How To Create A Marketing Plan For Your Shop

Marketing is super important for any business that wants to make it places, and the T-shirt industry is no exception either. Find out how you can generate T-shirt marketing ideas, and learn how to create a marketing plan that fits the needs of Shop Owners to hit the ground runnung.

T-Shirt Marketing Ideas – Exploiting untapped potential

Why do I not sell? This is a question anyone who’s just started putting up T-shirts for sale is bound to face in the initial stages of their career. And old hands may also be confronted with an occasional dip in sales from time to time.

Imagine you run a convenience store on a busy high-street, but nobody ever sets foot in your store. This is probably because you haven’t put a plan into place of how to market your products to an audience you don’t really know. Putting a sound marketing analysis into place will get things off the ground.

The Plan: T-shirt marketing analysis

You need to find your niche and corner it. Two things are important here:

• Your strategy. A polished marketing plan that outlines exactly what you want to achieve.
• Your tactics. A line of action that details how you put your strategy into place.

Be sure to come up with an in-depth description of the following points:

Marketing Plan Action Points

Download the marketing plan PDF file here.

1. Target audience research

To create a memorable and successful brand, you need to be 100% sure about who you’re selling to. Knowing your audience inside-out is absolutely vital. Ideally, you’re already part of the group, movement or subculture you’re creating designs for. Find out about people’s hobbies, their role models, preferences, likes and also dislikes. Maybe even what they like having for breakfast. Always try to answer the question, “Why would they buy my designs?”

2. Competitor analysis

Learn from your competition and find your niche. Successful competitors have established a clear idea of their identity and know how to captivate their audience’s attention. The audience needs to be able to identify with your products. Seek out a couple of brands for you to model your own brand on. Analyse their marketing strategy. See what the top sellers in your niche do well so you can learn from them.

3. Step-by-step product promotion plan

It’s important to choose the right channel in line with your audience’s habits. Two factors are expedient to your cause:

• Forecast the outcome of your marketing measures you want to achieve (e.g. number of sales, followers you want to gain, etc.)
• Measure the actual result and compare it to your forecast so you can learn to calculate future estimation of effort and costs

4. Monitor customer feedback

Set up Google alerts to be notified when your brand is mentioned. Follow social media trends, and engage in conversation with your followers on social media. Be a patient listener and alert to whatever your audience is interested in to gather new ideas for designs.

5. Review your Marketing Plan

Once your initial plan has been fulfilled, set yourself new goals to strive for, and revise your marketing plan when needed. An update is definitely appropriate when you start creating designs for a slightly different target group.

What can you do to promote your brand?

As a one-person venture, you are the creative marketing director of your brand. Consider creating a little video clip to serve as an image film for your brand. You don’t need any expensive camera equipment or models to shoot a video to draw people’s attention to your brand and products. Turn your friends into actors. Imagine what could make the video worth sharing, and make it fun to watch. Try adding an exciting story or reference to popular culture. Capture the hearts and imagination of your audience – just give it a go!

Learn more about sharing your designs and products on Pinterest, LookBook and similar websites.

What has your experience with marketing been so far? Are you a good planner or do you need to push yourself do get things done? Please drop your feedback or questions in the comments!