the design before sending it to production.
- For TikTok products, you’ll also receive an email alert to help you stay on schedule.
Make sure to approve TikTok orders fast, as the platform requires shipping within three days and delivery within six.
Sell personalized and standard products together
With Printify, you don’t need to duplicate listings. You can sell both personalized and regular versions of the same product side by side, giving buyers more options without extra setup.
New and improved ways to serve your customers
Our Personalization tool is constantly evolving. In our Pop-Up Store (with Etsy, Shopify, and TikTok Shop integration coming soon), you can now do more than just add text layers:
- Upload custom fonts for full brand consistency and creative freedom.
- Allow image uploads so buyers can add photos or logos for gifts or business branding, increasing perceived product value.
- Offer live previews so customers can see the customized product in real time, providing a smooth digital experience and reducing friction before purchase.
- Use multiple layers to combine text and images in one design.
Personalization do’s and dont’s
A few simple steps can make the difference between a smooth personalization process and costly mistakes. Here’s how to set yourself up for success:
Personalization do’s
- Show the customizable area in your design mockups so buyers know exactly what they can change (e.g., highlight the name field on a mug).
- Give clear instructions. Be specific about what details buyers need to provide (e.g., “Enter a name up to 12 characters”).
- Test before launch. Place a sample order to confirm personalization works smoothly.
Personalization don’ts
- Don’t be vague. Requests like “Add your text here” without limits or guidance lead to errors and delays.
- Don’t use overly complex fonts. Thin lines or tiny characters may not print or embroider well.
- Don’t skip order review. Always double-check buyer input before sending to production.
Taking a little extra time upfront helps prevent errors, keeps customers happy, and strengthens trust in your store.
Which products can I personalize?
All Printify products can be personalized – but check our Personalization Picks to see which ones perform best.
How to sell personalized products
To ensure your personalization efforts pay off, it’s important to market them in a way that makes your listings stand out and enhance user engagement.
Best-performing promotion channels (based on merchant data)
Our merchants who sell personalized items report the highest success with:
- SEO keywords and tags: Optimize titles, descriptions, and tags with “personalized,” “custom,” and gifting-related keywords to capture search demand on Etsy and beyond.
- Paid ads: Especially effective for seasonal pushes like Valentine’s Day or Christmas.
- Social media: Share relevant content like behind-the-scenes videos or customer photos to build trust and engagement on digital channels.
- Mockups showing personalization: Use visuals that clearly display how names, dates, or photos look on the product.
- Clear titles and descriptions: Highlight “personalized” immediately so buyers don’t miss the option.
Proven strategies to increase sales
- Promote gifting occasions: Position your products for birthdays, weddings, and holidays, when personalization has the most emotional impact.
- Show examples: Use mockups or samples with realistic names, dates, or photos to help buyers visualize their own designs.
- Leverage customer reviews: Highlight positive feedback and share photos from happy customers to build credibility.
- Use targeted messaging: Reach specific customer segments with campaigns around pets, weddings, or business branding.
- Experiment and track: Track customer behavior to see which listings, ads, and mockups resonate most. Then, leverage customer data to refine your listings.
Merchants who invest in these strategies often see personalization campaigns outperform their standard products.Customers expect companies to deliver relevant, customized experiences – and reward brands that deliver.
Personalization specifics in short
Here’s what makes personalization different from regular POD products:
- Setup: You add a personalizable layer to your product design that buyers can edit with their own text or image.
- Review required: Every personalized order pauses for your approval. You need to check the buyer input before sending it to production.
- Mockups: Provide visuals that clearly show where customization will appear, so buyers understand how the product can be tailored to their individual preferences.
- Time pressure: Stay on top of approvals. For example, TikTok orders must be reviewed within three days, and embroidery designs often require digitization, which can add up to 36 hours.
When done right, personalization creates more relevant products for your customers. Allowing shoppers to add their own touch makes products more valuable, boosts profits, and encourages loyal customers to return for more.
FAQ
Personalization is a feature that lets buyers customize your products with their own text, images, or design elements like names, dates, or photos. Instead of selling a fixed design, you’re offering a template they can customize, turning standard items into personal products that buyers are willing to pay more for.
Yes. Research shows that personalization matters to buyers, and they’re often willing to pay extra for it.
Automated personalization works on Etsy, Pop-Up Store, and TikTok Shop, with Shopify coming soon. Manual personalization works on all sales channels.
Because it lets individual customers create products that feel truly their own. Printify’s personalization capabilities make it easy to set this up for free and without extra tools. Personalization relies on providing text fields or image uploads that turn standard products into personal items shoppers value.
Improving your personalization strategy starts with data collection. Track performance metrics like customer behavior and user interactions, and analyze data to identify user preferences. Use these customer journey insights to create relevant products for your store and personalized content for social media.
Focus on key aspects like conversion rates, repeat orders, and customer reviews to refine your personalization products and ensure they meet user needs. As your store grows, you can expand to personalized recommendations (e.g., “Bought a custom mug? Offer a custom tote”) and use personalized marketing to showcase your best products to existing customers.