A Guide to using T-Shirts for marketing

It's not a secret that the internet has brought with it a golden era of marketing. Before, we had to rely on things like mailers and flyers to spread ideas and reach those who were interested in your business. However, with the power of social media and an infinite amount of content options at our fingertips now, businesses are becoming more creative than ever before. T-shirts are one example of how brands are using different forms of marketing on their shirts to get their message across without being forced into expensive commercials like television or radio ads. Let's take a look at some popular t-shirt designs for inspiration:

The logos themselves typically don't tell you much about what you'll find when visiting the business page. And that's not too surprising. Generally, a shirt like this is designed with a very specific type of person in mind. This may include a humor-loving individual with a willingness to laugh at the absurdity of the shirt and share it on social media for others to see. It'll probably be someone who enjoys the company's product(s) and will visit their page as a result. This shirt is a perfect example of that framework. It's a simple design and simply uses the company's name to get their message across to those who may not be familiar with the brand. Here are some other examples:

Above we see two very similar designs depicting the original Ghostbusters film along with the quote "Who ya gonna call?" Well, this is a great opportunity for us to see exactly how successful these shirts can be as a marketing tool first-hand. After all, it would seem like these shirts are ideal for selling nothing more than an idea or two. A design like this, when paired with someone's name, could easily go viral if shared en masse by fans of the film or its sequels. It's become a rather popular meme within the online community and is easily shareable thanks to its simplicity. Shirts like this, in my opinion, can be used as a gateway opportunity to connect with fans of your brand or products without having to rely on some form of advertisement. This is what I like to call the "subtle approach."

There are many other ways to market using t-shirts of course; however, I feel that those are better suited for those who have less of an interest in their products and may not support them as vocally if they aren't connected emotionally. You'll notice that the shirts above don't have anything much in terms of design beyond the logo itself (or related quote in the case of Ghostbusters). In this case, the shirt will likely be used to interact with customers and spread their message by word-of-mouth. It's not a complex idea but is still effective in terms of advertising since no money was spent on it. On the other hand, there are plenty of popular t-shirt designs with complex designs and stories behind them. This is where I feel the subtle approach could be more efficient in getting across what a business wants to convey.

Here are some well-known t-shirts that use a simple design to get their message across:

OK, so these shirts may seem rather simple and straightforward when compared to the Ghostbusters design above but that's not necessarily a bad thing in terms of marketing. After all, these shirts are telling a story and can be viewed as more classic in the sense of getting their message across. Whether this is a positive or negative perception is totally up to the individual. This doesn't mean that these shirts are necessarily less effective than others; I'd say they're just used differently. It all depends on the individual and how well they connect with the message being portrayed by their shirt. Below, we see another simple design that promotes women's empowerment.

This shirt is definitely more complex than the first two designs above yet it connects with people who may not purchase this brand's products simply because of its design (the purple text on white background). Instead, they may become interested in the shirt because of their consideration of the company or its message. Here are some other examples of shirts with complex designs:

And, yes, that's my friend on the left in the above shirt.

Again, these shirts have complex designs but this time it's intended for a more mature audience. This is something to keep in mind if you're running a t-shirt design contest to get ideas from your team members or your fans. It's especially instrumental when marketing more risqué and mature products like alcohol or tobacco where you have to ensure that this product isn't shown to children and that it doesn't encourage people to drink too much (hence why I don't use those shirts myself).

Lastly, we have this one:

This is another example of a more complex design. However, in this case it's an exclusive design made by the company and can only be purchased directly from them. A business has to consider the types of shirts they want to sell if they're going to be selling them directly. It's much easier to sell a standard shirt like the first two in Google search results since anyone with a t-shirt printer can make and sell shirts that look exactly like them for extremely cheap (if not for free). But you may not be able to get your message across using this method.

So, those are some popular t-shirt designs I think would be a good fit for a business' message. This article is by no means an exhaustive list; rather, it was simply an avenue for me to express my thoughts on how different types of designs can be used as marketing tools and how they can help with promoting potential customers. There's no one size fits all answer in terms of getting your message across with the right shirt design so use this article as a resource and consider what you want to get out of your shirt design before you invest too much time and money into it. There's nothing more disappointing than creating a shirt at great expense only to have no one wear it.

If you have any thoughts, comments or questions about this article, please leave them in the comments section below. I'd be happy to read and respond to your messages! Thanks for reading!

A Guide to using T-Shirts for marketing

A Guide to using T-Shirts for marketing

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