Businesses are the reflection of one’s hard work. Entrepreneurs burn the midnight oil to come with a promising idea and then spend years of hard work to turn the idea into a real thriving and booming business. When something means that much to you, you look for ways to make it more successful. In today’s business market there are many ways entrepreneurs can try to market and promote their business. One such way is Promotional apparel or clothing.
The Idea Behind Promotional Clothing
Promotional clothing is a type of customized clothing that business holders use to get their companies and brand logos printed on them. Such Imprints include the company’s name, marketing messages, and logos. These apparels usually include hats, t-shirts, Jackets. Any piece of clothing that can be used to market the brand fits right into promotional clothing. Promotional clothing holds a significant place in the world of business because of the bond that it tries to create between the brands and the public. As the success of any business depends on its number of clients and its customer reach, to help with achieving that promotional clothing is used. Through customized clothing, businesses can achieve exposure and brand recognition among the public. Promotional clothing is mostly distributed as handouts or shipped as extra items along with a purchase.
Promotional t-shirts are also a type of Customized clothes used for brand marketing. These are distributed to public or usual customers to increase the brand reach and gain recognition among the masses.
Promotional T-Shirt Vs Regular T-Shirt
Promotional t-shirts are more or less similar to your regular fit t-shirts. Regular t-shirts are soft and comfortable and exist in diverse ranges of colors and designs. Their quality depends on the quality of the brand as well. For example, there will be a stark difference in the cloth quality of a t-shirt bought from the thrift store and one bought from a good and reputable brand. Promotional t-shirts use classic t-shirt designs and opt for plain colors so they can have their logo imprinted on them. Good brands are differentiated from bad ones based on their cloth quality, similarly, it is up to the company if they want to go big and use good quality or bad. But there is one consideration, promotional t-shirts are not designed to be worn for a long period, so companies avoid spending too much and thought on them. So unlike normal t-shirts, Promotional tees are plain, boring with the cloth quality from poor to moderate.
The cloth material used in regular t-shirts is tri-blend fabric. As the name suggests, this fabric is a mixture of cotton, polyester, and rayon. It is 50% polyester, 25% cotton, and 25% rayon fabric. This fabric is considered to be ideal in the manufacturing of t-shirts for regular use. It feels light and breezy for the skin. It is used in the manufacturing of Promotional t-shirts as well.
Best Printing T-shirt Methods
There are many methods available to choose from when it comes to printing t-shirts. All of these methods have their perks and quirks. The decision of choosing any printing method depends on the complexity of design, budget, number of t-shirts, and cloth quality.
Following are the available printing techniques available to choose from:
- Screen printing
- Inkjet and Laser iron-on printing
- Direct to garment printing
- CAD-cut-vinyl
- Plastisol transfers
- Dye-sublimation
- Discharge
- Cut and sew
- Stencil printing
- Resist dyeing
Design And Brand Matters When It Comes to Promotional Stylish T-Shirts
It is the little things in life that make the most difference. Fitting perfectly in your clothes is also one such thing. When you feel yourself in clothes, it adds to your mood and self-esteem. Being in a t-shirt that is too tight for you or isn’t breathable and light on the skin will annoy you the most. T-shirts that are made of poor cloth quality often led to skin allergies, rashes, etc.
The importance of a high-quality cloth brand cannot be emphasized enough. There are many reasons for that. T-Shirts made out of good cloth are very durable. They will be manufactured in a manner that would keep them from being torn, or faded and enable the wearer to sustain the most brutal temperature conditions. Durability will also add to the longevity of the shirt. High-quality clothing items do not need to be replaced as often as their low-quality counterparts, saving the wearer time, money, and frustration. High-quality clothing is not only strong and long-lasting, but it also provides an added level of comfort. When it comes to choosing clothes, fashion and fit are often the most important components. Because high-quality clothing is manufactured with a higher level of care and attention to detail, they tend to fit better and retain their original fit longer than lower quality pieces might.
Similarly, the Design of the t-shirt is also important. A good design is practical as well as stylish. A t-shirt with a neck design that will not let you move your neck or have its buttons stitched in the wrong places is only going to want you to throw it away immediately. Spending your money on a t-shirt that makes you hate yourself in it is such a disappointment. This is why it is crucial to buy t-shirts whose design is compatible with your clothing style.
