T-shirts may be considered an old-school type of garment, but they can offer many benefits when it comes to promoting your business. Whether you’ve realized it or not, clothing makes a statement, and a t-shirt worn in a crowded environment such as a restaurant, university campus, sports stadium or community event can add personality to your brand; and even generate valuable business. Effective t-shirt marketing, however, requires use of effective business t-shirt printing techniques. 

INTUITIVE WORD ORDER

Using intuitive word order is a recommended practice, and it means printing text the same way that people naturally read it. English speakers naturally read left- to-right and top-to-bottom, so when getting ready to print your t-shirts remember to implement this important element. Also important to consider is the type you use. Type should be arranged in logical, standard sentence order. Far too many businesses place the most important words in the middle, trusting large type to make the reader process them first. This seldom works, as it produces a garbled message.

COMPUTER-DESIGNED LOGOS AND TEXT

Silk-screening and web-based t-shirt printing have made making t-shirts easy and inexpensive - even with a small budget. Keep in mind however; streamlining the process too much can work against you. Unless a professional artist has created it, hand-drawn logos and text can look unprofessional and may even send the wrong message. Consider seeking professional advice or services before submitting your artwork. It can be difficult to get a second chance to make another first impression.

SIMPLE CONTACT INFO

The goal of t-shirt promotion and marketing should be to increase brand awareness and generate publicity for the organization. In order for that to work, you should make it as easy as possible for the potential customer to contact the business. Simple contact information allows them to quickly jot down a phone number or URL (maybe even scan a QR code). Dashes (rather than dots) should be used to separate the phone number digits, a tactic that will help a potential customer remember the numbers with a short glance. Also remember that short URLs are easier to remember than longer ones.

LARGE, CLEAR TEXT

A final common mistake organizations frequently make when printing their organizational t-shirts is using small text and/or difficult-to-read fonts. Potential customers, including those with less-than-perfect vision, need to be able to read the shirt at a distance. Simple serif fonts, such as variants of Times New Roman, are easy to read; though sans-serif fonts may also work if they are large enough. When printing on the back of the t-shirt, make sure your vital information is at least two inches (5.1 cm) high.

A little attention to some small detail can go a long way in using a t-shirt to promote your business. These simple points can be the key to making a printed tee truly effective in supporting your brand.