How much money are you wasting on branded merch, and how can you fix it?

Let’s first take a closer look at the biggest sources of waste:

1️⃣ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 ⏱💰. The time, stress, and effort it takes to decide what you should order.

2️⃣ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐟𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 *𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭* 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠: the sizes that were too big, too small, and the colors nobody wanted… 🫣

3️⃣ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐟𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐡, 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐲𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤. RIP, your branded goodies. 🪦

These merch mistakes are wasteful of your time and money. But there are damn good reasons to have branded merchandise: people love it, it builds brand awareness and community, it’s great for loyalty, upselling and incentives.

So how do you fix this? It’s easier than you think:

1️⃣ Set up a 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐭-𝐨𝐧-𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩 for your team and customers (if that sounds intimidating, hire us at Go To Market – Custom Print-On-Demand Branded Merchandise to do it for you)

2️⃣ Keep your designs fresh 🌱 so people want to wear them

3️⃣ Don’t print junk!! 🗑🔦✍️✏️🎾

Here’s the adult size large tee that was in my 10-year-old son’s gift bag this weekend. We were in Jay Peak for a ski race and had the best time ⛷️

When he checked in and he saw the shirt, he said, incredulous: “but I can’t wear this t-shirt, it’s way too big!” Yeah kid, it’s WAY too big and let’s not even talk about the design of the shirt.

It’s easy to see disappointment in a child and think, aw, that sucks, what a missed opportunity for this company.

Your team and fans might feel that way too. Think about how they feel when you give them clothing that:
😕 doesn’t fit
😕 isn’t their style
😕 they need to wear but didn’t choose

The disappointment is real.

It’s easier than you think to not do this. My number one solution is to give people choice in the merch they receive (ideally from a print-on-demand merch shop that Go To Market – Custom Print-On-Demand Branded Merchandise can set up for you). But if you can’t do that, there are options.

Here’s what you can do to make exciting and inclusive merch:

😁 give unsized items
😁 if you do apparel, have enough of every size
😁 offer alternatives for people who aren’t comfortable the style you’re printing

Tell me about a time when a company gave you a shirt that was completely the wrong size or style for you!!

I’m really into Marvel movies 🦸🏻‍♀️⚡️💪🏻. My kids and I watched all (𝘢𝘭𝘭!) the Marvel movies in chronological order starting last July.

So it was particularly interesting to me to learn that Stan Lee, the creator of so many Marvel Entertainment characters 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞.

What’s unique about this is that Stan Lee himself is not a superhero; this merch is different from wearing an Iron Man or Captain America tee or mask. Wearing an “EXCELSIOR!” hoodie is a deep cut. It’s IYKYK– the kind of community- and identity-building that we’re trying to do with 𝐚𝐥𝐥 branded merchandise.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧 𝐋𝐞𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭.

Does your company merch pull you into your company’s community?

Marvel fans in the world, come at me:
🦸🏻‍♀️ Who is your favorite character?
🦸🏻‍♀️ Which is the worst movie?
🦸🏻‍♀️ Do you own anything Marvel-related? Toys, clothes, memorabilia?

And: would you wear any of the new Stan Lee line?

Your last-minute swag has that “just under the deadline” look to it. 😬

Most people put off buying merch until 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 before they need it. And hey, there’s good reasons why people procrastinate when it comes to buying merch:

🫣 There are too many choices
🫣 Your vendor is a 🍑💩👎
🫣 You don’t have any new ideas for your brand

Merch is hard when you don’t think about it every single day.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤, 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐅𝐔𝐍 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐉𝐎𝐘𝐅𝐔𝐋 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞: 𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦.

Before you tell me you don’t have time to do that, let me highlight this very very obvious fact: You’re wasting 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, again and again, every time you’re scrambling before an event to figure out your merch.

And if you still don’t have the time, outsource it (ideally, to us at Go To Market – Custom Print-On-Demand Branded Merchandise).

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐟𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫. And our skillset is merch, merch, merch, and merch.

What’s the most last-minute merch you’ve created OR received? For me, it’s always pens. Always pens! ✍️

PS What do you think of my new branded bomber jacket?!

Y𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠.

𝐀 𝐨𝐧𝐞-𝐬𝐢𝐳𝐞-𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐬-𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤.

We live in a time where we can buy exactly what we want — in the size, shape, style, and color we prefer — and have it in hands within a few days.

Yesterday I was talking to Rebecca Orlov about highly tailored experiences in Roblox + UGC design and it got me thinking about how this works for merch (duh, I’m always thinking about merch).

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐰𝐚𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐞𝐬, 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦, 𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐬, 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠:

➡️ Have a mix of apparel (tees, hoodies) and non-apparel (drinkware, journals, totes). People tend to prefer one of these two categories over the other and can feel strongly about which they want merch in.

➡️ Offer some minimal designs and some loud designs. Some people want to wear their values and style loud and proud (it’s me, hi, I’m the problem it’s me…) and others prefer something more subtle.

➡️ Change it up. If your people already have your logo on 15 different things they certainly don’t want it on 15 more things. Think of new designs!

