9 Awesome T-Shirt Marketing Ideas to Boost Your Brand

Did you know that people keep promotional products for an average of eight months? T-shirts are one of the best promotional tools around to give away to spread your brand.

Think about it?

Whenever someone wears a t-shirt with your brand boldly printed on it, they become a walking billboard.

When you consider the cost of traditional advertising then you begin to realize the power of a t-shirt promotion and the number of impressions it will make throughout the year for free.

You may be thinking that a t-shirt promotion is a great idea, but you are not quite sure how to execute it? Here are some t shirt marketing ideas that will help you take your t-shirt promotion to the next level, so you can get maximum return on your investment.

1. Target Inactive Customers

You may have customers who were once active spenders.

You may not have heard anything from them in a while.

If this is the case then you can email them a brief hello, and offer them a company t-shirt as well.

Re-introduce yourself and ask them if you can be of any service to them in any way?

You may have developed a new and improved product or service their business could benefit from. Tell them about it to see if they need it?

People rarely pass up on “free” items, so a high quality branded t-shirt is the perfect way to get them engaged again and re-start yur new business relationship.

2. Host a Social Media Giveaway

Nothing gets shares likes and other forms of engagement on social media like a giveaway.

You could also host a contest in which you ask your social media followers to come up with the perfect t shirt design.

This will make the creation of the t-shirt a more personal experience for your followers.

Let them create a logo and a tagline that is catchy and easy to remember to become involved in your giveaway.

You could have a first, second and third place winner. Once you have selected a winning design, offer it for sale to your followers.

3. Tradeshows

If your business is involved in tradeshows then this is the perfect time to giveaway t-shirts that will increase brand awareness.

When people visit your booth or if they purchase something from you don’t just give them a business card give them a good quality t-shirt with your logo printed on it.

Even if they give it away, you will still benefit because your brand will get exposure.

Create a unique design that is memorable so that people will want to wear or share it with the world.

Encourage your audience to put it on while at the trade show so they can promote for you while they walk around. Create the feeling of your company being omnipresent at the tradeshow by giving away free t shirts.

4. Include T-shirts as Bonuses

When its time to launch a new product. You can bundle it with a free t-shirt.

You don’t have to do this every time you sell the product but create a set of t-shirts to giveaway to your first fifty or hundred customers.

Commemorate milestones and special business celebrations with a custom t shirt for your employees so they can wear your companies t shirt regularly outside of work.

If people are not natural salesmen or marketers a t-shirt can do the selling for them without actually marketing or selling your business.

The t shirt is the new billboard.

5. Use Quality T-shirts to Soothe Disgruntled Customers

Every business gets disgruntled customers from time to time.

One of the best ways to put a smile back on their face is to not only apologize for whatever went wrong but to also give them a souvenir that they will enjoy.

Almost everyone wears t-shirts, so you will make the customer happy and secure some free advertising in the process.

Think about what other products you can give away that will have this same effect with your customers than a t shirt.

There is an actual use for a good quality t-shirt and better yet if your companies logo is printed on the front or back of the t-shirt.

6. Keep Up With Trends

While you don’t want to steal anybody’s thunder, you can ride it.

If you find that something is trending in your locale then find a way to incorporate it with your brand.

However, you still want to keep it as original as possible when you do this.

The key is to find that delicate balance where you are riding the trend but being original at the same time.

It is often best to hire a good designer for this.

However, don’t underestimate the creativity of your employees, they might surprise you.

As an incentive, you can give them a nice little bonus as well.

7. Sponsor Events and Giveaway T-shirts

If you want to skyrocket your exposure in the community where you do business, then one way to do this is by sponsoring local events that your target market frequents or buys from.

For example, there may be a local golfing event or music festival, if you sponsor these events and offer souvenirs to event-goers, you would have supercharged your promotion.

Remember to customize your t-shirts so that they will fit into the event. For a golf tournament, it is a good idea to give away polo t-shirts instead of regular t shirts.

However, for a music festival, you can stick with regular shirts that just incorporate your brand logo with some sort of musical theme.

For example, if it is a jazz festival you could incorporate a saxophone or trumpet in your design to make it relatable.

The key takeaway is that you want your t-shirt to be relevant to the event. Do not forget to make t-shirts for kids as well.

Nothing gets attention like a cute baby or toddler wearing an eye-catching t-shirt.

8. Get in the Trenches

If you want your t-shirt promotion campaign to be a success, you have to think outside of the box.

It’s always a good idea to link with other related but non-competing businesses and give them promotional t-shirts.

Do not just give t-shirts to managers and administrators. Give away high-quality men and women’s t-shirts to company employees as well.

In this way, they will remember you when it is time to refer customers.

For example, if you run a professional house painting business it is always a good idea to give out promotional t-shirts to the local paint supply store or the local hardware store.

Remember that promotion can be taken to the streets as well. You can have a day where selected employees put on t-shirts with your brand and do giveaways to passersby. Whether you run an online or brick and mortar business this is an effective tool.

Final Thoughts on T-shirt Marketing Ideas

When it comes to marketing, t-shirts are one of the most effective promotional tools out there that people can wear weekly, monthly and yearly to promote any product or business logo.

You need to make sure that you spread as wide a net as possible when distributing your promotional t-shirts.

Give them to businesses not just customers. Use them to draw back customers who have become inactive.

Give them away to disgruntled customers and at trade shows and other events. If you use the t shirt marketing ideas presented here you will be well on the road to success.

If you would like more promotional ideas for your business, please visit our blog. We have valuable information that will help to make your business promotions a success.