Picture this scenario: You’re a marketing manager for a mid-sized technology company. You’ve been tasked with finding an innovative way to market the rollout of their newest shopping app. They’re expecting you to find something interesting and different. They want it to be something that will boost engagement on social media. And, also be considered “cool” by your target audience. Oh, and by the way, your budget for this endeavor isn’t exactly “robust.” Is there a unique campaign that will give you maximum marketing impact at a relatively low expense? Say hello to t-shirt marketing!
Swag marketing campaigns, and apparel campaigns in particular, have been gaining considerable buzz with companies of all sizes because of their relatively low financial investment and enormous marketing impact. Are you looking for an exciting marketing campaign that will create a groundswell of attention from both existing and new clients? Try creating a t-shirt marketing campaign, it’s a terrific place to start a branded apparel collection. Here are some tips to get you pointed in the right direction with your first t-shirt marketing efforts.
Why T-shirt Printing and Fulfillment Make a Great Marketing Campaign
Using branded apparel fulfillment to promote business has become an incredibly popular way to market your business. It’s easy to see why. According to an article in Forbes Magazine, 85% percent of consumers do business with a company after they have received a promotional piece of clothing. Furthermore, 89% of businesses recall another business up to two years after receiving a promotional item from them. Putting your logo on a piece of apparel like a t-shirt provides both existing and potential customers with lasting exposure to your brand. Plus, it gives them a sense of being a part of your brand experience on a regular basis.
T-shirt marketing can be an uncommonly bold and innovative way to promote your brand. Plus, it enhances your company’s exposure to a variety of new markets. T-shirt fulfillment for customers is like free advertising.
The key to making sure it’s a successful venture is doing it right. Printing and fulfillment companies, like Print Bind Ship, will design your t-shirt and oversee order fulfillment. This allows you to continue managing your new clients while reaping the benefits of a smart t-shirt printing and fulfillment strategy.
Make Customers and Staff Walking Billboards
Branded t-shirts are becoming hot commodities and another revenue channel for modern business. Consider business consultant company Eula Blue. To promote their business and the core values of their brand identity, they created a capsule collection of promotional swag that highlighted their messaging that was already very popular with their core clients and staff.
When the recent Covid pandemic forced their staff to from home, their marketing team went to work. And came up with the idea to have staff wear comical, branded t-shirts during Zoom calls and meetings with clients. These branded t-shirts provided a double win for the company; not only did it keep their logo in front of clients, it also boosted team morale during a stressful time. On top of that, clients started asking where they could get a similarly branded t-shirt as well!
This example demonstrates one of the best perks that come from a t-shirt marketing effort. By offering t-shirts to staff and clients alike, you’re creating a tangible “value add” bonus. And, you’re also turning both groups into walking billboards, and a continual visual representation of your brand. By using a professional t-shirt printing and fulfillment company like Print Bind Ship, they were able to easily accommodate orders for the shirts without incurring a hiccup during Covid shutdowns.
Enhance Customer Loyalty
Let’s be honest; there are few things in life we love more than getting something for free. When that something free is a quality t-shirt with a well-designed logo from a company whose product we like, it’s an added bonus that makes us feel valued.
Today’s digital landscape means there are lots of businesses vying for the attention of customers. Which makes it essential for companies to find innovative methods to stand out from the fray. Using branded t-shirts to thank customers or onboard new clients lets them know how important their business is to your company, and it makes them feel you’re investing in a relationship with them. There’s also significantly more marketing staying power in a renewable, reusable branded item like a t-shirt. Unlike an inanimate desk object that gets buried under paperwork.
Custom T-shirts are Really Easy
One of the best aspects of running a T-Shirt marketing effort; how effortless it can be for your business to launch one. Especially when you enlist the services of an experienced print and fulfillment expert like Print Bind Ship.
The process is straightforward and actually quite fun. Most print and fulfillment companies have several designs of t-shirts to choose from. They will help you determine which style or materials are best for your t-shirt marketing endeavor. If you already have a great logo or slogan you want on the t-shirt design, simply provide that to your printer. They’ll handle the rest.
Stuck on an idea? Print and fulfillment companies like Print Bind Ship will provide you with design tips. They’ll even help you create a logo if you’re starting at square one. An experienced print shop will help you determine the best way to showcase your design. Your final t-shirt will surly deliver maximum brand impact.
