With a large following on YouTube, there are various ways to earn a decent amount of money, one of which includes owning a merchandise shop and selling merch to your audience.
Making merchandise that showcases your YouTube channel is an excellent way for your subscribers to rock your brand and create more public awareness around it.
But how do you actually come up with merch ideas? How do you execute this entire process, from creation of designs to selling and delivering?
If you need help deciding what items to create and how to make exclusive merchandise out of them, relax and read along as we share best YT merchandise ideas.
We will also show you how to create these products and promote them to your audience.
11 YouTube Merch Ideas You Can Try
YouTube merch ideas are inexhaustible. Anything you can print, inscribe, or embroider with your branding can potentially be a good idea for your brand.
Without further ado, let's look at some popular YouTube merchandise ideas you can consider for your YouTube channel.
T-shirts
T-shirts are arguably one of the most common pieces of branded merchandise that numerous YouTubers have in their stores.
According to Shopify, 90% of sellers sell custom T-shirts as their main product, making it the best-selling YouTube merch product.
You can customize T-shirts with illustrations, catchphrases, slang, slogans, or logos that showcase the brand.
Feel free to get inspiration from the Dude Perfect merch store. This store comprises T-shirts and other items focusing solely on sport-related designs.
Hoodies
Hoodies are another excellent item to put up in your YouTube merch store. 66% of sellers on Shopify sell YouTuber merch hoodies, making them the second most popular product on Shopify.
You can customize hoodies with your YouTube channel name, the host's picture, the brand logo, unique illustrations, symbols, or slogans.
What matters is that it represents your channel and brand. The goal here is to come up with something that would be recognizable and related to who you are, and your channel's vibes.
For example, Obi Vincent created a selection of his own products, more commonly known as "Break The Mould".
Caps
Since caps are small clothing items, you will likely have to go with much simpler designs on them.
Regardless, the design should feature your brand visibly and stylishly.
Caps are also a type of merch that may be channel-dependent.
Not all channels will be a good fit for this type of merch - but if you are creative enough, you can find potential twists that may go well with your channel's niche.
Mugs
Household items, including mugs and flasks, can be part of your YouTube merch.
They are affordable, portable, and quite effective for keeping hot, cold, or warm beverages. They are also a good fit for the majority of channel niches out there.
Vinyl Stickers
Stickers are incredibly versatile, as you can utilize them on various items like notebooks, cars, water bottles, laptops, smartphones, lunch boxes, and casts.
Enamel Pins
A lapel or enamel pin is a small pin often displayed or worn on the lapel of a suit or jacket, a bag, or a piece of fabric.
People wear enamel pins as an added fashion statement. Other times it indicates the wearer's affiliation with an organization or a cause. In this case, a YouTube channel.
So, making fashionable enamel pins that showcase your YouTube channel is a great idea.
Phone Cases
For as long as smartphones exist, phone cases can never become obsolete. Hence, this is an excellent item to include in your YouTube merch.
You can create attractive phone cases in various colors, designs, and styles for your viewers to showcase your brand. To get some inspo, feel free to check out some of MrBeast's phone case designs.
Tote Bags
Tote bags have gradually become a part of the fashion world today. You can carry tote bags almost anywhere, from malls, schools, and gyms to beaches and workplaces.
The best part is that they go well with different designs and colors and can be worn by anyone.
Socks
This is another small clothing item that you can enhance with brilliant, colorful designs.
Feel free to limit your designs to the hem of the sock or go for bold designs on the foot part of the sock.
Whatever you decide, remember to make it yours with your brand identity.
Pillows
Wouldn't it be a cute idea for your viewers to remember you or your YouTube channel every time they climb into bed? Well, that's where pillows come in.
Go for simple, stylish designs that are visible, attractive, and eye-catching. A good example of this is Pewdiepie's pillow collection.
Backpack
Like tote bags, backpacks are versatile and useful for carrying heavy loads or items.
While students and hikers use backpacks more, virtually anybody can own or carry one.
So you can rest assured that your backpack merch will get many sales.
How To Make Merch For YouTube
Have you settled on the item(s) you want in your YouTube merch collection? Next, follow this 5-step framework to create your very own YouTube merchandise.
Prepare Your Designs
If you have a flair for design, you can design your merch yourself.
If not, you can employ the services of professional artists or designers. You can find them on sites like Creative Market, Shopify Experts, Upwork, Fiverr, T-shirt Factory, Dribbble, and Designious.
As previously said, merch designs can range from colorful catchphrases and brand logos to illustrations and artsy pictures.
Create Your Merch
Making YouTube merch is easier with the print-on-demand service.
When you set up an online Shopify store, for instance, you automatically have access to Printiful, Gelato, and Printify.
So, once you decide on the items you’d like to put up for sale in your store, use the print-on-demand service to make your merchandise.
When you use print-on-demand services, you don't have to worry about any shipping, inventory or handling orders as that is being entirely operated by the service of your choice.
Upload and Print Your Designs
After uploading your designs, begin placing them on the respective products. Then, choose a printer, add it as an app to your online store, and print your designs.
All you have to do next is set a price for each of your products. Remember to make them available in your store so people can start purchasing them.
How To Promote Merch on YouTube
Once you have your merch ready, the next course of action is to promote it on YouTube. Below are some of the ways to do this.
Create an Online Store
With the advent of Shopify, creating an online store is easy. Similarly, you can easily set up a merch store in YouTube Studio to display and sell your branded merchandise.
Another option to sell your products is to work with e-commerce services like Etsy, RedBubble, or Amazon.
Link Your YouTube Channel
For consumers to quickly put a face to the branded merchandise when they come across it, ensure you link your YouTube channel to your merch store.
You can also tag your products on your YouTube shorts or long-form videos. This lets people view your content, check out your merch, and patronize your brand.
Advertise Your Merchandise
Flaunting and talking about your merch shop doesn't start and end only on YouTube. You should promote your merch on your other social platforms as well.
Also, you can wear your merch while filming your YouTube videos.
Other times, you can post pictures of you wearing your merch on Instagram or Twitter.
This is to ensure that not only your YouTube subscribers and viewers are aware of your merchandise shop.
Sell Quality Products
With the production of high-quality products and enough publicity, your merch can go further than the YouTube space.
When customers purchase your branded merch and are pleased with what they got, referrals automatically come easy.
So, the YouTuber's popularity, the merch's quality, and marketing efforts are all relevant factors in promoting YouTube merchandise.
Conclusion
Making and selling merch on YouTube is simple once you understand the basics. You can start with any of the merch ideas outlined above. Get creative with them, and you'll start selling your items in no time.
You should also note that using the print-on-demand service is cheaper, time-saving, and easier. Plus, you don't have to deal with the hassles of handling orders and inventory.
Lastly, it's not enough to make quality merch products. Ensure to link your YouTube channel to your online shop, tag your products in your videos and shorts, and promote your merch regularly. This helps create awareness and bolsters sales.
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