Popular YouTubers aren’t just successful at selling merchandise because they build up a large audience. They have to work smart to stay on top by using some best practices. When subscribers like your channel, they want to support you and will buy merchandise that’s an extension of your brand. Selling merchandise can help to subsidize your channel but there are some right and wrong ways to do it. Here are some tips that will help you to find success.
Avoid upfront risks and costs
When you’re marketing personal merchandise as a YouTuber, you should try to sell it without making a large upfront investment. Using a print-on-demand company like Printbest means you don’t have to commit to inventory and you don’t pay for products until they sell. You will only print your orders for merchandise like T-shirts, hoodies, caps, etc., once you receive them from customers.
Create a visually pleasing and personal merch site and then use social channel descriptions and bio sections so your audience can easily find it. Using a print-on-demand company means you can quickly transform your brand designs into custom products and start making money by dropshipping them anywhere in the U.S. and Canada in just a few days.
Focus on your content strategy
To sell merchandise on YouTube, you need a solid understanding of what works and doesn’t work on the platform. You will need to have a number of subscribers who want to buy your merch to be successful. This doesn’t mean that if you have a large number of subscribers, you will automatically be successful, and if you don’t, you have no chance. Some YouTubers with smaller channels and very engaged subscribers are more successful.
Creating engaging videos on a consistent basis is essential to building your subscriber base. If you constantly create content your subscribers love, you will sell more merch. You can even create specific videos about your upcoming merch to create anticipation and suspense.
Keep your audience in mind
When designing merch, you must keep your subscribers in mind. For example, if they are mostly young consumers, your designs should be colorful, vibrant and trendy. If you make your products appealing to your niche audience, you are more likely to make sales. Think about the age, gender and interests of your subscribers and why they watch you.
To make sure your subscribers are engaged enough to buy from you, try asking them what they want. They will appreciate being able to offer their input and show their appreciation by buying. Perhaps you can even collaborate on a design with subscribers in a live stream. Designs using a catchphrase or inside joke unique to your channel are popular.
Share social proof
Build a community around your merchandise by offering social proof that suggests “everyone is buying it.” Ask fans to take photos wearing your merch and post them on social media, hashtagging your channel. When you couple this with a reward like a giveaway, it can be a very successful strategy.
A simple tactic like retweeting tweets of people who commented about your merch can help build to build up audience trust. Thank your community frequently by giving shout-outs, giveaways etc. They should be the reason why you do what you do. If making money is your prime objective, you are likely to be less successful than if you constantly show appreciation for the support you receive and encourage subscribers to give feedback.
Constantly promote your merch
The amount of time you spend personalizing your merchandise with a DTF transfer printer, for example, and promoting your merchandise can make the difference between success and failure.
Apart from sharing and promoting merch in content, YouTube also has some handy tools that will help you to promote your products. The Merch Shelf feature allows you to showcase and link available products for sale directly under your videos. You can feature up to 12 items and customize the display order. Certain restrictions do apply to this feature, so make sure you’re eligible to take advantage of it. You can also use end screens to create viewer polls, link directly to your store or mention new product launches.