Printing your own merchandise and looking to turn it up a notch? In today’s blog we look at different ways you can elevate your brand. We will discuss ways to do this through quality prints, finishing touches, marketing and communication. We suggest you define your audience and have a business plan before diving into this blog. Having a defined audience before using these tools and tactics will make this blog much more applicable to you. Once you have defined your audience and have clear branding in mind you can use this blog as a framework and then branch out to more unique ideas that fit your business.
Quality Prints and Materials
So, you can screen print. But can you do it well? When printing for a personal brand you should strive for perfection with each print. The finished good is the face of your company when someone is rocking their t shirt with your logo and design in public.
Do you have a favorite t shirt? Why is it your favorite? I bet it’s the material of the shirt, the way it fits and feels. Your customers are no different than you! The goal should be to make your customers new favorite t shirt. Quality matters, spend an extra few cents to a dollar for nicer fabrics.
You want repeat customers, customers aren’t going to keep buying from your brand if you aren’t printing quality t-shirts that stand the durability test of the washer and dryer. Make sure you are curing your garments properly and using quality inks like Screen Print Direct’s Ecotex or Rapid Cure lines.
Finishing Touches
Along with making sure the finished product is flawless there are other things you can do to elevate the final product your customer receives.
We love screen printing the size and the logo inside a finished garment, this makes your product look professional and polished. Hanging tags are also a great finishing touch, you can use these tags for marketing by incorporating your website URL and social media handles.
How are you shipping or giving your product to the end user? If you are shipping, consider folding it nicely and using custom poly mailers or colored poly mailers that match your branding. If you are handing off the product in person you can still package the final good in an appealing way. The customer should feel like they are getting a present when they receive your goods.
A personal touch we personal love is handwritten thank you notes on your customers orders. While this might be hard to do once you are shipping 100’s of packages a day it is doable in the beginning and can be something you do periodically for customer appreciation.
Marketing
We have walked through how to elevate the physical product you sell. Now let’s talk about elevating your marketing to match the hype of your awesome product.
Social Media
This is a great place to start marketing and giving your brand a face. Using lifestyle images centered around your product will breath life into your merchandise. It is no longer a t-shirt, it's a piece of clothing that helps your customer express themselves. Define your niche by telling your story through video and images and then post these on public social media accounts to attract the right audience for your merchandise.
Influencer Marketing
Are there people on social media or in your community that fit the vibe of your brand? Give these people free product and ask for them to post or to wear it. Today more than ever we are heavily influenced by niches in social media or our communities. If we feel we identify with someone else's vibe or aesthetic, we like to replicate their style. Using influencers can help to generate more sales as well as create brand awareness.
Brand Awareness
Sales are necessary to keep your brand alive but something almost as equally important is brand awareness. When you pass by a McDonalds billboard your immediate action isn’t to always go get a cheeseburger but the repetition of seeing this brand makes you aware they are still open and relevant. You need to create brand awareness for your merchandise to become and stay relevant. Using your unique branding get your name out there for the world to see. This could be with influencers, collaborations with other businesses, free stickers, attending local events with free merch to pass out.. get creative!
Communication
Communication seems too simple to really elevate my brand... wrong! There are so many ways in which you communicate with your customer and when you do so that can transform your brand.
Language
Language is a powerful tool, much like video and images, that conveys the meaning of your brand. Using the right type of language with your target audience can drastically change how your audience receives the message. You wouldn’t address an audience of surfers the same way you would address an audience of CEO’s, would you? Write your social media, emails and other marketing materials to reflect the audience you are talking to. Don’t be afraid to be playful and dive deep into character.
Frequency
How often do you communicate with your audience? On social media are you posting daily, twice a day? We suggest choosing a cadence that you can do consistently. This is the same for any email marketing you may do as well. Make sure you are aggressive in communicating with your audience to keep brand awareness but don’t become annoying as to where they unsubscribe from you.
Value
Make sure you are communicating things that matter to your customer. People love to hear about new product releases and sales. If your customer has purchased from you they will want to receive order confirmation numbers and tracking. Communicating these details should be consistent with your brand, make it engaging and fun even if it is just a tracking number. You can also automate these processes with order processing tools like ShipStation or email softwares like Omnisend, MailChimp or Klaviyo.
Your screen printing brand is unique, your job as the owner is to convey this to your customers. We hope that this blog gives you some ideas of how to elevate your brand and truly stand out from the rest. Focusing on quality prints, finishing touches, marketing and communication is just the beginning of transforming your brand. Remember little changes can have a big impact, don't be discouraged just get started!