Once you’ve settled on a design and provided your distribution list to your fulfillment company, sit back and watch. A qualified fulfillment company will handle everything while keeping you up-to-date on the key performance indicators (KPI’s) of the promotion. A well-organized t-shirt marketing plan is one of the easiest promotional campaigns you can use time and time again!
How T-shirt Printing & Fulfillment Work
T-shirt marketing campaigns are a great method to employ when looking for ways to reach out to existing clients, particularly those you may not have had much contact within a while.
Consider this example: With the recent impact of Covid, a small construction company that had relied on door-to-door sales calls as a big part of their marketing efforts needed to pivot when social distancing became a factor. Rather than focus exclusively on new clients, they looked for ways to reach out to previous customers.
Utilizing the fact that people were spending significantly more time in their homes, the company came up with an ingenious idea. They hired a t-shirt printing and fulfillment company to design t-shirts with the slogan “This is my home office t-shirt.” And included their company logo on the back along with a note offering a free consultation for a home office addition.
The response to this campaign was huge, as were the results. For customers, it included the benefit of a free consultation for something customers might need. Plus, it took the stressful situation of Covid (and working from home) and turned it into something positive. For the construction company, it provided a smart, inventive way to reconnect with stagnant customers. It turned a reconnection into a profitable business opportunity; and everyone got a great t-shirt out of it, too!
Decide on Your Message
When looking at the best possible plan for launching a t-shirt marketing campaign, it’s good to determine your goals and audience first. Will you be making it a general campaign, where all clients and potential customers will be receiving a t-shirt, or do you want to begin with a more targeted effort? Both can be beneficial; it just depends on your overall goals.
Determining the scope of the campaign and your audience will help inform the design and messaging of the t-shirt. With a more general campaign, you might want to keep the design to your logo, motto, and brand colors. However, if your plan is to create a t-shirt campaign to announce a new product, you might want to include something about the product on the shirt, and streamline the receiver list to those who might be the most likely to want or need the new offering.
Sometimes exclusivity can breed a lot of buzz. For example, perhaps you decide to do a T-shirt fulfillment campaign for customers that have signed up for a specific service. Letting people know via your website and social media that for a limited time, those who sign up for the service will receive a cool T-shirt can be the incentive a potential customer needs to finally make the purchase.
One final consideration is sizing. Obviously, you’ll want to make sure that the t-shirts you’re sending as a promotional item are being worn and enjoyed, so you’ll want to ensure you give sizing careful thought. Remember, it’s always better to have a t-shirt that’s too big rather than too small; no one wants to wear a shirt that’s overly snug. Working with an expert on T-shirt promotions like Print Bind Ship will make this process easier, as they can advise you on size charts and fabric durability.
Design & Print
Since your t-shirt promotion is meant to be a tangible representation of your brand, you’ll want to make sure you’re choosing a high-quality product. Factors to consider include:
- Whether you should choose a full cotton or poly/cotton mix
- Durability and shrinkage
- Whether or not the shirt material will take your logo design well
- What printing method will be the best option for your t-shirt design
- How many colors will be used in the process
Typically, the more colors needed to print your logo and design, the higher the cost of printing. You’ll want to be mindful of this when finalizing your concept, along with t-shirt material and other cost factors.
Hire a T-shirt Printing & Fulfillment Service
Once you’ve determined the right t-shirt marketing campaign to promote your business, the next step is finding a professional 3PL to manage the process for you. While it might seem like handling fulfillment in-house would be a money saver, typically, the exact opposite proves true.
Trying to calculate shipping costs and packaging methods is time-consuming, and pulls you away from the daily tasks of running your business. Fulfillment companies’ knowledge of packaging and shipping methods results in lower freight costs and more efficient packaging processes, and these are savings that get passed on directly to your bottom line.
Print Bind Ship is Your T-shirt Marketing Headquarters
The best thing about working with a 3PL like Print Bind Ship? We’re a true one-stop-shop. From the conception of your project, through printing and fulfillment, we pride ourselves on being a true partner to our customers. We continually strive to uncover new and innovative ways to help our clients market their brand and create strategies to make promotions easier and more successful. Looking for a new way to market your business, or get your brand some attention? Check out some more of our Learning Center articles for some cutting-edge ideas!