If we listen to every bodies advice we learn and educate ourselves. If we are not prepared to listen we invariably fail.
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Marketing clothing brand physically ?
- Thread starter Casually made
- Start date
If we listen to every bodies advice we learn and educate ourselves. If we are not prepared to listen we invariably fail.
What about a normal bloke starting a brand from the ground up and then becoming an influencer with loads of followers?
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- Original Poster
- #43
But that didn't happen did it , He was already on TOWIE when he started the footwear brand
He knew the right people , funnelled towie money and influencer money into the brand leveraged his status and connections to grow it to where it is now well done to him
still has jack all relevance to what i asked
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Having been a market trader of many years, I would agree take your product OP into the market. Get a market stall for a few weeks. You might sell a few, but you will get invaluable knowledge from potential clients, if they like your designs, your quality, price point etc.
I used to stand next to a great guy who sold well known top legitimate branded products like yours, he was happy turning over £100k pa, I mentioned going online to him, he was stunned I was packing orders taken over my phone, this was the early days of the Internet. His best decision was to take on a couple of his clients as web designers and marketing, within two years he was online exclusively turning over half a million.
These students got the word out, people saw the gear at various concerts, referred his website but as importantly locally they all dropped down to the market to get their images online, it became a club as much as anything.
I used to stand next to a great guy who sold well known top legitimate branded products like yours, he was happy turning over £100k pa, I mentioned going online to him, he was stunned I was packing orders taken over my phone, this was the early days of the Internet. His best decision was to take on a couple of his clients as web designers and marketing, within two years he was online exclusively turning over half a million.
These students got the word out, people saw the gear at various concerts, referred his website but as importantly locally they all dropped down to the market to get their images online, it became a club as much as anything.
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What's rubbish about it. We listen to advice from everywhere, we learn and decide for ourselves what to accept and what to decline. I'll have a pound with you that the OP has read every bit of advice on here
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He had access to lots of the legit hoodies, tee shirts for various rock bands etc, not cheap knock offs. At the time he was one of only a handful of non physical retail buyers the company would trade with. I won’t mention his source, too valuable for public knowledge.
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Two elements here:
1. Physical.
2. Digital Marketing: If you're ignoring digital, you're ignoring the quickest and easiest way to get your product out to an audience.
1. Physical: Get a stall where your target audience hangs out. Festivals like Monsters of Rock, motorbike stunt shows, small hall boxing etc...
2. Marketing: I'm in video production so have shot a load of vids for a fashion company. Their marketing looked like this:
i. A massive email marketing list. Took years to build. Keep pinging customers stuff and they'll keep buying. From recollection, 80% of their posts were 'lifestyle' and 20% were 'buy my stuff.'
ii. Continual posting and engagement on social. You can see what works and then put money into the posts that naturally get a lot of traction. Takes a while to build up.
iii. They post famous people who wear their clothes. Mostly, these are reposts.
My own business is pretty small but our sales uniquely come from online. We're B2B so our marketing's a bit different but there you go.
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My advice is to do the following:
1. Start with one product only (probably t-shirts with various original prints).
2. Split your initial budget to 50% product & 50% marketing.
3. Source markets that want unusual clothing (Camden is good, maybe also Portobello Rd if you're in London) as well as events where you think your t-shirts will be wanted.
4. Either get a stall or better still try to sell to other stall holders that sell products you think match your customer profile (initially 6 - 12pcs at a time). If they're successful with a small run, they will call you for more.
5. Ensure the quality of your t-shirts are good and source designs which are not your 'box standard' t-shirts available from the main promotional suppliers.
6. Keep your new prints flowing as repeat customers will always want to see new designs.
7. Be patient, finding customers (especially repeat customers), whether B2C or B2B takes time.
8. Don't overprice your products, you can do that after you have established an embryo of a brand.
9. If your budget allows, look at doing 1 of either the following UK exhibitions: Pure & Top Drawer. Check to see if they suit your products.
10. Don't offer 'sale or return' to retailers, better to offer low quantities (start with 6pcs) for them to buy. Look at supplying independent retail shops, start in your local area, or travel further afield, you'll need a comfortable pair of trainers!
The first months/year is to find customers who feel your designs are sufficiently different for them to stock.
Repeat customers can see your new products via your website.
Good luck.
1. Start with one product only (probably t-shirts with various original prints).
2. Split your initial budget to 50% product & 50% marketing.
3. Source markets that want unusual clothing (Camden is good, maybe also Portobello Rd if you're in London) as well as events where you think your t-shirts will be wanted.
4. Either get a stall or better still try to sell to other stall holders that sell products you think match your customer profile (initially 6 - 12pcs at a time). If they're successful with a small run, they will call you for more.
5. Ensure the quality of your t-shirts are good and source designs which are not your 'box standard' t-shirts available from the main promotional suppliers.
6. Keep your new prints flowing as repeat customers will always want to see new designs.
7. Be patient, finding customers (especially repeat customers), whether B2C or B2B takes time.
8. Don't overprice your products, you can do that after you have established an embryo of a brand.
9. If your budget allows, look at doing 1 of either the following UK exhibitions: Pure & Top Drawer. Check to see if they suit your products.
10. Don't offer 'sale or return' to retailers, better to offer low quantities (start with 6pcs) for them to buy. Look at supplying independent retail shops, start in your local area, or travel further afield, you'll need a comfortable pair of trainers!
The first months/year is to find customers who feel your designs are sufficiently different for them to stock.
Repeat customers can see your new products via your website.
Good luck.
