Custom t-shirts are great marketing tools for many different businesses, but the industry that tends to use them the most is the music industry. If you keep the following in mind, you can have a create a t-shirt that will bring fans and success to you and your band. A band needs to make a custom t-shirt as part of its overall marketing strategy to help build awareness about the band. Customized t-shirts also give your fans something to purchase to support you that they can wear for years to come.
What to Include
There are various elements that make a custom t-shirt more appealing and memorable. Consider what to include on the tees for your band.
Eye-catching graphics or images
You need to make your shirt attractive and noticeable. A professional printing company can help you with your design. It is beneficial to have graphic artists working on your design because they will know what works best on a shirt. The initial impression is important as you want people to notice it with a simple glance. You need them to pay enough attention to actually read the band name on the shirt.
Quality shirt material
Thank your fans by making shirts with high-quality materials. If the shirt is uncomfortable, no one will wear it. If the material is soft and comfortable, people tend to wear it out in public time after time. Many T-shirts are made with a thin material, so make sure that you get something a little thicker that people will appreciate.
Have a variety of cuts available
Make sure you offer T-shirt cuts that appeal to both men and women. Some women may prefer v-necks, while men may appreciate muscle shirts. By having a variety of cuts, your encourage more people to buy shirts.
Spring for a shirt with color
White T-shirts can be rather generic. If you use a color that complements your band's logo, go ahead and use that. Color makes the shirt more interesting for people to both see and wear.
Band name or logo
Make sure the name of your band is large and in a font that's easy to read. Again, you want people to remember the shirt, but also the name of your band.
Tour dates
If you have a good number of appearances during the year, include those on the back. Many bands do this. It demonstrates credibility by showing that your band is good enough to have several bookings to its credit.
How to Distribute T-Shirts
If you're just starting out, it's a good idea to give some shirts away for free. Give them to friends and family to wear at events. By giving away the shirts, your friends and family can act as walking advertisements for your band. If the shirt is eye-catching, people that see the t-shirt will look up your band. Make sure you have a mobile-friendly website. Many people will probably look up your band on their smartphone.
Sell them at concerts
You want to have a stash of T-shirts when you're on the road. If you put on a good show, fans will stick around to buy merchandise to support you.
Sell them on your band's website
Make sure these shirts are also available on your website. There will be people that may not have waited to buy them in person but will look up your website to buy shirts later. This strategy taps the market of your fans that haven't yet made it to your concert, but like you so much and are interested in supporting you.
Create shirts for special events
You can also create shirts that are specific to certain events. Since special events don’t happen as often, you'll find people that are interested in these shirts. You could have these shirts exclusively at these events at nowhere else. For these, make sure to include the date of the event. People like pulling the shirt out later on and remembering the good time they had.
Give shirts away to fans
It's important to acknowledge your fans. As a band, you need to make sure to keep up your social media interactions. You could offer contests to those fans, with the prize being a free T-shirt.
When planning to use T-shirts as part of your marketing plan for your band, you need to have both a quality band and a quality website. The best T-shirt won't be bought if you don't have the quality band to back it up. You also need to have a fully functioning, user-friendly website that allows people to easily find out more about your band and purchase merchandise. Your website should be mobile-friendly. If people can't read through it on their phones, they probably won't take the time to look it up at home later. The right approach can make your band stand out from the rest.
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