Have you ever had a company give you … and ALL of your colleagues … the exact same thing? What was it, and did you like it?

Listen up 📣

There are a lot of people in your audience who love your brand but 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘶𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘺𝘰𝘶, because you’re too high-ticket or don’t have enough spots.

T𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝’𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐡.

Think about all the people (thousands, tens of thousands for some of you) who see your content weekly and love your ideas but will never be a client.

What if you gave them the chance to wear your brand in the world? Take it home with them and enjoy it?

Branded merch for high-ticket businesses is a win-win for all:

⭐️ It gives non-clients a chance to buy from you
⭐️ It spreads your message in the world, beyond social media channels
⭐️ It deepens your connection with your audience
⭐️ It’s a currency beyond likes and shares

Have you ever bought merch from an influencer, podcaster, author, or coach just to support their business? I have! Everyone knows I am in head to toe Peloton Interactive gear but I also buy from my favorite podcasters whenever they have merch. It’s my way of saying thank you!

If the solar eclipse can have merch, so can your business.

There are thousands of solar eclipse swag products available for purchase ahead of the big day, ranging from “my first eclipse” onesies to “TOTAL ECLIPSE” koozies.

As expected, some are super cute and clever, and some are absolutely cringe . Before I show you my faves, let’s talk about why this is relevant to YOU.

Your takeaway from the fact that so many people want solar eclipse merch should be this: your people want merch from you. 

Your employees, coworkers, peers, clients, fans, and family all want branded merch from you.  People care about your brand— their purchase is proof of their love for you.

If you don’t think people want merch from you, take a moment to ask your colleagues, clients, or peers. The answer will surprise you!  (Spoiler alert: they want it.)

The best branded merch RESONATES.  The worst merch is just crappy corporate logo wear.

Yesterday Vin Matano posted that he’s “never seen one B2B company have good swag” and the post has over 300 comments. It’s clearly ruffling some feathers, in his words.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞?

🔑 It communicates the vibe or energy of the brand
🔑 It highlights the identity of people who use it
🔑 It feels like a good memory of the brand
🔑 It makes you feel “in the know”

I call this the IYKYK (if you know you know) touch. If your merch resonates with people who know your brand, you’ve nailed it.

𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐨𝐟 “𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐨 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫”:
👎 It looks like a yawn
👎 It inspires no thought or feeling at all
👎 You forget what it looks like the moment you look away

I’m tired just thinking about those.

So what do you think, do you agree with Vin? Have you ever seen a B2B company have good swag? What are your favorites?

I’ll highlight the work we did for Breakaway Bookkeeping & Advising with Shea Keats and Michelle Löpez as some inspiring B2B merch!

Here’s why most swag sucks: The people who 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐬𝐰𝐚𝐠 are separate and distinct from the people who 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐰𝐚𝐠.

For the people tasked with ordering the swag:

1) Swag is an annoying part of their work 🙄
2) They don’t have a design or fashion background 👚
3) They aren’t given specific direction by the person assigning it to them 😖

It’s a recipe for lame, boring merch: logos slapped on unisex tees, cheap pocket umbrellas, and faulty phone chargers.

In this post by Ronak Shah, he highlights what goes wrong when you don’t
micromanage the development of swag.

But here’s the good news, you don’t need to micromanage your company’s swag.

𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭 **𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞** 𝐢𝐧 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐬𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐰𝐚𝐠 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧.

Think about your company values and what’s trendy in the fashion world, marry the two and you’ll be off and running. If you have a design team they can work on this for you. (Or even better, hire us Go To Market – Custom Print-On-Demand Branded Merchandise — we will design your goodies and you’ll be set for years.)

But don’t wait until the last minute and then ask an admin to handle your swag. That will set them — 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘸𝘢𝘨 — up for failure.

Have you ever been tasked with making swag? Did you panic? How did you handle it??

Gift boxes are the salads of corporate gifting.

In your salad, you’ve got:
🥗 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘧𝘧: your protein or fancy add-on
🥗 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘧𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺: iceberg lettuce or skinny carrot slices
🥗 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴: in my case, raisins or a spicy seed

In the case of a gift box, you’ve got:
🎁 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘧𝘧: some tech accessory you’ve been eyeing
🎁 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘧𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺: fancy post-its, some hand lotion
🎁 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴: scented [fill in the blank]

Usually with salads, you can customize what you want, but with gift boxes, you get what you get and you (don’t*) get upset. *𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘱𝘴𝘦𝘵

𝐈 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐱𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭. 

Companies spend lots of money and man-hours choosing them and putting them together, but here is almost no case ever where everyone likes everything in the box. The idea with a box is “some people will like some things and other people will like others”. 

But what about ALL of the things that go straight to the trash? And don’t even get me started on the wasted packaging. 🌎🗑

Instead of a gift box, let people choose what they want. If you have an on-demand merch shop (DM us on Instagram @gotomarketstudio if you want us to set one up for you) or gift shop, you can offer a gift certificate 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦.

Tell me your thoughts on gift boxes. Do you love them? Hate them? Have you ever gotten a box where you liked everything in it? Tell me all about it!