What I Learned Building Print2Social: Social Automation Isn’t Enough for Store Traffic, So Here’s Our Next Chapter

Over the last year I’ve been building Print2Social, a tool designed to automate social media content for print-on-demand (POD) and indie e-commerce store owners. The goal was to help shop owners like myself spend less time on content creation and more time building their business, with the hope that automated posts on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok would help grow our brands and bring real traffic to our stores.

After months of real-world testing, here’s what I found:

The Reality: Social Automation Brings Views, Not Store Traffic

I connected Print2Social to Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok and let it auto-post hundreds of pieces of content, including lifestyle images, product highlights, and short-form videos. Some TikTok videos reached over 700 views, but none of it translated into real store traffic, even after optimizing captions, hashtags, and link-in-bio strategies.

Social media is designed to keep users inside the app. Even if you gain views or followers, very few people will actually click out to your website. For indie store owners, automated posting alone just does not drive targeted, purchase-ready traffic.

Why I’m Pivoting: A New Solution for Actual Sales

When I started Print2Social, my mission was to help small shop owners build real brands and get their first customers, not just social “vanity metrics.” I now realize that posting content is not enough. What really matters is creating a direct path from content to purchase.

So I am pivoting Print2Social in a new direction with shoppable social commerce as the focus.

What’s next for Print2Social?
We are building a tool that lets POD brands and indie shop owners easily publish shoppable social content by syncing their product catalogs and automating tagged posts across Meta Shops, TikTok Shop, and Pinterest Shopping. This will streamline the path from content to in-app purchase. When a customer sees your post, they can buy your product right inside TikTok, Instagram, or Pinterest without leaving the app.

Here’s what we are working on now

• Sync your POD catalog (Shopify, WooCommerce, Printful, Printify) to all major social commerce platforms

• Auto-generate media assets with product tags so every Reel, Story, Pin, or TikTok is instantly shoppable

• Schedule and publish your shoppable content at the best times for your audience

This is our answer to the “views but no clicks” problem and I believe it will help brands turn engagement into actual revenue, not just followers.

My Advice to Other Founders

Do not mistake social reach for meaningful traffic or sales.

Test your assumptions with real data, even if it means admitting when something is not working
Be willing to pivot toward solutions that actually solve the core problem for your users

If you are a store owner or builder who has struggled with this, or want to get early access to the new Print2Social, let’s talk. Early beta is available at https://beta.print2social.com if you want to check it out.