The Basics of Influencer Marketing for Your T-Shirt Shop

It’s time to start paying attention to influencer marketing. Companies across many industries have recently increased their spending on influencer marketing from $1.7 billion in 2016 to $9.7 billion in 2020, then jumping to $13.8 billion in 2021 and a whopping $16.4 billion in 2022. 

Why? Influencer marketing is a solid strategy that can rapidly grow awareness and drive sales for your custom apparel brand. In fact, 93% of marketers say they’ve used influencer marketing – and will keep using it as part of their successful marketing strategy.

With the surge in popularity of short-form videos on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, consumers enjoy connecting with influencers and brands via this type of marketing. That’s why it’s no surprise that the term “influencer” earned a spot in the Merriam-Webster dictionary in 2019 — so should an influencer campaign have a place in your marketing playbook? We think so, but it all comes down to proper planning and execution. 

Unfortunately, many business owners aren’t aware of the ins and outs of how to create a financially rewarding campaign, or they’ve heard myths that simply aren’t true. Today, we’re sharing our expert guide on how to launch a successful influencer campaign, even if you’re working with limited marketing knowledge and a smaller budget.

The quick answer? Influencer marketing is the strategy of creating an affirming connection between your brand and popular content creators on social media, so they present your goods and services to their audience who’s more likely to buy. If your goal is to increase brand awareness or sales, that influencer campaign, if done right, should result in success for your t-shirt shop because the audience takes the influencer’s product recommendations seriously.

Influencers also want to work with your brand by using their platform to increase awareness about you, as well as give personal testimony to your brand’s product or services. This type of marketing results in a win-win for both the influencer and the brand, which is why it works so well.

Plus, every size business, even a startup t-shirt shop, can use influencer marketing. The key is choosing an affordable influencer with an audience that will likely buy your t-shirts or hoodies. Here’s an important stat to consider: 61% of consumers trust influencer recommendations, compared to 38% who trust brand-produced content. That’s why investing in influencers can offer more ROI than creating your own content.

Using influencers to promote or sell products and services works for all kinds of industries. Niches such as fashion, beauty, travel, lifestyle, celebrities/entertainment, and sports/gaming are just a few of the industries that use social media influencers to advertise for them. Decorated apparel is a perfect match for influencers, since they can wear or show off your apparel in their social media posts and videos. Plus, buying a t-shirt with a cool graphic is an easy conversion to make for many audiences.

Established and successful influencers have a variety of skillsets and/or have a team of people they employ. They’re expected to create original content consistently, understanding changing social algorithms, as well as keeping their core audience happy, interested, and engaged while meeting each brand’s goals. 

You should know that not all influencers are the same. Generally, they’re split into categories based on their number of followers. They include: 

• Nano-influencers: Fewer than 1,000 followers, but have an immense influence with a comparatively narrow niche.
• Micro-influencers: 1,000 to 100,000 followers
• Mid-tier influencers: 100,000 to 500,000 followers 
• Macro-influencers: 500,000 to 1 million followers
• Mega-influencers: 1 million+ followers

In fact, it’s more beneficial for you to reach out to micro-influencers, as they can have a greater ROI. Micro-influencers have had a steadily growing percentage of the market share, reaching 91% in 2021. They also have a much higher engagement rate than even mega-influencers. The bottom line is, you don’t need a mid-tier or higher level influencer to have a great influencer marketing campaign.

Starting with a micro-influencer is best for your first few campaigns. That way, you can get a feel for the basics and know where to improve your internal processes or campaigns. Smaller social accounts usually have a higher engagement and a much more enthusiastic audience. They also tend to be more involved in a smaller demographic market, which means you can target your ideal customer easier.

In fact, here’s what micro-influencer audiences regularly do after engaging with a new brand on the influencer’s channel:

• Searched for more information (79%)
• Visited the brand’s website or app (65%)
• Made a purchase online or offline (46%)
• Visited a retail store (37%)
• Followed the brand online (31%)
• Talked to someone else about the brand (29%).