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That's great advice but referring to the OP's initial statement that he couldn't afford to print 100 items, that he/she would have to print on demand, it would make a stand alone stall impossible. Whether the margins exist to sell through others is the million dollar question?
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- Original Poster
- #53
Thanks for the latest comments , they are a little more constructive
Not saying i am ignoring digital marketing it's obviously the fastest and cheapest way to market anything
But for clothing where people do generally like to feel quality/ inspect prints / try stuff on whatever ,a bootstrapped fledging brand really has no way to facilitate that
I did print 50 t-shirts earlier in the year i have sold around 30 of those and covered most of my outlay, but its taken a long time and has been difficult at times to sustain momentum partly because i find the social media aspect exhausting
I wouldn't fancy getting lumbered with 2-3 grands worth of stock and thats where i think a lot of clothing lines end up quickly going under , remember that guy i sent them up too was constantly reducing lines in his shop and they are far better known than mine
which is never a good sign
At the moment i cant see any option other than POD , going through retail is a nice idea but they want their pound of flesh and clothing isn't even that cheap to produce anymore so the margins are going to be non existent + huge outlay for me and then you have the ball ache of getting these small retail stores to actually pay up
D2C & POD is the lowest risk , I'll persist a while longer but if i cant gain any traction i may just jack it in and try another avenue
Not saying i am ignoring digital marketing it's obviously the fastest and cheapest way to market anything
But for clothing where people do generally like to feel quality/ inspect prints / try stuff on whatever ,a bootstrapped fledging brand really has no way to facilitate that
I did print 50 t-shirts earlier in the year i have sold around 30 of those and covered most of my outlay, but its taken a long time and has been difficult at times to sustain momentum partly because i find the social media aspect exhausting
I wouldn't fancy getting lumbered with 2-3 grands worth of stock and thats where i think a lot of clothing lines end up quickly going under , remember that guy i sent them up too was constantly reducing lines in his shop and they are far better known than mine
which is never a good sign
At the moment i cant see any option other than POD , going through retail is a nice idea but they want their pound of flesh and clothing isn't even that cheap to produce anymore so the margins are going to be non existent + huge outlay for me and then you have the ball ache of getting these small retail stores to actually pay up
D2C & POD is the lowest risk , I'll persist a while longer but if i cant gain any traction i may just jack it in and try another avenue
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There may well be a balance with lower prices and higher sales, these days people are so price conscious. its fine looking at building a top brand with silly prices but most who have done that had the financial backup to achieve their aim and also great marketing expertise
Groups on tour by in t-shirts by the hundred or thousands, and are fully aware of how cheap they can buy at, and the public are much the same they have lived the life of University and how to live on a few bob a week
Groups on tour by in t-shirts by the hundred or thousands, and are fully aware of how cheap they can buy at, and the public are much the same they have lived the life of University and how to live on a few bob a week
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- Original Poster
- #59
Depends on the level of brand value to the consumer , people like wearing brands like Gucci , Versace , Fendi ,moncler to show off to other people not because the clothing has anything special about it
Those brands though have spent years endorsing celebrities ,sport stars , Hollywood stars , upper class events
A Gucci belt will retail for around £380 , a knock off can cost around £20 if you know where to look the right consumer will happily pay £100 in a resale market and think they have had the deal of the century
That is how much value Gucci has built into the brand , which is hilarious when you think about it
its a belt
People buying band tour t-shirts are a completely different market again they aren't buying because they need another t-shirt its to show others they have been to that concert and maybe even remind themselves of the experience
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Gut feeling, you are paying too much for the offer you are giving. You want other people to sell the product for you, but you dont really want to pay them to do that (mark up, selling fees(ebay)) etc. You want to create a brand but use ebay to expose it.
Its time to put your shoes on and go do some real work.
If it were me I would find the right target customer at a real market venue and set up for the day and sell your designs at the price you think they are worth. At the end of the trading day add your money up, if you have made good money keep going, if you take next to nowt.. pack it in you are wasting your precious time. Do that and at least you will know where you stand.
Good luck.
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I think you need to shop around for better DTG prices, supply your own garments and/or look at transfer printing which will give you much greater flexibility.
One of the benefits of sourcing your own garments is that many come with a tear out label, often leaving the size label behind, so effectively a blank canvas upon which you can print an inner neck label with your name, giving the brand some kudos.
On your website you are using a Hanes sweatshirt. Hanes pretty much left UK shores several years ago and whilst their products were good they weren't considered a premium brand. Not a bad choice but there are plenty of other manufacturers that are equally as good if not better.
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Whilst I agree with the first part of your post, many people prefer not to buy on the first visit or first time seeing someone, on markets it often too four weeks for most traders to find out if they had gone to the right place, so I am told by many friends.
I was always very fortunate on the markets, I always made good money from day one, but I was also very competitive with top quality merchandise, was very confident in my offering and knew how to sell. I saw too many simply turn up, sit down and expect people to hand them money.
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Which will be good for the OP he talks as though its easy and he has the answers, get out there and learn the business. Once he has done that he will be able to make more informed decisions based on real events rather than what is written in a book or the internet. Building a brand is nice, being able to afford to eat is even better.
Despite the tone of my post I wish him well.
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Nothing bad in your original post, I think the OP needs to realise that building a brand might be beyond his means atm.
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If that’s the prices you’re paying, you haven’t got a chance to get your business off the ground.
Work, save, beg, steal or borrow until you have 3-5k, then source and buy properly.
Good quality tees, printed & labeled should stand you in approx £3-£4 (1000 at a time).
Thats where you need to get to, if you want to be serious.
Sweatshirts should stand you in approx £9.
Hoodies approx £12.
Start saving and sourcing properly.
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