There is any software used for designing promotional t-shirts designs and the most commonly used are:
- Adobe Illustrator
- Adobe Photoshop
- Corel draw
- Graffix pro studio
- Inkscape
Promotional t-shirts with good designs will always look great when worn by people. Promotional t-shirts are designed in calculated steps and once these steps are carried out well, half the job is done. No matter your reason for designing a t-shirt, it’ll always involve a little bit of branding. If you’re using t-shirts for promotional purposes, branding is your main goal. Even if it’s strictly fashion, you’ll still need to weave consistent brand themes into all your products. Then you have to determine your budget and the magnitude of the order. How many t-shirts you need and how much money you can spend will directly impact the t-shirt design. Once the budget and number of shirts are finalized, you have to consider your printing options. There are a lot of things to consider when you’re looking for the best t-shirt printing method for you. Cost, appearance, production time, materials—they’re all important. The more you know about each method, the easier it will be to decide which one is best for you. Now comes the fun part where you get to start figuring out what’s going on your t-shirt. Make sure you don’t jump to this step first. The more time and effort you put into preparing for this, the better. Some things play a major role here, for example, you should be clear about the t-shirt types, the imagery, and style of print, whether it will be an image, logo, or message. Additionally, you should also know what kind of typography you want on your t-shirt. The last and most crucial part is where you have to find a designer. This part is the game changer because you are going to hire someone who will transform your ideas into reality. The tough job isn’t it?
Moreover, it is also important to have the design printed on the front of the shirt. You can get a custom design made for your company or just directly print the logo on it. When designing a promotional t-shirt, it’s important to consider the type of event you plan on using them at such as if they’re for concerts or other social outings. It might also be beneficial to take into consideration who your audience is and how that would impact what style shirt you decide upon like say maybe company branding versus promoting an individual brand name instead
The Best Time for Promotional T-Shirts
Anytime could be the best time to manufacture Promotional t-shirts. More often, businesses launch promotional campaigns when their brands have established a strong footing in the market. Once that happens, it rests assured that any promotional product is only going to further solidify the success and recognition of the brand. Besides, the timing you set for promoting your business is also important. It is believed that Mondays and Tuesdays are promising in terms of high response rates, so you should try to distribute your merchandise on these days. Why are promotional products sent between the time slots of 8 am to 3 pm? The response rate drops a little bit every day after that and reaches its lowest levels on Saturdays and Sundays. It is proven that promotional products are sent during this timeframe because people have more free time then.
Benefits of Wearing Promotional t-shirts
Traditional advertising costs a lot and not all businesses can afford to spend such a hefty amount on brand marketing. This is why it is feasible to increase your brand awareness through promotional t-shirts. Since marketing through newspapers, radio and television demand a lot of resources so a majority of entrepreneurs opt for Promotional apparel especially t-shirts.
High-quality prints and fabric attract customers to wear your t-shirt. Promotional shirts are a great way to make your brand popular in the niche area without much effort on part of you. Start by giving away customized t-shirts with logos and messages for employees, then give them out at an expo or tradeshow when you attend one yourself.
Let us discuss how using promotional t-shirts can help you ace your business:
- Increase Brand Recognition
Custom printed shirts help brands establish an emotional connection with the target audience and communicate to them about their offerings. Like many other business owners, you too might view that printing custom t-shirts isn’t a good idea because people won’t wear them in public or at events where they get noticed by others. However, when people do wear your shirt at crowded places like conferences or football stadiums/arenas then they will be asked questions that helps raise awareness of your company name and logo design on the shirt
- T-shirts are Walking Advertisements
T-shirts are walking advertisements and can create a group of devoted fans who become brand ambassadors everywhere they go. If it gets on social media, you will immediately get many followers both online and in your neighbourhood. Or Customized t-shirts are easy to create, cost-effective, and they make devoted fans out of your employees. Plus, if you post it on social media such as Facebook or Instagram then you will get many followers immediately both online and, in the neighbourhood.
- Pocket-Friendly Brand Awareness
Customized t-shirts are a great marketing option for start-ups, and it’s an affordable way to market your brand in the long run. To get benefits out of customization, you should personalize t-shirts using simple graphics with less print area that will make them more budget-friendly.
- Long-lasting Promotional Material
A lifetime investment, promotional t-shirts will last for a long time. Promotional material such as apparel is just one of the many ways in which you can market your business or event to potential clients and customers that attend it. Promo T-Shirts are generally durable, lasting up to several years depending on how often they’re washed (turning them into wearable billboards). Once people have these tees with your logo prominently displayed – no matter when this may be months after an actual event has transpired – there’s little question about who gave out all those shirts.
- Easy to produce
For a brand wishing to market itself, a promotional t-shirt is a cost-effective strategy. You can keep the costs low by producing these two to three colors and choosing one printing method. not only is this effective for most marketing/advertising promotion signage and apparel, but it is also one of the more inexpensive options.
- Customizable
The best part about designing a promotional t-shirt is that you have absolute creative freedom to experiment with typography, style, and imagery. You can think of the promotional campaign in this way that you are the artist and the t-shirt is your canvas.