A successful influencer marketing campaign begins with a detailed plan. That includes exactly what you want to get out of the campaign. Here are four aspects of an influencer marketing campaign you should consider before you get started.

1. Start with your ultimate goal from the promotion. What do you want to gain from this campaign? Is it to get more followers? More addresses for your email list? More sales? Sales on a specific offer or product? This will be the most important factor in deciding what influencer you choose and whether the campaign has been a success.

2. Who are you trying to reach? In other words, what are the demographics of the audience you want to connect with? That includes their gender, age, interests, hobbies, spending habits, how they spend time on social media, how they discover new brands and more. The more you know about your target customer, the easier it’ll be for you to select the right influencer and type of campaign that will resonate most with your prospects. 

3. What’s your budget? The good news is that for an initial influencer campaign with a micro-influencer, you’ll most likely find the cost to be affordable. (Micro-influencers may charge $100 a post, whereas influencers with close to 1 million followers can charge a minimum of $1,000 to $2,000 per post.) Some influencers are willing to also take decorated apparel or other goods as a full or partial payment. If your first promotion is successful, you’re going to want to do this again with the same or more influencers. Set aside a comfortable amount of money you can set aside for influencer marketing. 

4. How will you measure your success? You must track your metrics to know if your campaign with that particular influencer and audience is successful. Your metrics tie directly to your goals, whether that’s getting a certain number or email addresses or selling a certain number of products on a special offer the influencer presents to their audience.

If you’ve never used influencer marketing before and you’re trying to do this for yourself, start with one to two influencers for your first campaign. In this way, you can learn better how to communicate to your influencers as well as how to better track metrics you’re looking for during the campaign. 

Instagram is the network of choice for influencer marketing campaigns, with 79% of brands considering it the most important platform for them. Plus, if you’re running a t-shirt business, you should know that 77% of fashion influencers also prefer Instagram for connecting with their audiences.

Business owners search for influencers based on different factors, such as their number of followers, type of number of posts, topics the influencer focuses on, and amount of audience engagement. You can make it easier on yourself by using a tool like Buzzsumo or Followerwonk, or even connect with an agency that specializes in helping you find the right influencers. 

If you're just starting out and want to see if you can find an influencer who vibes with your brand, here are some ways to search for them:

• Hashtagsa nd social media topic trackers: This way, you can look for influencers who talk regularly about fashion or t-shirts or shirt graphics, for example.
• Google: Doing some basic searches helps get some influencers on your radar.
• Bloggers: Do another Google search to look for fashion bloggers, since they may also have strong social media presences themselves or connections to influencers.
• YouTube: This is a good site to search for influencers, since many fashion or beauty influencers post longer reviews of different products on this platform.

You can also add a page or section to your website that outlines how you'd like to work with influencers, in case they (or an agency) is searching for you. When you find an influencer you're interested in working with, it's as simple as sending them a DM or an email to get started to see if you're a good match!

Let your chosen influencer know your exact goals for your campaign, your expectations, and your featured offer or products. But more importantly, create a real relationship with them to set yourself up to work together longer term. Schedule a meeting that allows for you to explain your company’s background, your other current marketing campaigns and how this fits in with the big picture. An experienced influencer will let you know the best structure for their campaigns, based on their audience response to their content and past campaigns.

There’s a lot more that we could go into about influencer marketing, but probably none more important than the legalities that must be followed. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) keeps close tabs on brands and their working relationships with influencers. They require these companies to disclose that they’re working with influencers so that customers/followers are also aware of the relationship. To learn more about these legal requirements, check out FTC disclosures for social media influencers. You can also talk to your influencer about these regulations.

Influencer campaigns can add a fun factor that other marketing campaigns may lack. Furthermore, establishing a real rapport with your influencers and their audiences is very rewarding. The goal with influencer marketing promotions is always win-win and that comes through to the audience watching. If you, as the apparel brand, keep the “ask” and relationship fun and interactive, your audience will enjoy themselves right into your shop to buy shirts that make them feel that way.