Giving away promotional t-shirts to customers is a quick and relatively easy way to get branded items into the hands of customers. It provides them with something they appreciate and it helps you to boost your brand recognition out there in the real world, so what’s not to like?
If you’re interested in doing more to promote your brand with promotional products, shirts could offer you the very best way of doing it. They’re universally liked, they’re relatively cheap and they offer fantastic branding potential. But most importantly of all, they can be used in such a wide variety of ways by brands like yours.
There are so many ways to put them to use and to get the most out of them as promotional items. It’s all about getting creative and thinking of ways to make them meaningful and effective at promoting your brand. If you’re not sure where to start, the ideas we’re about to discuss next will inspire you.
Use Free Shirts as Part of Your Pitch to New Clients
If you’re working with high-value clients or you’re trying to sell products that have a pretty high price tag, it might make sense to pitch to people using free t-shirts. The cost of using them will be tiny when compared to the outcome of selling a high-priced product or securing a vital high-value client for the business, so it makes sense.
It’s also a nice way of showing attention to detail and appreciation to the client. It’s the small things like this that clients remember. Just make sure that it’s appropriate for the client. That way, you can be sure the right outcomes are achieved by the end of the pitch you deliver to potential new clients. They’ll notice the thought and effort that goes into it.
Send T-Shirts When Looking to Rekindle a Failing Customer Relationship
No one wants to lose regular customers, especially if they have a history of being regular spenders. Those are the kinds of customers your business relies on and really needs to hold onto in an ideal scenario. That’s why you should go out of your way to keep hold of them, and one way to do that is by sending out free t-shirts.
If a customer seems to have lost interest in your brand, getting something from it for free might be a way of regaining their interest. Of course, you can’t send out free stuff to everyone who stops buying, but this technique really does work well for customers who have a history of buying frequently or buying high-value items but have since stopped.
Create a Black Tie T-Shirt Night for Clients
It can be a nice idea to link your free t-shirt promotion to an event or gathering of some kind. Doing this allows you to have some fun and get creative with your t-shirt designs, even making them a core part of the overall experience on the evening. A black tie t-shirt night for your clients and customers might be a great way of doing that.
It can help you create a fun evening with a tongue in cheek kind of feel to it. If that’s the kind of atmosphere you’re looking for at your next gathering or event, using t-shirts in this way or whatever other creative ways you can think of is definitely a good idea and shouldn’t be dismissed. It might be just what your brand needs.
Start a T-Shirt Design Competition Online
Another fun way to engage people with t-shirts is to run a competition for your customers. This is something that anyone can take part in via social media. Each person simply needs to create a t-shirt design and submit it to you. The winner and runners-up can then have their t-shirts made and you can even sell a limited run of them if you like.
It’s a fun way to get people engaging with your brand on social media so if you’re trying to up your social game and you want to use promotional t-shirts to do that, this idea might be the one that you’re looking for. It’s inclusive and fun and it gets people interacting. It’s an all-round positive idea so make sure you give it some thought.
Jump on the Latest Big Sporting Event
If there’s a big sporting event coming up, whether it’s a World Cup or the NBA Finals, why not use the event to your advantage? You could hand out free promotional shirts at a local bar or club where the sports game is being shown. The key to doing this successfully is making sure you play up the competitive elements of the game.
This can be done by creating two sets of shirts for the event. The first will be the color of one of the teams and the other will match the color of the other team. Then people can choose which team they’re supporting and choose the color that corresponds to that team. It’s a fun way of using an event like this to promote your brand.
Correct Customer Service Problems with Free T-Shirts
When a customer has a bad experience with your company, it might be a good idea to correct the problem by giving them something for free that acts as a kind of apology for what went wrong. Free t-shirts can work to help people feel a little better about the poor customer service they’ve received from you.
Of course, other actions might be required to ensure the customer isn’t lost for good, but the t-shirt will at least go a small way to ensuring you make amends for the problem. If you have lots of branded t-shirts available, it should be pretty easy to use a few of them on sending out to customers in the even of a bad customer service scenario.
Send Out T-Shirts Ahead of an Event You’re Hosting or Attending
When you’re going to be hosting an event or even attending a big event, you might want to use the occasion as an opportunity to hand out branded t-shirts to attendees. They can then wear them in the future or at the event as well if they want to. It’s a great way of getting your brand name and logo out there at the event.
It’s a good idea to tailor your approach to the specific nature of the event because all events like these are different. You will want to make sure that you get the tone right; otherwise, people won’t be very interested in the shirts you’re handing out. So put some thought into it and spend time thinking about what the right approach might be.
Show Your Clients You Know What They Care About
Simply showing your clients that you care about them and that you want them to remain customers of your company is a bigger deal than it sounds. People like to know that their custom is appreciated, especially if they’re high-value clients and they have plenty of other options to consider on top of your company.
Sending out free merchandise to these clients is a good way of showing them that they are valued and that you do appreciate their custom. Everyone likes to get something for nothing and that’s no different for your clients. Be sure to send a note with the t-shirt if you do decide to send them out to clients.
Try Street Marketing with Free T-Shirts
Street marketing has a bit of a bad reputation but for some companies, it can be really effective and that’s something you shouldn’t ignore or forget. You will have the chance to hand out free t-shirts during these street marketing efforts and you’ll get to talk to potential customers face to face, which is always positive.
If you have great merchandise that you’re handing out, street marketing is always more effective. People might not want to halt their busy day to have a chat, but if they can see that they’re getting something out of it for free, they’ll be a little more tempted.
Bundle Promotional T-Shirts
Another nice idea is to simply bundle your promotional t-shirts with the other things you’re selling. This is an especially good idea if you’re selling high-value items. Throwing in a little added extra always goes down well because customers don’t expect it.
It’s something that you should try out, especially if you have lots of t-shirts in stock and you want to get them out there to customers. It’s a good way it getting your brand logo, name and contact details out there, so give it a try and reap the rewards further down the line.
Shirts can be used for a wide variety of promotional reasons, as the examples above show you. Be sure to make the most of their potential if you’re currently looking for new and powerful ways to promote your brand. People love them and they can really help with brand engagement, so don’t hesitate to give some of the ideas above a try.
