Grow Your Social Media Following with a Simple T-shirt Give-Away Contest.
Social media has gotten a little predictable these days.
As consumers, we have gotten pretty good at scanning our social media platforms for content that is actually relevant and exciting to us.
At the height of Instagram’s popularity, we freely gave away our email address in exchange for the promise of free webinars. We followed and liked our way through the platform with blissful ignorance not knowing that in 2021 we would find ourselves collectively fatigued by the same content that used to engage us.
What’s changed? The abundance of social media ads using the same sales tactics feels, well, redundant. It’s not to say that social media ads are dead but they are definitely due for a make-over.
So what’s the solution?
A social media ad that uses this unexpected marketing tactic: A t-shirt giveaway.
Yup. A branded promotional product is still a highly effective marketing tool that you probably aren’t even using.
Consider this statistic:
“Adding a promotional product to social media ads increases the effectiveness by up to 44%. (Source: PROmotion Marketing, LLC)”
So why should I give away t-shirts in my social media ad?
The power of generosity still excites consumers in 2021 but cutting through the noise means creating elements of surprise and boring ads just don’t surprise us anymore.
However, a tangible free gift like a custom screen printed t-shirt from a newly discovered brand is exciting! There’s a reason why merch is such a successful marketing tool for musicians, sporting and marathon events. Merch creates communities and according to ASI Central –
“Consumers are 2.5 times more likely to have a positive opinion of promotional products over internet advertising. “
It makes sense! Humans still like tangible things and the tactile experiences that come with them but not any old free promotional product will do.
A quality custom screen printed t-shirt featuring artwork that is targeted to your audience is a must in order to create a successful social media ad campaign
.
Let’s explore how to set-up an Instagram Ad T-Shirt Contest with Seattle Screen Printing:
Step 1: Factor The Cost of the Contest
Seattle Screen Printing offers quality unisex t-shirts for screen printing for as little as $4.25 (one color print, per shirt – shipping/tx not included)
You’ll also want to factor in the cost per click for your instagram or Facebook ad. It usually averages around 50 cents- $1.00 cpc but a click doesn’t guarantee your targeted viewer will take any action, like signing up for your newsletter for instance. However, with a generous contest giveaway (where the odds of winning are high), you can drastically increase the likelihood of getting viewers to interact with your brand and sign-up for the contest.
For this example: We are creating an Instagram Contest for a hypothetical fitness Gym.
Step 2: Design Your Custom T-Shirt Design
We decided on a t-shirt design that is
1. Simple
2. Eye-catching
3. Would appeal to my targeted audience
4. Our logo is secondary to the design to increase the odds that viewers would like to own the t-shirt. Unless you are Dolce & Gabbana or Vans, make your art the focal point, not your logo.
We created this simple design using a free Canva account but Seattle Screen Printing also offers design services if you need help.
Step 3: Get a T-Shirt Quote
Next, headed over to Seattle Screen Printing to pick a t-shirt and plug in a hypothetical order to see what the design would look like with our artwork and how much it will cost to produce.
We chose a Bella + Canvas Unisex Black T-shirt which will be screen printed in two colors.
TIP: If you prefer a swag item for your give-away, like a keychain or phone cover for instance, the sister brand B-BAM! Offers a creative curation of promotional products to choose from.
But I digress, back to my t-shirt design, the minimum for this t-shirt item we chose on Seattle Screen Printing has a fairly low minimum of 50 t-shirts.
I can then see an estimate (not including tax & shipping) of what it would cost to offer a t-shirt contest giveaway with a quantity of 50 winners.
Step 4:Create Your Ad Funnel
What is the action that you want your targeted viewers to take on your ad? Is it to follow your page? Sign-up for your email or both? Set up the action you expect viewers to take to enter the contest.
*For my hypothetical t-shirt give-away contest, I will choose to have viewers follow our page and tag to friends in the comments.
Step 5: Set Up Your Instagram Ad
I can now set up my image & copy for my instagram ad, set-up targeting & how much I want to spend. I am using Canva for the sake of creating something fast and easy for my ad.
Step 6: Set Up How You'll Select Winners!
Set-Up a way for randomly select your winners. You can use sites like:
Step 7: Set Up A Way to Contact Winners and Collect Information
Now, you’ll need a way to contact your winners and ask for the t-shirt size they want and their shipping address.
For a free resource, you can easily create a Google Form within minutes.
Once you have announced your winners, received their sizes and shipping address, you can now head back over to Seattle Screen Printing to set-up your order and process it.
Giving Away T-Shirts Work!
We can assure you that a t-shirt giveaway will help your social media ad campaign be a success! Just make sure your t-shirt design is targeted to your audience to get the most subscribers for your contest.
Head over the Seattle Screen Printing’s t-shirt designer to get a feel for the products available for your contest. Seattle Screen Printing curates the best fitting t-shirts for a budget-friendly promotional project. If you need help with design or selecting the right garment, don’t hesitate to connect with a T-shirt Guru at Seattle Screen Printing.